Emma Lynn's Story

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Emma is a 3 and a half year old, special abled Congo African grey.
I first found out about her, by searching the net
and finding an ad for someone trying to find a home for a disabled grey.
I started writing to the breeder who told me the story of her life so far.
She was the only egg out of two clutches to survive. The parents were
to younger greys that this breeder just rescued out of a garage. The first
time she set them up to breed, all was fine, till they cracked the eggs in
the nest. She took off the nest box and boosted up the calcium intake and
fresh foods. Soon after that, another clutch was laid, and soon after the
3rd egg(Emma) the parents broke the first two and Emma was pulled.
She was placed in an incubator and that was her home. We theorize Emma's
Egg was not turned as much as it would have been by her birdy parents if left
in the nest. We believe Emma's head stuck to the egg yolk sac, and it left her
permanently disabled with a twisted neck.

It was love at first site, when the breeder sent me her picture. A little baby,
not all her feathers, wearing an awful neck brace. I cried when I saw her because
I had just lost my beloved Sampson Bell. She reminded me so much of him.
From the little red band on the same leg as Sampson, down to the awful neck
brace they shared. Sampson left this world, and his last days, wearing a brace,
that Emma was starting her life wearing. It tore me apart.


I printed out her picture, and kept it with me. I would spend hours just
staring at her picture on the computer screen, waiting for another update.

It was not known if Emma would ever be able to perch, fly, eat on her own or talk.
Sadly, the breeder wanted money for her, which I did not have. Emma's price
was $600.00 I was so deeply in debt over Sampson’s Medical bills, I was rolling
change just to survive. At that time in my life, I was going through a divorce,
was very sick, and was $7,000 in debt over Sampsons remaining bills. Each time
I even considered that I might be coming close enough to get her, something
came up. The breeder herself was going through a hard time, and had moved
into a friend’s house after splitting with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was giving
her a hard time to get rid of the bird.
At the same time, my father became very Ill with Vascular Dementia, a disease
that has no cure, and eats away at you very much like Alzheimer’s. I took my
dads two greys out of his house since he could no longer take care of them.
A day later, my dad ended up collapsing and being rushed to the hospital, never
to return home. I now had two African greys on my dining room table, and a VERY
small house.
I had no room for Emma.
All this time I was in contact with the breeder. She would still send me pictures
with the understanding that Emma was going to be sold to the first person that
came up with the money. I would send Emma toys so I felt part of me was with her.
Eventually, I found a home for one of my dad's greys,who BTW HATED me....and
Stirling was moved into the bird room.
9 months after Emma was born, and still without a home, I went to go pick her up.
Yes, there was still an adoption fee. I had managed to save some, but through a
special friend I once had, it was made possible that Emma was coming home to spend
her life with me. It was one of the best days of my life.

Emma has come along way. She is able to perch, eat, fly in circles and even talk
somewhat. Emma has been to one of the best Avian Vets available to her, for a
check up to make sure all is well. It is a good possibility that Emma will have
Arthritis down the road. But other than that, everything else looks good.
I have to admit, she is the one bird I carry health insurance on because
I don’t know what the future holds for her.
She had learned to thrive in her environment. Little things are different with her,
say compared to her Brothers, Sydney and Stirling (different breeders, but still her
brothers in this household) He cage is shorter, so she doesn’t have far to
fall off her perch when she is sleeping. Her playpen is also lower. She has a hard
time eating certain things, such as chick peas, and they happen to be one of her
favorites
She is very loving, and trusting.
Because of her disability, I have actually met several people with birds
that have the same disability as Emma. One, Gemini, you are getting to know
by the story her mom Bonnie, is sharing with us. Gemini is the oldest out of this
special abled flock, followed by Norton, a Congo grey, Ulrich, an Eclectus,
and Sylvain, another Congo grey. Both Ulrich and Sylvain are younger then Emma.
If you think about it, we all come here to ask questions and learn from each other.
While the easy questions are answered, the hard ones for ME remain. Who do
I have to talk to about what the future holds for Emma. The answer is the people
who have taken in these special birds way before I did. Through Gemini's
and Norton's moms, I am able to find comfort.
The Dr's don’t even know how to answer my questions and tell me just to give
her the best quality life I can. I hope I am able to do so.

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No longer an active member

You are such a great person, you must be under so much stress, I know it helps to look into a pair of loving parrot eyes I hope she lives a wonderful life with minimal problems. What insurance do you use? Do you have any more pictures of emma?

Thank you, but I am nothing special. Just someone who treasures the ones who appear different, but are no less then perfect!!!!
I have lots of pics of Emma but this (older) woman needs a nap right bout now. ..(not much sleep last night!) so I will post some more later..... the insurance I have is VPI and it is listed under the health topics on this board.
The insurance article that was written was about me. Insurance doesnt cover much, but after what I went through, something might end up being better than nothing in Emma's case.

Thank you Lisa, I never tire of hearing about your wonderful babes. Emma is a very special and lovely little girl. I can't believe she is four already!

You under estimate yourself my friend!!!

You have/had a lot of heartache in your life and you rose above it, you should be proud of yourself for what you have accomplished.

Touching story Lisa.

Sally, True, but it also made me who I am **LOL**J/K

Thank you, and to Everyone else as well!

Hey, I only said you rose above it there was no mention of how you ended up!

I love Emma's story!! You are such a good person Lisa!