Short Bread's Story

 

2002
2/3	2/9	2/14	2/21	2/28	3/8
3/10	3/27	6/8	7/3	10/23
2003
01/09

  I was born on January 9, 2002.  My Mom is a blue pied and dad is a White Face Australian Cinnamon. I was born second but should have been third.  My older sibling was doing great but my other sibling never hatched.  I think he had a broken egg tooth.  He was fully formed and no egg tooth to be found.  I have two other siblings all born after me.  They are doing great also.  My feathers are starting to come in and I look like I am going to be pied.  I was born with plum eyes which makes me have some of my dad's genes, I am going to be an Aussie.

My trouble began two days after being born.  My mom is a new mom and she is very worried about us so every time our owner would come by to check on us she would protect us.  She would protect us even when our owner was feeding us.  Well by day two my mom stepped on my head pretty hard and my owner noticed that I had a swelling and a large bruise on the left side of my head going down to my neck.  She only picked me up once after that to make sure that I was being fed.  She checked in on me every day and noticed that the swelling was going down and the bruise was going away.  I was starting to look normal.  But then as my eyes started to open she noticed that the right eye was disappearing as the left eye was developing.

Now I am 2 weeks old (1/26/02) and My left eye has a tiny opening and I am starting to see daylight.  But my other eye is gone. (pictures below)  You can see my lids and where there is suppose to be an opening but it is the same color as my skin.  But that is not the only thing that is wrong with me, my head is tilted.  My owner thinks because I have only the one eye and I try to use it so I tilt my head.   She also thinks that I am not trying to use my legs properly because I can only see on one side.  I am eating though and growing.  I love to sit in her hand and have her pet me and talk softly to me.

I will make a good pet, I know I will but who will want me.  So my quest begins for a home that wants a baby like me.  My owner thinks that if I am placed with other birds that they might pick on me. 

Update (2/3):  I am starting to look straight ahead.  I keep my head up straight and My left eye is open and my feet are under my body.  I think I might be OK. 

Here is my right eye

Here is a picture of my right side 

Update (2/9) I am now 4 1/2 weeks old and my feathers are coming in.
My Left side

My Right side 

Update (2/14) I am now 5 1/2 weeks old and I have more feathers now and I am so loveable.  When handled I do not know how to perch so I stand on the palm of her hand and I stretch my wings and then I preen my feathers, I even flap them, but I have to be careful because my balance is off and I fall over.
I am trying to stand on my own.

Update (2/21) I am now 6 1/2 weeks old.  I was the first to eat on my own and the first to leave the nest and explore.  I have been trying to stand but I do not bend my legs so I stand on my tippy toes.  I am very talkative always telling the others what I think.
I am chowing down.
 

Update (2/28)  I am 7 1/2 weeks old now and I am learning to perch.  I am a little clumsy and I use both my feet and wings to get around.   I will probably need an aquarium to live in since I can not really perch and climb well.  I will also need to be given water daily with a pipette or syringe.  Maybe some day I will learn how to drink out of a water bottle.
With the help of the hut I can stand.

Update (3/8) I am 8 1/2 weeks old and you should see me I can stand and eat my food.  I can also perch a little too.  I still do not grasp with my feet but the rope perch is large and soft for me to hold onto.  I am still looking for a home, there are people out there that have taken interest in me but I am too scared to fly.   I want to thank all the people out there that have shown an interest in me, everyone sounds like they have a great home.  I think I like the New England weather and I want to stay close to home.

Look at me, I am standing on my own two feet

Watch me chow down

Are you watching me?  

3/9- Now that my siblings are gone I am very lonely.  I am still eating but I have no friends to talk to.   I can perch with out anyone pushing me off. But I still miss my friends.  I know that we are working on getting me a new home with someone that can spend more time with me.

Update (3/10) I have a new Home!  I am now at my new home and it is great.  I have a birdy buddy that I love.  I snuggle right up to it.  I live in a little finch cage and I move room to room with my new mom.  I even sleep in the bedroom at night.
The best new is that I have a new name, You can now call me Blessed Margaret of Castello, or Maggie for short. 

Update (3/27) Well my toys arrived and I just love the bells and beads.  My new mom is so smart and clever, she placed a sponge in my water dish, so in case I fall in I will not hurt myself.  I am quickly learning to get around on my own.

Thank you everyone, for all your stories and Concerns. Special thanks to Sheri for all the lovely toys and your concerns. A special thanks to Debi, for opening your heart and home to this little girl.

Update (6/8)  "Well it has been a couple of months now and Maggie is doing very well in her new home.  She now drinks out of a bottle on her own and eats quite well. I still give her bird formula which she eats out of a spoon, twice a day so she gets enough vitamins.  I give her a combination of seed and Zu Preem. She has lots of toys and she still can't stand. She gets her exercise and amuses herself by climbing around and hanging from the toys. Of course, she rings the bells and beaks the beads and strings. And she's getting doggone stubborn too, just like a normal lovie!  She's feathered out well and is nicely colored.  Her missing eye still leaks but I keep her clean.  She verbalizes a lot and makes her needs know.

Update (7/3)  Maggie is now 6 months old and is doing great.  Her mom sent me some photos and I thought I would post them so you could see how wonderful she is doing.

Maggie at Play.

Maggie resting after playing.

Update (10/23)  Maggie is still doing great!

Update (01/09)
Maggie is celebrating her 1 year Hatch Date. 
"She manages to stand for a few seconds at a time and even flew across the room once. But her specialty is climbing. She can really get around in that cage on all the rope perches. She still snuggles up to her bird buddy to sleep every night. She eats a fair amount of food on her own and drinks from a dish while hanging upside down.  Just to be certain she is getting enough hydration and nutrition, I give her water from a tablespoon twice a day (she drinks it on her own out of the spoon) and I give her Kaytee formula every night (which she also eats out of a spoon, some days lots, some not too much depending on how hungry she is). She has a companion love bird in a separate cage next to hers and they "talk" to each other all the time.  If I have one of them out, the other calls for them. I would not be surprised if Maggie lived an almost normal long life like any other lovie. She certainly has adapted well."
Look at her standing up!