A Parrot for Keeps

Ohh, the Winter Wind!

2013-02-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

Had a fair amount of snow here this winter, not ever an accumulation over a few inches, but it has snowed fairly often. And gotten quite cold, not into the twenties many days, I think I even had a day or two with a wind chill below zero- which is something for me, so if you are in Minnesota, don't laugh! Having not been here but a year and a half, I can't say whether it is very normal for here. Then again, it probably isn't, since climate change has insured no one gets the weather quite as expected.

The parrots do not seem to mind the winter if you ignore the fact they do not get outside that often. I do not keep my house that warm in the winter, and even the "free as air" (ehem) set in their brief feather attire have not shown any sign of caring. The only ones that do have a problem is the ekkies, and that seems to be related to how dry it is rather than the temperature. It is hard every year when the plucking gets worse, not that I can blame them. My lungs do not care for really dry air either. I hang wet towels and boil water for moisture, but really need to look into a new humidifier, since the plastic-whatever used to make my old one has broken down over the years and I am now not entirely sure of how safe it is now. I wonder if anyone makes a glass/metal one????

The past month has been fairly monotonous, lots of knitting and cleaning and parrot cleaning. Yes, they get separate categories, although I should probably change it to dog cleaning and parrot cleaning, since Alasdair creates most of the rest of the mess. In between, though, I have gotten some nice pictures!

And the Chickies!!

Chester- the Good, the Bad, the Unknown

2012-12-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

Awww, Chester on a good day. My little buddy!

Chester is my little buddy. So sweet, so empathetic, rather cautious but always eager to see what's up and hang out with me. On the other hand, sometimes Chester has bad days. Days were he does not wish to cooperative on any level, and should he actually decide to, say, step-up, you should put him down as soon as possible. From experience, I can safely say he will NOT be satisfied on your hand for much longer than 3.5 seconds. His Maori yell, as I call it, is usually used extensively during these days, most often accompanied by beak charging and/or banging. Sometimes these bad days last for weeks or even a month or two. Sometimes not. Hard to say.

I would like to point out, though, that both of my ekkies are extremely polite about biting. Chester screams, beak bangs, even beak bangs with his beak open, and occasionally does a quick dose of beak pressure, but I have only once, ONCE! ever been actually bitten. That would be the day Clementine came home. Clearly he knew something was up, though he obviously had not been anyway near her at that point- and I have to wonder is he thinks he overreacted, since he is know friends with her. Anyway. Chester really amazes me with how polite he is. If he does not want you, he will lean so far back he hangs upside down from his perch, or fly off with such force and speed he inevitably rams into something (not good), but he just does not favor biting.

I am not complaining- who likes being bitten? As is only polite on my part, I do my best to avoid irritating him any further than he already is with..... well, whatever it is that irritates him during these times. This means during his bad days I may never pick him up (though I always give the option), instead I just offer the occasionally treat (sometimes even that he does not want) and open his cage door so he can come out to play on his cage if he so chooses. Talk to him, but not too close. Just let him be, and give him what I can.

When Chester is having a good day, he can be very sweet. Not to everyone, but to me and a few other select people he has learned over time to trust. After many weeks of not sweet, he has become sweet again this December. I am thinking of it as an early Christmas gift. So nice to have back my friendly feathered beaver! And as a last note, speaking of feathers: his improve each year- month by month there are ups and downs, but year by year they are better and better. He is quite green now, and I am still holding out hope for a fully green boy in the future, at least for part of the year. Already many of these pictures look fully green, since it his just his lower belly where down still shows. So he is what I call "Facebook fully-feathered." And that is better than nothing!

Chester: a bird with a mission.

To the top!

The view! Ah, the view!

Such a lovely place to fluff and relax.

My work is done.

Dr. Guess-Who-Clementine!

2012-12-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Guess who you should not ask to help

with Christmas cards?

