My local bird club brings in a mobile avian vet at least once a year, and yesterday was the big day! It was a great experience: he uses gas anesthesia to do a fairly thorough physical exam, and he explained everything he was seeing. She has a little tattoo mark in her left "arm pit" (for lack of a better term!), which he said is done when a bird is surgically sexed -- so someone in her previous life had this done. I am guessing she was either a breeder bird or intended to be before she was rescued. Her wing feathers are pretty tattered, but he thinks it is due to barbering; he pulled out just a couple to encourage growth so she can start flying a little quicker. She is also pulling out some of her downy feathers on her back, so I am going to have to keep a watch on that. Then he trimmed her nails very nicely and .... (drumroll please!) .... got her beak back in good order! I asked if diet changes will help with her odd beak growth, but he said no, that lots of Hahn's have strange beaks, and she will just need a beak trim every 6 months or so for life. Here are before and after pics -- enjoy!
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His name is Dr. Scott McDonald and here is his site. There are so few avian diplomates in the US, and none live anywhere within driving distance of me. But if you click on the protocols tab on Dr. M’s site, he goes through his process step by step. He also lists his experience and other pertinent information. I don’t know what his typical fee is for patients, but he comes to my area, sponsored by my bird club, and sees many patients in one day. For members, I paid $30 plus $3 for the club. Some members bring 3, 4, 5, 10 plus birds to be seen — the club organizes the appointments and provides a couple of assistants for the doctor.
I know he comes up north about 20 to 30 minutes from me a couple times a year, I just seen to always miss him!
I wanted to get established with him as well since he is much closer than Niles some times throughout the year. Would be nice to have two options.