Who’s a pretty boy now then?
Jackie the parrot with his new beak.
HOW do you fix a poorly parrot’s cracked beak? Polly-filler?
Course not. What you need is a car repair kit.
At least that’s what Morpeth vets Robson and Prescott used to help give African Grey parrot Jackie a clean bill of health.
And now the biscuit-dunking bird is back at his Stanley home, shouting his orders for a morning cuppa and half a Rich Tea – much to the delight of his owners Sharon and Paul Barrett, and their son Connor.
Mr Barrett said: “It’s great to have him back.
“He’s not eating his own food yet because we have to crush it up and he thinks it’s just crumbs so he won’t touch it, but his favourite when we get up in the morning is to ask for a cup of tea, then he wants cheese, then he wants his Rich Tea biscuits. He uses his beak to dunk them in his tea – he loves it.”
Jackie’s ordeal began when one of the Barretts’ dogs collided with his cage, causing damage to his beak.
The bird was referred to a practice in Newcastle, which passed him on to Robson and Prescott at Whorral Bank for specialist care. First his beak was wired, but the fix was not strong enough to last so vet Sam Prescott nipped along to a car repair shop and picked up a fibreglass repair kit. It did the trick and within days Jackie was dunking once more.
Mrs Barrett said: “At first he was in shock at what happened to him and being taken to a strange place. He must have thought nobody wanted him, but when we went to visit he started talking again and he’s back to normal now – he never shuts up and he’s dunking his biscuits every morning.
“He’s a devil because he keeps saying, ‘do you want to go out?’ just to wind up the dogs so they start barking to go out, but I’m pleased he’s back.”
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Weather for Morpeth
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 10 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 10 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