Clementine is doing very well, now a year since I adopted her. Her diet was about average when I got her, but she has slowly become a much better eater, not just with new foods but with new ways of preparing them and, therefore, new food textures. She no longer shuns mushy food, which has greatly increased her sweet potato, cooked mash, and squash intake! She was fairly well adjusted when I got her, and has remained so. Very rarely, or rather never, is she in a bad mood, and shows her age less than Lola and Miss Patty. Yes, she has some joint inflammation and a bit of plucking under one of her wings, but quite good really. All in all, Clementine is still just as fabulous as ever. My sanity, eh, not so much. Clementine is a talented mimic. Really talented. So talented, in fact, that she has become my resident household ghost.

In general, she leaves actual talking to the other parrots. No, Clementine specializes in those subtle noises that generally accompany having someone else in the house- distance voices that are incredibly realistic, cars driving up, doors creaking, even people walking around. She will do this if you are standing next to her, or if you are in the next room or upstairs, so she is certainly not a closet talker She just has a deep appreciate for the subtle. One that might, in fact, drive me insane as I check the door for the 5th time thinking it is Gwen whining to come in. Or jump once again when she uses her most human of voices at a moment you are least expecting. I think she likes making me jump. She must. Because while I cannot fully describe why her ghost talking is so much more, well, rattling, than any of my other parrots- trust me, it is. And she practices a lot. So she is only getting better.

Really, what was wrong with a simple, loud and clear, hello? Or the telephone ringing? Or even the dogs barking,as Alasdair is doing outside in the above picture. Nice, loud, simple noises. Conversations like frank. Basic stuff.

Jokes aside, to (for once) be perfectly honest, Clementine's noises get very little reaction from me, hardly any, aside from the door checking, which rarely works any more. They do make me notice, but usually when I am not in the room, and only because of how good they are, rather than because I think robbers have actually broken into the basement- my dogs are way to bark happy to miss an event like that, it is all they live for, that and dinner anyway. And I do not think looking up from my knitting counts as enough of a reaction, either. So I think she has just developed a fascination with sounding as good as she can for her own interest, rather than mine. Although it does thoroughly confuse the occasional guest I get, which is very frustrating for them, not being as sedate as I am when it comes to odd noises from parrots. But then, I enjoy that quite a bit too, so I guess we are just both terrible.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2012-11-23T10:04:00.001-08:00

A little late.......

The chickens are grateful for the compost.

Accidentally got them in this photo, but you have to look hard.

(lower middle-left, bits of white)

(ok, so they are hidden well- does not change their love for compost!)

If you visit, Kipperkites will steal your stuff

(like the hat she is on) for her naps.

She will pretty much ignore you otherwise.

Except to try and steal your food if she is awake.

The dogs can only nap after you leave, though.

They are always so excited to have new people.

You would think I just ignored them all the time,

for how excited they are over guests.

It leaves them exhausted when the guests depart.

The Lean-n-Greens

2012-11-19T12:52:00.004-08:00

So after those last two violin-music-ending-with-big-crescendo posts, I move on to the Ambassadors of Cuteness, the quakers. Alternately, they are my fighter pilots, but as they have been very polite lately I will let them be the former today. Frank even serenaded me with a lovely song while I cleaned his cage yesterday-although the lyrics were not entirely translatable being more like mumbling to music. Cute, though!

Miss Lola is doing pretty well. Yes, she is showing her age, but she has not lost her personality, just some of her energy and more of her feathers. Overall though she is doing well. Still adorable. And very protective of Frank. As you can see, she does not even like the paparazzi getting to him without her protection. Or possibly she just likes being in every shot, hard to say.

She is always happy to see me or anyone else, and comes to the front of the cage, or to the closest point on whatever cage top or gym she is on, to see you. Her favorite "game" has always been kissing and nodding. Which, for those of you perhaps not familiar with this, means you move your head exactly like a bobble doll, simultaneously turning it from side to side as well as making little kissing noises. And Miss Lola is exceedingly good at getting almost anyone to join her in this little dance. Possibly the attraction for her is that she makes a bunch of humans look really ridiculous. Again hard to say.

I have also been looking after my Mom's Nanday occasionally, which works out quite well since he is good friends with the quakers. He also considerably raises the volume in the room, even taking in to account the quakers normal raucous playing. But he is a sweet fellow, and only Chester really minds having him here to visit. But Chester is like that.

