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So we're going to health check
 a small parrot species today.

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So this is Kiwi. 

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So before we even attempt,
 picking the animal out of the enclosure

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it's really important that
 we must wash our hands before we handle

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So this is to prevent
 any cross contamination 

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to either you or the bird,
 because he is a bird species,

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he is quite susceptible to bird flu,

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which is a notifiable disease
 which can affect humans.

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What we also need to do 

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is we need to look
 at the animal's behavior and the enclosure

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just to make sure it's safe
 before we enter.

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If all these things are met and OK, then
 we can commence with the health check.

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So some of the demonstrations
 that I'll be going through today

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may or may not be applicable to you,
 depending on your birds aggression.

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So as always, we're
 going to be starting from the head.

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So with birds, we're going to have a look
 at the head feathers,

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making sure that these feathers are
 all in place as and where they should be;

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making sure it's following
 the same sort of pattern, which it is.

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Then we're going to have a look
 at the animal's eyes.

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Just to make sure
 that they are nice and open

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and not gunky or crusted over.

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No, they're absolutely fine.  So we are going to move on to

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the nostrils; again,
 making sure there is no discharge,

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any crustiness, anything like that,
 which it's not, it's nice and healthy.

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You shouldn't see any redness
 around the nostril

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unless it's that animals
 specific coloration that is.

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Next, we're going to check the beak. 

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So common issues
 that happen with beaks in captivity

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is they do tend to become overgrown.

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But Kiwi's beak is not overgrown.

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It's very nice. Reasons
 for overgrown beaks can be anything from

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dietary or the animal's
 not got the access to rub it down.

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So usually we offer birds
 things like Iodine Blocks or cuttle bone

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disks or box just to gnaw that beak,
 just to keep a natural, healthy length.

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So that looks absolutely fine. 

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Then we're going
 to have a look in the mouth. 

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You just open your mouth
 for me or your beak?

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I will look in your mouth. Here we go.

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Perfect. So inside the mouth, it should be
 a really nice, healthy pink color.

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It shouldn't be yellow. 

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There should be no discharge
 or any bad smells, anything of that sort.

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So next once we've checked
 the head. We're going to go down.

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So sometimes with birds is a little bit
 more difficult to do

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health checks, especially those
 that have got really thick feathers.

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But we just have to go through ever so gently, ever so gently and work through it.

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So that feels absolutely fine.

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So next, we're going to check the wings
 using your thumb and index finger,

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having a look, spreading those wings out
 ever so gently though.

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So bird bones are hollow inside. So we do need to 

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take extra care with these
 just to make sure that they don't break.

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So have a look on this.  Make sure all the feathers
 that are supposed to be there.

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Yep, that's absolutely fine.

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So as we said before, Kiwi can't fly.

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So his wings are a little bit displayed.

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For him, this is completely normal.

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I know. So movingdown from there.

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We're going to check the rest of the body.

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I'm going to move you
 on this way for Kiwi. Thank you.

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So next, we're going to check the feet. 

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So typically illnesses
 relating to the feet that we see are

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the most common is Bumblefoot. 

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So this is usually
 because of the substrate

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or the cage itself
 that the animal is kept on.

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So it happens when the feet are exposed
 to bare metal constantly, all the time.

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These can then leads
 to cracking and inflammation

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and then they can get infected. 

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Another issue that we tend to see with
 birds feet are really long claws.

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And this is because in the wild,
 naturally, they'd be climbing and grasping

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onto different surfaces 

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but in captivity they tend to remain
 quite stagnant in their movement.

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Well, no Kiwi's feet
 look absolutely fine, as do his nails.

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Next, we're going to check is the cloaca.

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So just like reptiles and amphibians,
 birds also have cloacas.

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Birds and reptiles are kind of closely
 related as well.

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So we're just going to check there. 

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So if we was to see any baldness
 around the cloaca,

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that could be a cause for concern. 

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If we were to see any stuck
 feces around the feathers,

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that also could be a cause for concern.

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So and just overall, 

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given the animal a nice visual health
 check, does the animal in general

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look nice and healthy?  So Kiwi does look nice and healthy. 

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Apart from obviously
 his last two tail feathers.

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This is just because he was born this way.

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But this is perfectly normal
 for Kiwi himself,

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and that's how we do a health check
 on a small parrot species.