Bird health answers — and a real avian vet when you need one.

If your chicken or your parrot is off, this is where to start. Look up what she’s showing, work out how urgent it is, and find an avian vet who will take her.

Common: Sneezing Sour crop Feather loss Egg-bound Bumblefoot
A brown hen in the yard, held gently for a look at her keel.

Common conditions

All Bird Health →
No.
Sign
What it looks like
Severity
01
Sneezing, wheezing, tail-bobRespiratory
Nasal discharge, open-mouth breathing, or a bobbing tail with each breath.
See a vet soon Read →
02
Sour crop, slow cropDigestive
A squishy, warm crop that won’t empty overnight, or a foul-smelling regurgitation.
See a vet soon Read →
03
Egg-bound henReproductive
Straining, waddling, no egg passed in 24 hours. An emergency for pet birds and egg-laying hens.
Emergency Read →
04
Feather loss & pluckingSkin / feather
Bald patches, over-preening, or feathers coming out in chunks. Molt, mites, or picking — the cause changes what you do next.
Home care first Read →
05
Mites, lice, wormsParasites
Restless nights, scaly legs, or worms visible in droppings. Treatable with the right dose.
Home care first Read →
06
BumblefootInjury / skin
Limping, a scab or swelling on the foot pad, or heat under the toes.
Watch closely Read →
07
Sudden loss of a birdInvestigation
When a bird dies with no warning. What the coop and the crop can tell you — with or without a necropsy.
Watch closely Read →
Emergency: call now, minutes matter See a vet soon: don’t wait past today Watch closely: track for 24–48 hours Home care first: solvable at home

Don’t know where to start?

For chickens, parrots, ducks, and the birds people ask about most.
See everything →
01

Bird Basics

Choosing · Species · Lifespan

A green-cheek conure lives 30 years and screams like a smoke alarm; a Silkie hen looks like a stuffed toy and needs a rooster-free coop. What each species is like to live with.

All Bird Basics →
02

Routine Care

Diet · Housing · Hygiene

Chickens don’t need much until they need everything. Feeding, coop and cage, hatch-day fixes — the everyday work that heads off the harder pages.

All Routine Care →
03

Bird Health

Symptoms · Parasites · Meds

Puffed up on the coop floor, straining with no egg, mites on the leg scales — start with what you’re seeing and work back to what it means and how urgent it is.

All Bird Health →
04

Vet Corner

Televet · Prescriptions · Wild birds

Most local vets won’t see chickens and treat “avian” as parrot-only. Help finding the ones who actually will, plus televet options for when there’s no one local.

All Vet Corner →

When home care isn’t enough

Here’s how to find an avian vet.

Home care handles a lot. It doesn’t handle everything. When your bird’s problem crosses the line — a straining hen, a fluffed bird on the cage floor, breathing that’s changed overnight — you need someone who has actually treated birds. Avian vets are rare enough that most owners can’t find one the day they need one. Find yours before you do.

Talk to an avian vet How televet works

Call a vet today if you see

  • 01
    Fluffed and sitting on the cage floor for more than a few hours.
  • 02
    Open-mouth breathing or a tail bobbing with each breath.
  • 03
    A hen straining with no egg passed in 24 hours.
  • 04
    Sudden weight loss you can feel along the keel bone.
  • 05
    Any bleeding that doesn’t stop with steady pressure.

All guides

Full A–Z index →

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