I wasn't looking for a cockatoo. I wanted an african grey baby and was looking for a cage on craigslist. I saw the ad for Ella. It was in the wrong section with the cages, and it just pulled at my heartstrings. And Ella was only 15 mins away in the next small town over.
I made contact and there were so many coincidences. The lady's name was Jasmin,same as one of my daughters. She lived on Homestead same as me but I'm in the next town over. I found out later Jasmin's birthday was the same day as mine.
Her prior owner said she had only had her for a couple months but didn't know what to do to help her. She said she took her in from a relative who smoked, who had a lot of birds and was going to have her put down.
She said she was so sweet and loving and so she took her in. Unfortunately she was fed only seeds,and I believe had no bathing opportunities and nothing to chew on and also did not see a vet for whatever reason.
Ella is a plucker and a mutilator. She was completely featherless except for her head and a few feathers on her wings. She was dirty,discolored and bandaged. But when I went to go see her she greeted me with a "Hello". I gave her a peanut and she gratiously accepted and stepped right up on my hand. She was the sweetest and cutest little thing.
So I brought her home with me. I didn't know if I could help but I was determined to try. I didn't know she had an injury or how bad it was until I got her home and unwrapped her bandages the next day. I had a sick feeling just looking at the gaping hole in her abdomen and I wondered if I was in over my head. But I fig'd with help from the many knowlegeable people on the forum she could be rehabilitated. So we started on the road to recovery.
She was eating an all seed diet. I began cooking for her twice a day, oatmeal in the morning and Higgins cookables in the evening. She is very picky and doesn't eat a lot of things but she enjoyed the new foods. she enjoys warm spoon feedings. I let her have some her seeds for snack.
When I first got her she would just stand perched on her food bowl digging around for seeds. With new perches and toys and the new diet she is now very active. She shreds for most of the day. she loves oatmeal and I can sneak a lot of things in with the oatmeal. She also loves almonds in addition to peanuts and corn which I try to limit due to possible allergy. She also loves to snuggle.
She is such a joy. She says Hello whenever someone walks in the room. She responds when you talk to her. she says night night and bye bye. And Hello Birdy. She talks every day and she also comes out of her cage and dances her dance singing out Hello.
She has brought me such joy. My girls help out. When I have to fix dinner or run errands I have my 14yr old or my 6yr old babysit Ella. They know if she starts picking at her injury to say "No Ella" and redirect her with a chewing toy. She loves chewing balsa.
One day my 14 yr old came home from school and burst in my room and Ella said Hello. Teenagers always so self absorbed,she continued with her Hey Mom, can I ....blah blah blah. Ella spoke again "Hello" I said to my daughter can you take a minute to say Hello to me and Ella first. She is so cute. My husband enters the room--he is not too much a bird person-- Ella says Hello. I hear my husband answer her. He says Hey, what's up. This just made me smile.
I told my girls this is a team effort to rehabilitate Ella. My 7 yr old loves her so much. she talks to her and reads to her. We dress her up. we have sweaters for her. we made night shirts and ponchos. She wears a poncho most of the time, keeps her warm and protects her injury but she can still move around.
The vet said she is doing well. everything is good internally. Injury is almost completely healed and now we have to work on the outside. we're working on her feathering but she is already beautiful to us.
A big thank you for the inspiration award and to everyone here who has helped Ella and me with advice and encouragement. Without the help and resources of all the good people here I would never have had the courage to take in Ella because the fear of not knowing what to do would have stopped me.
Deep down in my heart of hearts I know I could not have helped Ella without Avian Avenue.
Thank you
I made contact and there were so many coincidences. The lady's name was Jasmin,same as one of my daughters. She lived on Homestead same as me but I'm in the next town over. I found out later Jasmin's birthday was the same day as mine.
Her prior owner said she had only had her for a couple months but didn't know what to do to help her. She said she took her in from a relative who smoked, who had a lot of birds and was going to have her put down.
She said she was so sweet and loving and so she took her in. Unfortunately she was fed only seeds,and I believe had no bathing opportunities and nothing to chew on and also did not see a vet for whatever reason.
Ella is a plucker and a mutilator. She was completely featherless except for her head and a few feathers on her wings. She was dirty,discolored and bandaged. But when I went to go see her she greeted me with a "Hello". I gave her a peanut and she gratiously accepted and stepped right up on my hand. She was the sweetest and cutest little thing.
So I brought her home with me. I didn't know if I could help but I was determined to try. I didn't know she had an injury or how bad it was until I got her home and unwrapped her bandages the next day. I had a sick feeling just looking at the gaping hole in her abdomen and I wondered if I was in over my head. But I fig'd with help from the many knowlegeable people on the forum she could be rehabilitated. So we started on the road to recovery.
She was eating an all seed diet. I began cooking for her twice a day, oatmeal in the morning and Higgins cookables in the evening. She is very picky and doesn't eat a lot of things but she enjoyed the new foods. she enjoys warm spoon feedings. I let her have some her seeds for snack.
When I first got her she would just stand perched on her food bowl digging around for seeds. With new perches and toys and the new diet she is now very active. She shreds for most of the day. she loves oatmeal and I can sneak a lot of things in with the oatmeal. She also loves almonds in addition to peanuts and corn which I try to limit due to possible allergy. She also loves to snuggle.
She is such a joy. She says Hello whenever someone walks in the room. She responds when you talk to her. she says night night and bye bye. And Hello Birdy. She talks every day and she also comes out of her cage and dances her dance singing out Hello.
She has brought me such joy. My girls help out. When I have to fix dinner or run errands I have my 14yr old or my 6yr old babysit Ella. They know if she starts picking at her injury to say "No Ella" and redirect her with a chewing toy. She loves chewing balsa.
One day my 14 yr old came home from school and burst in my room and Ella said Hello. Teenagers always so self absorbed,she continued with her Hey Mom, can I ....blah blah blah. Ella spoke again "Hello" I said to my daughter can you take a minute to say Hello to me and Ella first. She is so cute. My husband enters the room--he is not too much a bird person-- Ella says Hello. I hear my husband answer her. He says Hey, what's up. This just made me smile.
I told my girls this is a team effort to rehabilitate Ella. My 7 yr old loves her so much. she talks to her and reads to her. We dress her up. we have sweaters for her. we made night shirts and ponchos. She wears a poncho most of the time, keeps her warm and protects her injury but she can still move around.
The vet said she is doing well. everything is good internally. Injury is almost completely healed and now we have to work on the outside. we're working on her feathering but she is already beautiful to us.
A big thank you for the inspiration award and to everyone here who has helped Ella and me with advice and encouragement. Without the help and resources of all the good people here I would never have had the courage to take in Ella because the fear of not knowing what to do would have stopped me.
Deep down in my heart of hearts I know I could not have helped Ella without Avian Avenue.
Thank you
Ella is a special girl
