Body condition scoring or BCS is a useful tool for assessment of a patient’s general health status and evaluation of a patient’s food supply. The BCS system described below is based on scores between 1 and 5, with 1 being emaciated and 5 being obese for the “generic” bird. Currently there is no universally agreed upon BCS system for the avian patient due to…
Intramuscular injections in birds are given into the pectoral muscle mass, which consists of superficial and deep pectoral muscles with a prominent fascial plane in between. View the brief video illustrating this clinical technique or review text with image.
Microchip implantation provides permanent and unique identification. This article describes the equipment needed and the technique involved for this procedure. During microchip implantation, the avian patient may be awake and manually restrained or placed under general anesthesia. The battery-free transponder or microchip is placed superficially into the pectoral muscle mass. Potential complications are rare but can include evidence of pain in the bird, hemorrhage, infection, or accidental subcutaneous placement of the chip.