So overall, all is well with the South American parrots!

Linus is a new man! (er, parrot)

2012-11-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

When I got Linus back several years ago, he had liver damage, his preen gland was malfunctioning, and he had started plucking. He also was extremely anxious. Since then, he has improved, thanks in no small part to his adopted mother Ava, but he still was a very anxious fellow. Rarely did he look relaxed- if ever I saw a parrot with an anxiety disorder, it was him. After Ava passed away this past Spring, I moved Linus into my bedroom, away from the other parrots. That helped, certainly, since I was with him a fair amount, he was in a very calm environment, but more importantly (as I did spend a lot of time with him in the bird room, too) he was with me when I was relaxing and/or sleeping, and relaxation is catchy. A bit like yawning, I suppose. But still he was extremely jumpy almost all the time.

(Just a note, this picture was not taken when he was upset-

that would not be the time to shove a camera in his face.

It does show how I often found him, though.)

This summer I did another round of herbal treatments for his liver, and this time, instead of just helping his liver, they also almost totally stopped the anxiety. Really, about a two weeks in I noticed some improvement, and a week later it was very obvious to everyone. His panic attack moments are quite rare now, and he is now showing more of his personality, playing, eating better, and demanding attention! Instead of thrashing around when I put the food dish in (even though he has outside access doors and was in other ways semi-tame) he would just wait for me to finish, and dive in. No more slamming into the bars when the door to the room opened. And plenty of time spent relaxed, with his cheek feathers fluffed out, his crest at "half mast", and singing softly. Or loudly. He does love making noise. Seriously a lot of noise.

Now, when he is afraid of something, or wary, instead of becoming what can only be described as hysterical, he visibly makes a decision to abort, by leaning back, backing away slowly, or as a last resort flying off, or even occasionally stand his ground and hiss.

I am really amazed at his progress, up until now I just wondered if he would ever be relaxed and happy, let alone really tame. I suppose his amygdala (part of the brain that handles stress response) finally decided he was healthy enough to calm down! I have felt rather guilty about him for quite a long time, since he came back in fact; as it would be for any parrot caretaker, it was upsetting for me not to be able to help him more. I could rarely even take him to another room, or even outside in a carrier, something he did very much seem to enjoy, as he loves sitting in the sun. I really had to catch him on a very good day to do much with him. And living with that can be hard, you have to remind yourself often you are not a failure, and just keep trying everyday. While Linus might have seemed like a"difficult" parrot, much too hard for a first time caretaker, in actuality, anxiety aside, he was quite easy to tame and make friends with. That is why I say what you need most when taking on a rehome is patience and some good parrot books to help you through, not necessarily a degree in parrot wrangling.

He is even brave enough to admit his well-loved

cage cover is bright pink with monkey faces.

And after all that, I now have a little buddy- happy, calm, and a (sometimes annoying) attention hog!

Miss Claudia with a bit less

2012-11-13T06:52:00.000-08:00

Two things: one, don't worry, the white rope is much to big to choke her,

and Two, Claudia loves her platform from

Things for Wings you see in the background! It has really helped her chronic foot issues.

When I adopted Miss Claudia she was fully feathered, and beautifully so. Since her case of asper 2 years ago, though, which started an intense bout of plucking, her plumage has taken quite a beating. At times she has had all of her feathers save for those on her neck, which she keeps bare, and at times she has been much closer to nude. Right now she is somewhere in the middle. it is a bit harder than, say, Chester, who goes through similar ups and downs (he is doing fairly well now, incidentally) as he started plucking long before I got him. Despite her current appearance, though, I really feel pretty good about Claudia right now, mostly because she seems to feel really good herself!

