And The Winner is......

Congratulations to NPC Member John Kotsoros for winning the Type Three Division at the National Cage Bird Show held 11/18/11 in Kansas City, MO.

John won the Division with his Yorkie and also won Best Norwich.

Check out John's website at www.johnkotsoros.com for additional information on his wins.

What a gorgeous example of what a Norwich should look like.

                                      2011 Best Norwich at the NCBS Kansas City, MO.

Pre-Breeding Season Rx Suggestion

Prior to breeding season its a good idea to treat your birds and prevent any problems once breeding season starts. Your birds should be off medication (Rx) at least a month prior to breeding.

GIARDIA

By Candace Pezzuti

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Giardia is a single celled, intestinal protozoan parasite. Giardi have been found to cause disease in birds, cats, dogs and even humans. One sure way for humans is eating sushi.

This parasite can be transmitted via the water supply. So be careful when traveling to a bird mart or a show out of town. You should always use bottled water for your birds.

Your own domestic drinking water may carry this parasite. It's always best to use bottled water when traveling, to drink, and for cleaning drinkers and feeders. The safest way to protect your birds is to boil their drinking water or use a reverse osmosis system in your home that filters the drinking water. This is not only good advice for your birds but for your own health as well.

Not only drinking water but any water that is used to clean out feeders, drinkers, etc can be contaminated, if the parasite exist in your water supply.

This parasite can exist in two forms in the blood. One is, trophozoite and the other is cysts traphozoite. The first form is the active form that moves by means of flagella. These parasites attach themselves to the small intestines. The second form are dormant cysts that can shed in the feces from an infected bird. These cyst can survive outside the host and infect other hosts (birds) without showing any symptoms.

All birds are susceptible to Giardia, but FLEDGINGS are the most susceptible. Here is where you will lose your fledgings, for no apparent reason. At about 8 weeks old they will SUDDENLY become sick, they will ruffle up, look sleepy and usually die within a 24-48 hour period. At this stage you will not be able to do anything to save them.

Diagnosis is hard to show through means of necropsy, tissue samples, blood work even electron microscopy will not reveal these parasites. But you can prevent this from happening during your next breeding season.

The treatment of choice is Metronidozole also called Flagyl. Pigeon breeders also use this anti-protozoa treatment for canker.

The Treatment consists of the following:

Use (6) 250 mg tablets crushed (use coffee grinder) to a gallon of distilled water. Always use distilled water when administering medication. Treat for 5 days. Then go off the treatment for a week ( 7 days). Then REPEAT the same process 2 times. So your birds are medicated for a total of 15 days with intervals between treatment times.

The reason for this is that the parasites and protozoa reproductive cycle varies at different stages so this way you are sure to get all of them. An antibiotic such as amoxicillin can be used together with the Metronidazole.

Whenever medicating your birds with medication in their drinking water MAKE SURE THEY ARE DRINKING THE WATER. Some birds can taste the difference in their water and will not drink. You will lose your birds because they stop drinking the water. Make sure you see ALL YOUR BIRDS DRINKING. This is good advice for any type of medication you give your birds. I prefer to add my medication in the egg food. I know they will eat it in the egg food especially if I add peas to it, they don't notice the taste of the medication.

If you did not experience any problems with the mortality of your fledgings then you do not have to use the treatment in the water but can add it to your egg food accordingly. Make sure the amount is not too strong depending on the amount of egg food each bird is given.

Prophylacticly, I use 6 tablets and 4 amoxicillin pills in my egg food ( appx 16 cups of egg food mixture) for 3 days; off a week then on again for another week, one month prior to breeding. This cleans out their system if they do have anything going on. PREVENTION IS THE KEY. ONCE A BIRD HAS AN ACTIVE INFECTION THE TREATMENT DOES NOT WORK IN MY EXPERIENCE.

As I mentioned in my opening paragraph this type of infection is more prominent then you may realize. People do have this condition and won't know unless they have an endoscopy performed. The treatment by the way is exactly the same except the dosage of course is larger.

This article is for information purposes only. I recommend you do your own reading and research on the subject. The author will not be held responsible for anything relating to this article.

This information is from my own experience and research. If you have any problems you should consult your veteranian.

Metronidazole can be obtained by different sources. Most pigeon suppliers carry it such as Siegel's, Jedd's and Global. Thomas Laboratories also has it. For your convenience call 800-359-8387 or visit their website. I do not recommend any particular supplier but offer this information for your convenience.

Remember the full name is Metronidazole also called Flagyl or Fish Zole.

