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Re: african grey and cockatoo
Posted by GreyLady on 5/11/09

On 5/10/09, kelly wrote:
> On 5/09/09, GreyLady wrote:
>> How old are they? Are they babies or grown birds? If they
>> had previous owners, how much do you know about their past
>> history?
> These are all grown birds, I got the u2s from a woman in nh
> who rescued the 2 from a bad situation-they are I have no idea
> how old, but they lay a lot of eggs and have given me one baby
> in the 7 months I have owned them, the grey is 6 and a
> plucker, but not as bad as the u2s, although the male is not
> a plucker and the female is totally naked chest, I just wonder
> how long it will take before they realize they are in a happy
> home-no stress, no yelling, living on a farm in front of a
> nice picture window with lots of light and I completely close
> them in at night so they can get good rest. All have access
> to the tv and natural light, quiet, fresh fruit and veggies in
> the day and roudy bush for their vitamins. Maybe I am just
> too over anxious. And they all also have free time outside ss
> from their cages when I am home ( 80&37; of the time) and lots
of
> toys to play with. I also cook them lots of scrambled eggs
> from my free range chickens.

Okay, thanks for the extra info. It helps. It sounds like you
are doing the right things. It's just going to take time. The
thing about parrots is, they are usually pets or they are breeder
birds and rarely both. For breeders to be successful, they have
to have as little interaction and "disturbance" from humans as
possible. So they have probably never been used to the new kind
of lifestyle you are now providing. How long they will stay wary
and distrustful is not something we can predict. About all you
can do is continue as you are, showing them they can trust you.
They may eventually come around or they may not. The plucking
may come from previous frustrations in their enviornment, maybe
having chicks pulled from them too soon and several other
possibilities. But, the thing with plucking is there are usually
only two basic causes. Behaviorial or a health issue. If they
continue it, it might not hurt to get them a check up with a good
Avian vet. If by chance there is any health issue, then working
on it from a behavioral approach is only spinning your wheels.
One thing I want to mention is the light situation. You say they
have "natural light" but not unless you are providing it from a
proper full spectrum light. If they are getting their light
through a window, they are not getting what they need. All
modern windows filter out the very part of the spectrum that our
birds need. That's because it's the same part that fades our
drapes, carpet and furniture. Another thing is proper bathing
opportunities. If they haven't had that, some of the plucking
could be that they are uncomfortable. Both Greys and Toos are
very high dust/dander birds and need good soaking baths. Good
for them, good for your housekeeoping chores. My Grey likes a
large flat cake pan, filled with ice cubes and cold water. Yep,
sounds wierd but..........Also, running the vac can inspire many
of them to take a good bath, for reasons known only to the bird.
If you can get them to take a good bath, whether in a pan or by
misting, you can try adding 100% pure aloe juice to the bath
water. Not an over the counter product that "contains aloe" as
that can be dangerous. I get mine straight from one of the many
aloe plants I keep growing at all times. Cut off an arm, slit it
open and mix the gooey center in the water. It's very soothing
and pure aloe is as good for their insides as their outsides so
you don't have to worry how much you use. Check out the link for
more info on that. That's about all I can think of at the
moment. Good luck with them.


Aloe-Parrot Pharmacy in a Leaf

Posts on this thread, including this one

• african grey and cockatoo, 5/09/09, by kelly.
• Re: african grey and cockatoo, 5/09/09, by GreyLady.
• Re: african grey and cockatoo, 5/10/09, by kelly.
• Re: african grey and cockatoo, 5/11/09, by GreyLady.
• Re: african grey and cockatoo, 5/12/09, by kelly.
• Re: african grey and cockatoo, 5/13/09, by GreyLady.