White Rocks Dying or Not Thriving

• Check temperature – Too hot? Too cold?
• Check air quality (ventilation and oxygen levels)
• Check bird density – Are birds overcrowded?
• Check feeder and waterer space – Does every bird have equal and ample access?
• Check growth rate – Are birds growing too quickly
• Check sodium (salt) levels in feed and water – too much salt can cause Ascities
• Check water quality
• Parasites
• Worms

• Check light – both hours per day and intensity
• Check maturity – Was there a setback during the growing period that has delayed maturity?
• Check feed – Protein levels too low? Overfeeding scratch or table scraps?
• Add a vitamin supplement to drinking water
• Check for overcrowding
• Check for other stressors – poor ventilation, frights from other animals, disease, parasites, extreme temperatures
• Whip worm (internal parasite)

• Boredom and lack of exercise
• Overcrowding
• Heat with inadequate ventilation
• Failure to isolate injured (especially bleeding) and aggressive birds immediately
• Feeding/watering stations too few, too close together, or hard to find or reach
• High-calorie/low-fibre rations (birds satisfy nutritional needs quickly and get bored)
• Too much light – try dimming lights, installing coloured lights, turning lights off at night
• Nutritional imbalances – e.g., too little salt or protein
• External parasites (birds pick out their own feathers causing bleeding that attracts other birds)

• Too rapid growth (birds too heavy for their legs) – this is especially common in White Rocks
• Malnutrition due to poor feed quality, too rapid growth, or, in hot weather or periods of stress, undereating
• Improper flooring – slippery, damp, cold
• Insufficient exercise
• Disease or injury