i Mark Weekly Bird Weights & Eggs Laid
As well as keeping my social life on track, my calendar keeps egg production recorded (not mine) so I can tell the doctor (not mine) what she needs to know in order to treat my finches. Tweedle and Puff have a cunning habit of getting riled up when it’s egg-laying season – which, as it turns out, is any day of the year – and when they do, I need to record how many they’re popping out.
While I spend my time running around weighing them and charting their production, the girls are eagerly plotting their next clutch. I initially thought it was charming and rather cute, but there’s nothing like a brisk 72 km drive and several hundred dollars in emergency bills to set things straight. I call it a learning experience. Some just cost more than others.
There’s also nothing worse than taking your birdling to the vet only to be told it’s gained five grams and is now obese. If we had weighed our birds, this would not be happening. Not only is it embarrassing, it’s bad for the bird. Their poor little organs (never mind their legs) have trouble functioning with the added poundage. Imagine a watermelon on toothpicks. Doesn’t look comfy, does it?
Neither is a thin bird good – you may not know it, but weight loss is the first sign your birdlet is sick. They like to keep these things to themselves, as they don’t want to worry you or look like a tempting snack. There is a reason the slowest in the herd get picked out, and they don’t want to go the way of the lame zebra, or gazelle, or emu. It’s really about self-preservation. So you must be as wily as they are and break out the kitchen scale every so often, because grams don’t lie.