Our First Parakeet Died - Help!

[Hadassah]

We are first time parakeet owners. We bought our sweetie last Monday. We did everything right as I have done my reading to keep our parakeet healthy. We live on 30 acres and yesterday into last night, our neighbors burned their 20 acres of crops across the street from us. I could smell it in the house a bit at one point and didn't think anything about it...

Our bird was sitting down sleeping this morning. We've raised chickens for years so I knew what was coming. I took care of her all day long, she died in my hands 2 hours ago. We loved her so much. We (we have 8 children), cried much. I can't believe how much you can love a little bird. I love her more than our dog. Anyways, do you think she died from the smoke? We cannot control what our neighbors do but we need to look at maybe getting a dove or another bird that can endure their crop treatments... which makes me sad as I want another parakeet but don't want her or us to go through this sadness again. Thank you so much....

 

[WallyLoopey]

I’m so sorry for your loss.
Hard to say what exactly caused the death, could have been the smoke but maybe something else.

In the future maybe you could ask them to politely let you know when they plan on burning so you can move the birds to a safe room with an air purifier.

Again, I’m so sorry you and your children lost your baby.

 

[Hadassah]

Thank you so much. That's a good idea. We just moved into this house in June so we never had time to prepare! : ( I do have a picture of her yesterday and a picture of the crop fire but when I upload a file it just gives me an option to close. I'll keep trying...
'

 

[Hadassah]

Here she was yesterday around lunch time. Below is the crop fire that started about 4:00 PM and was still going in at 10:00 when I went to bed. We only smelled it in our home for a short while but I believe it's what killed her today as I've read how sensitive they are with anything regarding their respiratory system. I feel so bad that I didn't have a means or knowledge to protect her.

 

[WallyLoopey]

*If* you haven’t buried her yet and have a local avian vet- you can take her in for a necropsy to determine cause of death. I don’t live near a certified avian vet, actually I live in an area that sounds similar to yours.

 

[Hadassah]

Thank you, that's something to consider.... we haven't buried her yet.

 

[iamwhoiam]

So sorry for your loss. It is possible that she died from the smoke but could have been something else. As per WallyLoopey you could have a vet do a necropsy although sometimes the results of that are inconclusive.

 

[Hadassah]

Thank you all for your thoughts and expertise. We are going to buy a ringneck dove tomorrow as our neighbors have some that he keeps outdoors... if they are healthy outside, I know ours will be healthy inside. I will look at an air purifier so when they do their crops, we can try once more to keep him/her safe.

My husband just shared that they used to use Parakeets in mines. If they dropped dead (sad), the men knew the oxygen was too low and headed up. I'm hoping they don't do this anymore.

 

[OK Mike]

I'm an environmental air testing engineer with 44 years of air testing experience. Agricultural burnoffs create a tremendous amount of air toxics due to modern use of chemicals. Phosphates and chlorides being the worst. When oxidized by fire they produce a lethal cocktail of chemical compounds. Avian species are particularly susceptible to many of these. Miners knew this centuries ago and used canaries as poisonous gas detectors in mines - when the canary died it was time to get out. Open burning has been banned in most areas by the EPA and substantial fines are imposed for deliberate ignition of agricultural land. I'm so sorry for your loss and suspect that the field fire was responsible. If the smoke made your eyes burn or it irritated your throat and / or lungs it was potentially lethal to your bird.

 

[WallyLoopey]

Just sanitize anything you plan on reusing that was hers (cages, dishes, toys) just in case it wasn’t from smoke.

 

[Hadassah]

I'm an environmental air testing engineer with 44 years of air testing experience. Agricultural burnoffs create a tremendous amount of air toxics due to modern use of chemicals. Phosphates and chlorides being the worst. When oxidized by fire they produce a lethal cocktail of chemical compounds. Avian species are particularly susceptible to many of these. Miners knew this centuries ago and used canaries as poisonous gas detectors in mines - when the canary died it was time to get out. Open burning has been banned in most areas by the EPA and substantial fines are imposed for deliberate ignition of agricultural land. I'm so sorry for your loss and suspect that the field fire was responsible. If the smoke made your eyes burn or it irritated your throat and / or lungs it was potentially lethal to your bird.

Thank you so much Mike. Your expertise really took a load off my shoulders. I took pictures last night because I thought it was pretty and the smoke was going south. Earlier though, it was going full speed at our house for over an hour and the fire much closer to our home than the picture... we had to send our children in and I coughed for over an hour. No big deal to me but I wish I had thought of our bird in here... now she's gone, but without an air purifier, I couldn't have saved her anyways. I don't know that one would help in the future either so we'll try a dove. If this happens again, we'll refrain from having a bird for a pet.

We're in Missouri, so I don't know if the laws are different here. Everything kind of goes here. We're from Washington State where you need permits for everything, etc.... thank you again Mike for sharing your thoughts and expertise.

 

[nu2birds]

So sorry for your loss.........last summer the smoke from the Canadian Wild fires all blew down into Washington State. I was really worried because the sky was orange and red from all the smoke. You could feel it at the back of your throat. Anyway, they seem to do OK, but yes, some things are out of your control. I guess you need to come up with a plan for when that happens again. Maybe placing the bird in a small enclosed room like a bathroom and then turn on a strong enough air filter and that hopefully would get you through those future field burns.

 

[Mizzely]

Very sorry for your loss. All birds have sensitive respiratory systems because of the way they breathe. A dove from what i understand would not be less likely to die from the same cause if it was the fire.

 

[Lady Jane]

If I were you I would make some calls about this neighbor burning. I think there is at least a permit needed. Start with the fire department and keep going. Once it gets settled perhaps you can get another bird. Hugs for you and family for this terrible loss. Please let us know what happens. For a necropsy the body must be refrigerated until transport.

 

[WallyLoopey]

Good to know that about the necropsy @Lady Jane

 

[Lwalker]

So sorry for the loss of your little one.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

How heartbreaking. I’m so very sorry for your loss.

 

[Lady Jane]

She was a beautiful bird. What was her name?

 

[OK Mike]

Sad to say that Missouri permits open burning statewide on agricultural and forest lands. Here is a link to the MO Department of Natural Resources publication on open burning. Again I'm so sorry.

PUB2047 - DNR

 

[Birdbabe]