Claudia has never been very healthy, and was quite thin when I got her, having been force weaned and not in a home that noticed the problem, rather, they just assumed she was boring and stand-offish. Likely owing to those problems, while she is confident in many ways, she is also quite a fragile bird, so it takes quite a long time after an "incident" or illness to get her back on track: playing, foraging, exploring and flying- even eating enough on her own. So I admit I was always a bit worried she was a "good candidate", if there is such a thing, for plucking or feather destruction, and just hoped I could prevent it. Not that I thought about that too often, since a happy and healthy Claudia could easily be confused with a caique on growth hormones that fell in a paint pot. Seriously. Compare that to when she is not doing well, and just sits, or sits and begs, very little else. And with an apparently weak immune system, she can get sick rather easily.

This past Spring, she was doing pretty well, then this summer she took a down turn, and late summer starting plucking again. However, I think the plucking may have stopped again now, or at least very much slowed, but more importantly, she is eating well, everything and a lot of it, and is playful, friendly, game for just about anything, and back to her toy-destructive self. So I am thrilled!

One of the ways I encourage her to get back to playing is through foraging. I know she likes simple chippable items and things easily shredded, at least when she is in the mood to play. Right now, I could hang a toy on the moon and she would fly up there just to show it who is boss. When she is not interested, though, I make sure all of her toys are as enticing as I can, and place them almost in her way by her favorite perching spots. I also make sure all of them have a way to hide or place treats in/on them. Once she is reliably getting the treats, I starting hiding them in the toys more thoroughly, making them harder to reach. Eventually, as is the case now, she remembers how much fun destroying a toy "just because" is, and will go to town destroying them, even dropping some of the treat in the process. In fact, just taking out one of the treat containers is enough to get her to go to her toys and start destroying. And as anyone with parrots can tell you, very little is as satisfactory as coming into the room to find piles of wood chips and shreds of toys lining the cage bottom!

Currently, Claudia's favorite toy, for foraging and otherwise, is this coconut head by Planet Pleasures. You can slip nuts in the holes the ropes come out of, although by now several of the holes have no ropes in them, or even coconut fiber around them to dig through. Pretty soon, there will be nothing but a shell left!

Oh, and just to note, I did finish my to-do list from the other day! Yay!

Why, hello, how are you?

2012-11-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it is good to take a break, I am not sure why this is so, but it is. At least for me anyway. I am happy to see that this blog is still getting plenty of traffic, despite my absence, and I like to think it is helping someone with their parrot-related problem! I am doing better and better in my new house, health-wise and in general, a little over a year since I moved here and finally got a place that was "safe" MCS-wise for me. The parrots are likewise doing well, with any luck updates will follow, as are the dogs and cat. Also the four chickens I got last spring, that may or may not have been posted about on here before. I got them because I love chickens, and because I wanted a source of really good eggs, but it turns out if you name your chickens and give them the run of the yard to do as they please all day, they will come when you call and enjoy being petted and held, but will not be overly eager to start laying eggs. I remain hopeful.

Since I was sick this past week with a fever (with some virus I must have contracted from the mail man, since I had not seen anyone else, rather irritating) I decided this morning, as I was feeling much better, to make myself and the birds some pancakes. I love dense cakes/breads, filled with fruit or veggies and spices, and pancakes are no different, so these had chopped apple, grated carrot, oatmeal, raisins and pumpkin seeds added to the regular batter, along with a touch of clove, nutmeg and ginger. They were delicious, in my opinion anyway, a fact with which the birds mostly definitely concur! There are no pictures to prove this, however, since it was very early in the morning and as I am not a dedicated photographer like Natacha, I was not getting the camera out. Sad but true- my tea was calling, not my camera.

So now I am off to get back to work knitting for an upcoming art fair, and hopefully to finish my list of to-dos for the day: washing Gwen, re-doing Clementine's cage with fresh perches, and making up a new batch of dry mix, as well as mash for the next several days. Including the knitting that must be done, there is only a 70% chance I will finish this list. So I need to get going!

Clean Up!

2012-08-07T07:33:00.002-07:00

The EWG has released their Toxic Cleaners Hall of Fame list, which I thought worth posting here. I suppose to some it can seem as though you should not use anything around your parrot, but really, you should just not use anything that is toxic to both of you. And yes, that does still leave an awful lot you can use!