Respectfully submitted by Candace Pezzuti.

 

Happy Halloween

Try feeding this corn bread to your birds. Birds need vitamin A in their diet and this is a good way of providing it. Its easy and simple to make.


Pumpkin Corn Bread

2C           Flour
2C           Yellow Corn Meal
1C           Sugar
1C           Canned Pumpkin
1C           Buttermilk
2C           Water
1/2C        Vegetable Oil
1T            Sea Salt
2T            Baking Powder


Mix together. Bake in Oblong Cake Pan. 350 oven for 45mins-1hr.

Pumpkin was added to this recipe to increase Vitamin A in our birds diet.

To all my NPC Members ........ Happy Halloween.

Candy

Show Time in Belgium

Alain Notett a Champion Breeder, Exhibitor and International Judge is shown here with his latest trophy for winning Best in Show at the Antwerp show in Belgium.

Alain, has been a member of NPC for many years and judged our National three years ago in Lansing, Michigan.  Check out his web site at http://norwich.be

Promoting the Norwich Breed here and in Europe our Club strives to inform the public of the joys and accomplishments that come with the hobby.

                         Show season is here and I hope all our members have a wonderful time.

              BLACK SPOT IN CANARIES

                                                                     
                                         by Ronald & Candace Pezzuti
 

Symptoms: Black Spot appears when chicks hatch. The Black Spot will appear on the Chick’s anatomical right side.  It can vary in size.

The paragraph below, states what most breeders have come to believe as the cause and effect of Black Spot.

   

“Circovirus infections are commonly associated with

immunodeciency-related diseases that are potentially fatal. A

condition known as ` black spot ' of neonatal canaries, characterized

by abdominal enlargement, gall bladder congestion and

failure to thrive, has been described for many years in Europe

and was reported to have been caused by a circovirus

(Goldsmith, 1995). “

I do not believe Black Spot is caused by a virus. My finding are founded on the test results from this year’s breeding season. Here are some of my finding and observations.

1– Not all birds in my aviary had chicks born with Black Spot.

     (8 nests out of 85 cages set up.)

2– Not all the chicks in a clutch had Black Spot.

3– Treatment with antibiotic and high level of protein improved after 3-4 

     Days the health of the chick and the Black Spot disappeared.

4– Chicks developed at a normal rate as the ones not affected and had no

     further sign of illness.

 

Conclusion:

 I believe Black Spot to be a bacterial infection passed from the hen to the

Embryo during development.  Note: each egg develops independently which might explain why only two chicks out of five in the same nest will have Black Spot.

 

A bacterial infection is treatable with antibiotics. On the other hand,

Viruses as you know are not treatable with antibiotics. A virus would

affect all the birds in your Aviary.

The hen or cock can’t be passing the infection from the gut because they continued to feed and the chicks got better.  I, suspect pulling the eggs might be the mode of transmission from our hands or where we store the eggs.

Treatment:

I used this method and had 99% success rate based on the fact that I only lost one chick to Black Spot during breeding season.

This was the first time I had this problem in my aviary and with God’s help gave me the answers I was looking for. Here is what I did.

Kaytee Hand Feeding Formula ….. One Scoop Full = (4 Tablespoons)

Mixed with Distilled Water* to the appropriate consistency.

Heat formula before ** adding any other ingredient.

Then Add: 1 teaspoon of Liquid Cod Liver oil

                  1 teaspoon of Guardian Angel Vitamin/Mineral Supplement

                  1 capsule of Amoxicillin 250 mg

Note:  I fed my chicks 5 times per day so the concentration of

            medication should be noted if you feed less per day.       

 

*Always use Distilled Water when administrating medication.

Organic material in tap water reduces the effectiveness of antibiotics.

 **Heating destroys vitamins/minerals and antibiotics.

Please note the purpose of this article is for information to other breeders based on my own personal experiences. If you have any problems, please consult a Veteranian if you have a sick bird in your aviary.

Its Show Season

Fellow Hobbyists:

This is a new blog dedicated to NPC and all its members present and past who worked tirelessly to improve the Norwich Canary here in the United States.

I know we're all busy getting ready for our shows. Hopefully, everyone will attend as many local shows as possible. Our National is being held in Kansas City, MO. this year, hope to see everyone there.

Our hobby keeps us pretty busy all year long but it pays off when your bird wins that ribbon or trophy as being the best representation of its breed, in any class, section or division.

NPC, donates free of charge to all local clubs a Best Norwich Certificate, upon request. Email me if you would like to receive one for your show.

Best of Luck on the Show Bench,
Candy