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A Plan to Save Lives
What does a business plan for a nonprofit bird sanctuary look like? How do you manage day to day activities?
This excerpt from The Chloe Sanctuary business plan covers the daily schedule for homing and rehabilitation parrots and cockatoos. Of course, the full business plan covers every aspect of the operation including funding and record keeping. This section deals with bird management.
We look forward to the day when we open the doors to a facility that can house up to 200 birds for special care.
It is quite an undertaking but the lives saved are worth the effort.
There are two stages to the plan. Stage one will consist of home fostering. Birds in rehabilitation will be fostered to the homes of volunteers who will act as trainers and companions to needy parrots and cockatoos. Stage two will be facility based; we will house from one to two hundred birds and rehabilitate them on site. Birds from both programs will be adopted out, when possible, to permanent homes that are suitable.
The organization’s activities will consist primarily of rescuing and rehabilitating parrots and cockatoos. The volunteer staff will process birds to enter the rehabilitation cycle and then put them up for adoption. This amounts to 80% of the organization’s activities.
The work will be primarily conducted in parrot foster homes by volunteers. If possible, a location for an actual location will be obtained in the distant future.
The balance of our efforts will be in:
1. Educating caretakers on proper care of psittacines (parrots and cockatoos).
2. Educating the public on psittacine welfare.
3. Funding our organization.
Details follow below.
BIRD CARE
The majority of our time will be spent caring for psittacine birds. Humane societies rarely care for parrots and cockatoos. In the San Diego area the need is great. Caring for the birds will be our primary activity. Below is a summary of daily care for psittacine birds. That activity in brief involves cleaning cage, fresh food and dry preparation, administration of medicine, training using applied behavioral analysis, purchasing and distribution and record keeping.
Breakfast is begun. Breakfast consists of bowls of fruits and vegetables chopped up into various sizes according to the size and needs of the individual birds. Cooked food is also prepared. Certain nutrients such as vitamin A are essential to a bird’s diet. It can be difficult to get a bird to eat the vegetables necessary to obtain this vitamin. Preparations made with yams and peanut butter mixed with various types of dried fruits such as dates, raisins, apricots, and figs provide many of the nutrients needed. The full story on parrot nutrition is a mystery. Most of the information we have comes from the poultry industry. The physical makeup of parrots is considerably different. We do know that they are highly sensitive to pesticides and mold. For this reason we provide a wide variety of organic foods and rinse them with vinegar solution to remove molds. Birds are given their morning meals.
During this process it is important to socialize with a bird. These are social creatures and require interaction. A lack of interaction may lead to psychoses. Human knowledge of parrots and cockatoos is minimal. New texts such as the “Manual of Parrot Behavior “and “Psittacine Birds” provide insight but more studies are needed.
Their water has one drop of kelp extract added on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for additional important nutrients. Remedies such as Chamomilla, Bach’s flower remedies or St. Johns Wort are added for those that pluck or are exhibiting aggression. A key goal of the Chloe Sanctuary is to rehabilitate these birds and place them in loving permanent homes.
The cages which were cleaned out last night are checked again. A check is made of the day cages to confirm that they are safe and properly stocked with toys for the day’s inhabitants. Particular attention should be paid to any environmental threats as well as the security and soundness of the cage, its locking device in particular. Immediate corrections are made if necessary.
If the bird will be outside, those cages are checked for insects such as spiders or snakes that may have found a way into the. Raptors that may cause trouble are noted. The condition of the toys in a cage should be checked. Some toys are sterilized and rotated each day so that each cage has new toys each week. Birds and cockatoos become bored with toys quickly. It is important to ensure that those enrichment objects are regularly rotated, clean and safe.
Visitation will be permitted by appointment.
Sterilization and rotation of the toys is done at this time according to the schedule. Water and food bowls cleaned last night are sterilized today.