Go HERE for the list, with info on a variety of cleaners, laundry detergents, and air fresheners.

Foraging Bite

2012-07-22T16:56:00.002-07:00

Today's work! The dry mix foraging bundles for the week. Brown thick paper for the big birds, brown tissue paper for the tiels, and white paper for the quakers. They are all filled withe appropriate amount and mix of my dry stuff- grain mix, big birds dry mix, seeds, nuts, etc. Just put one somewhere in the cage, and it is not only an "instant" meal but great foraging.

As you can see, I start with a rectangular piece of paper, (although this one was a bit too fat and not quite long enough to be optimum).....

then fold in the two long sides, before twisting the ends tightly around......

and wrapping them to one side and loosely knotting.

Done!

Foraging with fresh food is a bit harder, but it does not need to be. For example, why not get several of these mugs from My Safe Bird Store.

(Go HERE for the mugs)

or for large parrots/those not safe with plastic, these mini stainless steel pails from The Bird Safe Store.

(Go HERE for pails)

Distribute your fresh food, be it mash or whatever, among the mungs, and hang them, just alone by themselves with a hook on the handle, around the cage. Easy! Fill 3, 4, 5, however many, and just hang wherever, from the middle of the top bars, on the side bars, from a toy, top to bottom, all over. Start slow, and keep moving them to harder places to reach. Trust me, your parrots will figure it out, they do not need everything handed to them! It may take encouragement in the beginning, but it will be wonderful when they get the hang of it, just like we feel better after we take control of our own life and start doing things more for ourselves, moving around, exploring. And climbing all over for each little bit, hanging upside down, going to the cage bottom, that is all foraging, not to mention a bit of exercise. Plus, it is really not any harder than dishing the food all in to one or two dishes.

Unusual

2012-07-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Every now and then something out of the ordinary happens here. Actually, out of the ordinary happens all the time as I am not sure exactly what "ordinary" should be, so I have no idea why I said that. Still, one thing I certainly was not expecting yesterday was to find a tiny baby skink in Claudia's cage. No pictures, as those little guys scurry fast and he would have been long gone by the time I got the camera. This little fellow was only about an inch long, very adorable, and apparently no bother to Claudia. Should there be any budding ant issue on the horizon, I have a feeling he will not only be the first to notice it, but he may also make sure he is the last to notice- by eating them all before the rest of us see them. I briefly considered what negative side affects there could be from having a skink running around the floor of the bird room, and not coming up with anything immediate, combined with the fact he was very small and who knows where just a few seconds after I saw him, I decided not to worry about it.

I borrowed this picture from online here. Gorgeous fellows there are, five-lined skink. Just picture this guy, but all tiny!

Finally!

2012-07-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

Oh, to be back! Been a while. I lost internet about 2 weeks ago after a severe sudden thunderstorm (ever been caught covered in soap mid-shower during a thunderstorm? Awkward. Definitely.) And then on Friday I lost power after those severe storms. Thankfully most of the food I eat is not overly perishable (fresh vegetables and fruits) and the neighbors, while a good hike away, have a generator so I could get water. The parrot room is on the first floor/basement (split level house) so that stayed cooler, and I covered the large front windows with quilts. Needless to say, they were not too happy about the seemingly endless solar eclipse. The strong winds did blow down tons of pine cones along with trees, though, so they did get to have, and are still having, a real pine cone fiesta! Little bits of pine cone everywhere, they do make great toys. These had little pine nuts in them, too, for an extra treat.

So for several days the parrots had nothing but their dry mix and some cut up apple and squash. Thankfully, my freezer was so full of the parrot food I recently made, plus some frozen bottles of water I leave to help it work less, that that food was still ok even after several days, unlike that in the fridge. Again needless to say, they were really very bored with dry mix by today, so I made up their fresh mash, slightly leaner on the veggie side after spoilage, granted, but still good, as well as some delicious spice/fruit pone.

Appetizing, right? Better than it looks, I think. My mash base, with shredded summer squash, shredded yellow beet, and mashed sweet potato, plus powdered greens, flax meal, and a bit of powdered hibiscus for some added flavor, and a tablespoon or so of applesauce to help it stick together.

