When Being Clean Isn’t Always a Good Thing

Being clean isn’t a good thing when it weakens your bird’s immune system and its chances of fighting things off without prescription anti-biotics. Sometimes it’s necessary to use them, but if you can help it, it’s best to raise your bird in an environment where it never gets to the point of being so susceptible.

There are tons of scientific studies out there now talking about how being too clean can be harmful, and that a little dirt could do ALL of us some good. When you attempt to kill harmful bacteria, you also end up killing some of the GOOD bacteria.

A really good friend of mine would always get sick when no one else would. And no one else would get sick from him, but he got sick so easily we all wondered why. It turned out that his mom would give him anti-biotics every time he got sick as a kid, and it just completely beat down his immune system to the point where it couldn’t fight for itself.

Think about how birds live OUTSIDE in the wild. Many of them digging into the dirt of the Earth all day. Then think about how often you clean up around them. Sure, they’re messy and you want to get rid of fresh food before it spoils, but are you possibly keeping things TOO clean around your bird? To the point where your bird couldn’t handle being outside in aviary or outdoor cage because it just couldn’t handle what might be out there?

My birds practically live between outdoor aviaries and travel cages. When they fly outside they’re constantly hanging out after flights chewing on the rocks, grass, clumps of dirt and scraps of wood at the flight locations we find in the middle of nowhere.

They would be doing this in the wild too, so I think it’s great for them to be doing with us. They love the red rock in Moab, and they have a ball in the dirt floors of our aviaries picking at the grass and rolling on their backs in play on the soft soil.

I honestly believe an outdoor aviary is one of the BEST things you can possibly do for your parrot. I think it’s one of the closest things to nature we can provide and I feel that having that access to the outside elements really benefits our feathered friends in more ways than we can imagine.

Here are a few ways my parrots benefit from outdoor enclosures:

• They’re immune systems have built up resistance naturally from growing up the way they have; in travel cages, indoor cages and outdoor aviaries.
• It keeps them closer to nature and less phobic of outdoor occurrences such as other wildlife, sounds, wind, rain and MANY other elements. They are much less likely to spook than other birds.
• Their sleeping habits mimic the wild.
• They enjoy preening themselves on a high perch when it’s windy out because the wind carries all their dander and loose feathers away, keeping them feeling nice and clean.
• They have many reasons to NEVER PLUCK. Aside from using flight as a means to get around in their cages, they also need their feathers for insulation in the heat and cold therefore having a good purpose to keep them well cared for.
• There are many more foraging opportunities in an aviary with the means to create the environment around them vs. inside an indoor cage where you may be more limited by the grates and indoor elements.
• Breathing fresh air every day. My birds aren’t affected by the same regulated temperature all the time and can handle fluctuating temperatures without feeling stressed.
• Constant natural rain bathing. Birds need be bathing very often, especially birds with more dander than others.
• Many, many more.

So what’s the bottom line? Well, it ISN’T to not clean your bird’s cage anymore. Poop shouldn’t be reaching the birds well after the grate should have stopped it… and you shouldn’t leave fresh foods in there until they’re rotten and spoiled. Mold is not a good thing. However, an outdoor aviary IS, and it does not have to be spotless. Dirt, rocks, wood, things they would naturally encounter that don’t have a “human touch” to them (cleaned with harmful products) are great for your birds to encounter and experience.

If you have a plucked parrot already, think about the benefits of letting your bird be outside and BE A BIRD. Most plucked parrots are clipped, so why take care of their feathers when they don’t use them? Give your bird a reason to keep his feathers. An aviary might just do this for you. And you can start by just putting your bird out for a little while until eventually you can leave it out all day. For most “AC” birds (birds used to a specific temperature) you will want to start when your outside weather mimics the inside weather, and gradually get to other temperatures by letting your bird stay out longer and longer as the weather eventually changes with the season. In Florida, this can happen year round but other places may not have that luxury and you may only be able to keep your bird out in certain seasons.

It also provides baths a lot more often than you might be able to provide. Parrots bathe ALL THE TIME in the wild whether they take themselves to a spring, pond, puddle, river or some other body of water to wash down in or if they get rained on. It rains all the time here in Florida and my birds LOVE bathing outside. Your bird might need some time to get used to the idea, but once he does, he will be grateful.

After having an aviary (actually, three) myself, I believe EVERY parrot owner should have one for their bird(s).