Compromised Welfare Indicators

When I work with clients, I always look for gaps in welfare. Though a trainer, technically there to work with behavior, behavior is an indicator of welfare, and behavior is influenced by many factors. Creating an environment for our birds to thrive in can be difficult. Even I can struggle with it! There have been moments I’ve noticed compromised welfare in my own birds that I have had to correct.

What are some indicators of a compromised welfare?

Emotional based, has a bird feels about something quantified by behaviors like aggression, avoidance, and vocalizations. This is a subjective one, but there are indicators universally that we can use to help piece together your birds generalized emotional state.

Function based is the inability to avoid injury or disease. Is your bird clipped? Do they go to the vet? Are they sick? Is their disabilities needs being met?

Nature based is preforming function of behavioral ethogram in a captive setting. Can the bird preform species specific natural behaviors in a captive setting.

Always we need to first meet our birds physiological needs like a good diet, clean water, a healthy enclosure. We need to next be sure we are providing veterinary care. Following we need to meet the birds safety needs to keep them from harm including from other animals, unsafe materials, and utilizing safe caging materials. Those are the bare necessities, and I see people not really meeting them and needing further education.

But we want out birds to thrive, and disallowing these further topics can be a sign of compromised welfare. We need to meet the animals social needs through human interaction or a buddy bird. Their mental stimulation is met, which you can learn more about through our online webinar class on Foraging and Enrichment found on the website (link in bio www.FluffNFeathers.com). And most importantly, we need to give our animals CHOICE! Using force is where I see things start to crumble, or not allowing the birds environment to facilitate choice enough. We micromanage everything about our birds lives, let’s allow them to choose!