Basic bird bread, made like corn pone. I started with the water from cooking the sweet potato- I steam/boil them with just 1" water in the bottom of the pot, some bottom layer boiled, the rest steamed. Then I mixed that with some blueberry juice, a bit of red palm oil to prevent sticking, clove and ginger, and blackberry and apple powder. I mixed that with some oatmeal and sorghum flour, and was good to go!

I have not been totally lazy in my absence from the blog even before the internet went out, though. I finally got my business up and running online, yay! A new website as well as Etsy store. I also got my first custom order, and it was one I was not expecting at all, certainly not this early on, but one which I was thrilled to receive- female Black Capped Vireo on a pink baby blanket. After all, I love a good challenge, and making a female Black Capped Vireo certainly qualifies as such. I am thrilled with the way it turned out, true to size, with some shin oak leaves I added on as that is what Black Capped Vireos most often nest in.

And as further excitement, the millions of wild blackberries really started ripening, so both the parrots and myself have been enjoying them no end! My parrots are pretty good eaters, but I find that even with parrots I could normally never entice to eat a frozen or fresh store bought blackberry will go crazy for fresh picked. The same seems to be true for so many foods. Parrots, I think, are natural born foodies. Granted, some will be stubborn even if you let them pick the food themselves, but for one that will eat something besides seeds or pellets, often having something really fresh, maybe even still dripping after you wash it, can really change their minds. Another plug for growing it yourself! And for parrots, you could grow a single plant in a pot in the windowsill, since they really do not eat that much, obviously.

So now, I am off to the internet to get caught up on all the happenings!

Operation Mash in the Details

2012-06-09T09:11:00.002-07:00

Since Suzanne asked several very good questions in a comment on my last post, so I decided just to answer them here!

Her comment:

"I have never made mash before so I have a few questions...

How much water to mash mix do you use when cooking?

About how long should it cook for?

How much mash do you feed the birds a day? My smallest bird is a green cheek Conure, my largest is a Green wing Macaw.

Do you feed any pellet or seed or does the mash replace all of that?"

Water
I do not measure the water for my mash anymore. Since I soak everything first, it takes much less water than is recommended on the package. By now, I just have a feel for how much water I need, covering the legume/grain mix by about 1-1.5" of water. The first time you cook it, start there, but monitor it and add more as needed. Bring the mixture to a boil, and keep it at a steady simmer until done. I bring it to a boil with the lid on, of course, and cook it with the lid cracked. If near the end it has a lot of water, I may take the lid off and bring it to a boil to get rid of the water. On the other hand, if it seems hard near the end, I may put the lid on fully to steam it a bit more. If you seem to have a lot of extra water when you are near done, you can try boiling it off, which will get rid of some of the water, although will give you a slightly mushier texture- which many birds prefer, anyway! Never worry about having too much water, since you can always strain the extra as you would pasta. I have done that in the past, works very well, so if you are nervous about it, take that route.

Cooking Time
I would say that mine is done in about 40 minutes, but I do not time it. I check after about 25-30 minutes, to know how close I am and when to add the quinoa. Test the largest legume you have, which in my case is chickpeas. They are done when they still have texture, but smash easily and are no longer white in the center, but light tan. Try smashing one after 10-15 minutes of cooking time if you want a comparison. They can take extra cooking, although I would not feed any under-cooked legumes, so if you are unsure, err on the side of caution and give it a few more minutes.

Amount to Feed
The amount to feed will vary not just depending on size but also your individual bird's activity level. My ekkies get about a 1/4 cup at a meal, while Linus, my single tiel, gets about 1.5 teaspoons. Feed a bit more than you think they will eat, and see how much is left at the end of the day, including that which is tossed. Gradually decrease (or increase, if needed) until you are feeding a few small crumbles more than they will eat. This way, you are not wasting any, and you know they are getting as much as they need. As a bonus, this puts more value on the food, so far less is tossed, and you know they are getting all that you are feeding, and not just picking out some of it.

