Bird Health

Something’s wrong — start here.

When something looks clearly wrong, start with what you’re seeing. Work back from the symptom to the likely cause, and to how urgent it is.

Birds are prey animals: visible symptoms are almost always further along than they look. Getting to the right answer fast is the whole game.

A close portrait of an alert, healthy bird

Parasites: mites, lice, and worms

The mite, worm, and lice references most keepers land on first. Start with the mite, worm, or lesion you’re actually seeing.

  • Ivermectin for birds and chickens

    Doses for the antiparasitic most keepers reach for — what it treats, per-species amounts, the egg-withdrawal window, and why parrot dosing is not chicken dosing.

  • Deworming chickens

    How to plan a deworming program without over-treating — fecal floats, drug-class rotation, and when a worm burden actually needs treating.

  • Feather mites on chickens

    Northern fowl mite and red mite: identifying which one you have, treating the bird, and treating the coop so the reinfestation doesn’t happen.

  • Scaly leg mites

    The burrowing mite that turns smooth yellow scales into thick white crust. Early signs, treatment options, and the reason topical alone is rarely enough.

  • Bumblefoot: signs and treatment

    The Staphylococcus foot infection: how to spot early lesions, when home care is reasonable, and when it needs the vet.

Respiratory illness and skin

Aspergillosis, psittacosis, fowl pox: the classic respiratory and integument conditions in birds.

  • Aspergillosis

    Fungal respiratory disease — the one that hides for weeks in pet birds and is often terminal by the time it’s diagnosed. Prevention matters more than treatment here.

  • Psittacosis

    Chlamydia psittaci: zoonotic, which means it can transmit to humans. Symptoms, treatment, and what it means for the people in the household.

  • Fowl pox

    Dry-form skin lesions and wet-form throat lesions, transmission, and why vaccination is the real answer if pox is regional in your area.

  • Why is my chicken or pet bird sneezing?

    A one-off sneeze is usually dust; sneezing paired with runny eyes, gaping, or a wheeze is respiratory infection — the signs that say wait-and-watch versus call the vet today.

  • Is bird flu deadly, and can humans get it?

    Avian influenza is a family of viruses that live naturally in wild birds — what the highly pathogenic strains do to backyard flocks, and the real-world risk to humans.

Digestive and crop

Crop and digestive conditions across pet birds and poultry, from sour crop to coccidiosis.

  • Sour crop in chickens: how to treat

    A crop that stays full and squishy overnight — home care basics, when it’s really crop stasis, and the signs that mean a same-day vet call.

Egg and laying problems

Egg binding, abnormal eggs, and the reproductive-tract conditions that follow.

A worried keeper carrying a bird in a small carrier towards a car

Emergency and sudden death

The “she was fine yesterday” moment, predator attacks, heat stress, frostbite.

  • Why did my bird die so suddenly

    The “she was fine yesterday” moment — sudden-death causes in chickens and pet birds, and how a necropsy works if you want answers.

  • Treating ascites or ‘water belly’ in chickens

    Water belly is fluid trapped in a chicken’s abdomen from a failing right heart — a chronic condition a vet can drain for comfort but can’t cure, and one worth catching early.

Behavior, feathers, and molt

Feather picking vs molting, and the medical rule-outs before you accept a behavioral diagnosis.

  • Feather picking vs molting

    The distinction matters: one is normal seasonal loss, the other is a medical or behavioral problem. How to tell.

When to see a vet

One check matters more than any specific diagnosis: does what you’re seeing need a vet today, in the next couple of days, or not yet?

Call a vet the same day if you see: labored breathing, open-mouth breathing, or tail-bobbing at rest; sudden weakness, inability to stand, or collapse; bleeding that doesn’t stop within a few minutes; seizures or head-tilt with loss of balance; a hen straining unproductively for more than a few hours; any bird sitting fluffed at the bottom of the cage or standing apart from the flock and unresponsive.

Get vet input in the next day or two if you see: off feed for more than 24 hours; weight loss you can feel on the keel bone; sustained change in droppings; any new lump, swelling, or lesion.

If your local vet search is coming up empty — which it often does for birds — Vet Corner covers how to find an avian vet and when a televet is enough. Vet Corner →

All Bird Health guides →
All Bird Health guides →