Caroline Wood from Lincolnshire has always had a great passion for animals, and has spent over 20 years working with racehorses, ten of those in Ireland. But, after sustaining an injury in 1990, was forced to return home, and she helped her mother run a dog boarding kennels, and worked part-time for her local vet.

Ten years later, and just prior, to a brief encounter she had with breast cancer, Caroline began to take in rescue parrots, which she says, rather than being a burden at this time, were her strength.

I had bred and hand-reared a few cockatiels, but it wasn’t until I walked into a motor-cycle workshop with my partner Rick, back in November 1990, and spotted a tiny feather-plucked cockatiel chick, tucked-up in a box on top of a radiator, that a whole new world of companion parrots opened up for me.

The cockatiel chick, rescued from abusive parents, was being hand-reared. A few weeks later, Dessie became my Christmas present, and I still have him today. He is a delight, and enjoys taking titbits from my mouth, but if he gets half the chance will take the food from my plate too! Dessie has a good appetite, but as a youngster he was always a bit of a weakling, and from 6-12 months old, suffered from Candida on and off. In those days, my vet put him on a course of children’s multi-vitamins, and he grew out of the problem.

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