After breakfast, each bird is transferred from its smaller inside cage to its larger day cage. Parrots and cockatoos often find the smaller cage for sleeping a safer environment; day cages require a great deal of room. Having two cages is recommended so that socialization occurs while being transferred to the outside cage. During this time it is important for the volunteers to play with the birds and interact socially. Many toy gyms and places to play are available on the way to the day cage. And during this process it is important for the volunteer to assess the physical and mental condition of each bird including its weight and plumage.
Drugs or prescription supplements may occur at this time or at such times as required by the caretaker in charge. Any anomalies should be immediately reported to the executive director at once if critical, or later that day if the issue is clearly not a critical one. The logbook of each bird is updated. Behavioral issues can be circled and notes written at the bottom. Particular attention should be paid to issues such as plucking and aggression. The logbook is designed according to behaviorist principles and allows for quick responses to save time but covers a multitude of possibilities. It has been gleaned from the text “The Manual of Parrot Behavior” and references to the works of Dr. Friedman, a noted and influential Psittacine psychologist.
Birds that need to be taken to see the vet are taken after feeding unless surgery is required, appointments pending. One day of the month is set aside for microchip insertions. All bird requiring microchips are processed on one day. The microchips are purchased before and with our information recorded in them. This further saves costs. The cost of the veterinarian is only to make the insertion. The microchips can contain two owners – a primary and a secondary. Should the bird be adopted out and the new home prove adequate a second owner may be added. The Chloe sanctuary will always remain the primary on the microchip.
Copies of vet bills and diagnostic test results are saved in the birds folder an in the Animal Shelter Manager program.
Incoming birds should have a proven veterinary history. All incoming birds must be checked by our veterinarian prior to quarantine. Test include DNA testing for PFAB and other circoviruses such as those for PBAF and PDD. A physical inspection of the bird’s eyes, nares and feces is critical followed immediately by blood and fecal work. The bird must be housed in quarantine for 30 days without exception. Anyone coming into contact with new arrivals must wear a sterile jumpsuit and follow decontamination procedures. Those that care for quarantines must use decontamination procedures after each interaction.
Any bird that becomes ill must be quarantined and a similar procedure followed until lab results are received. In the interest of birds already homed at the sanctuary, this may require immediate veterinary assistance.
Once the birds are located outside the process of cleaning the inside cages begins. Food and water dishes are cleaned and sterilized. Cages are cleaned and sterilized. Two primary cleaners are used for sterilization. These are vinegar and grapefruits seed extract/water. The respiratory tract of Psittacines is delicate. Most of the harsh chemicals used industrially are potentially lethal to birds as are Teflon and Carpet Fresh. For the reason, it is important to use safe cleaning products that do not house lethal airborne contaminants. Using standard cleaning techniques the cages are cleaned from top to bottom. The end of the process is removing the paper that catches waste in the tray below and cleaning the tray with vinegar.
Some birds are not caged during this process. There are perches available for uncaged birds. This is part of the socialization process. Birds that will remain on a perch are allowed to do so if supervised and encouraged to interact. Care is taken to ensure the birds that do not favor each other are not perched too close.
Once all the cages are cleaned this way the sterilized food dishes and bowls are returned to the cages filled with the evening food. As in the morning a variety of fruits and vegetables and cooked foods are offered as well as treats. Care must be taken in giving treats to parrots because they should not ingest salt or milk products. Some items such as sunflower seeds and peanuts are much desired by parrots. They are of limited value and must be given in tiny quantities and usually when a particular behavior is desired.
At night the birds are returned to their night cages. Again, this is not simply moving the birds. This is a time of socialization and observation. The condition of the bird both physically and emotionally is observed and recorded. This is as much playtime for the bird as it is being moved.
Final “bed” checks are made and any comments that volunteers and caretakers may have are recorded.
Lighting in the bird’s night room is maintained to keep a roughly 12 hour night as many birds are equatorial in the wild and have special light receptive skin.
Training is done just before moving the birds into their night cages. Training follows the Applied Behavioral Analysis protocols.
When the bird has demonstrated the required behavioral and medical changes it is placed on our adoption list.
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