What Else is Fed
I feed mash as one meal a day, although you can certainly feed it as both meals. Since mine is just one meal, the other meal is dry mix, fresh foods, and perhaps some special treats like birdie bread, etc. If your parrots are picky about the mash, try putting the whole thing, veggies as well as legume/grain base in the food processor until it is quite fine.

Seed
Anything that can grow a plant is a seed. This includes grains, legumes, things like sunflower, safflower, canary seed, and nuts. Yes, all of those are seeds, and not all are that high in fat. So actually, the grain/legume base could count as part of a "seed mix".I personally would never knock fattier seeds out of the diet completely. If you feed mash twice a day, they would already be getting the grain portion of seed mixes, but all parrots, just like people, still benefit from the nutrients in things like human-grade sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, canary seeds, nuts, and so on. How much of those you offer as treats will depend both on species and an individual parrot's needs. Since I feed mash once a day, I have a basic grain/seed mix, and a larger grain/seed/dried fruit/veggie mix. The cockatiels get more dry mix than the ekkies, who get very little. I leave sunflower seeds, hemp seed, nuts, etc, separate, and feed those as treats or in foraging toys, so I can more easily monitor how much each parrot gets.

Pellets
I do not feed pellets to my parrots. There, I said it! I found through personal experience that my particular parrots, though they improved initially with pellets as part of the diet, do far better getting a very nutritious whole food diet. If you are unable to prepare, or your parrot will not eat, a good diet, I say include pellets, by all means. Keep in mind, though, that if you do not include pellets, it is a good idea to give a *small* amount of egg every week as a B12 boost (modern soil is often depleted of nutrients even in organics, so any B12 is very minimal), and you need to be able to get them outside for Vit. D. Vitamin D is stored in the liver for 20-30 days, so you do have some lee-way on how often they get out during cooler months. Try to get them out as much as possible whenever you can. There are also supplements with Vit D for parrots you could try during the winter, but do not go overboard. Here is another post you might be interested in, along with those two I just linked to, about pellets and vitamins.

Hope that helps, and feel free to ask any more questions you may have! I also highly recommend you check out the Feeding Feathers yahoo group for more information (read the files) as much of my mash is based on that, with a few changes.

Operation Mash

2012-06-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

Today, folks. Today is the day. The day to make my bird mash base. It takes preparation. It takes stamina. It takes a tolerance of hot, humid conditions in the kitchen. It takes planning. And it will make your kitchen look like a disaster area.

Also, it gives me several months worth of cooked grain/legume mash base, so I can just take a container out of the freezer, add all the fresh produce I have, any supplements, and go! I consider it worth it, most definitely.

17 quarts from this batch!

I was inspired this time to get some pictures for you. Not the best, but my camera has an issue with randomly deciding it is out of battery, even when it is not, and today was one of those days. So not the best pictures. And no, there are no pictures of the whole disaster area. Sorry, but I do not want a picture of my cute little *clean* kitchen preserved on the internet as a terrible mess. Just picture pots and mixing bowls full of water, grains, and legumes all over, with strainers and spoons, other MASSIVE bowls to mix the cooked mash in, water spilled everywhere, rebel amaranth coating every surface, and one large boiling dutch oven. Yep, that about covers it.

Just a small sampling of some of the mix, pre-cooking.

A plus of mash base making day? The house smells soooo good! I love the smell, fresh, earthy, the quinoa a bit spicy almost. And if you add oat groats, it is just taken to the next level. Seriously. Oat groats smell so good cooking, sweet and yummy, liked baked goods! If you like your house to smell like "Fresh Waterfall at Sundown 32 Degrees from the Equator Exactly 20 Minutes after a Rain Storm" or "Cucumber Dancing the Tango with Hybrid Melon while Rose and Lavender look on Jealously" you might not be impressed. But I personally think it smells wonderful. Unless you burn it. Then not so much.

Also, please do not get discouraged by the massive size of this undertaking for me. I have many parrots, I like to make a lot at once. For those of you with fewer parrots, you can make considerably less and still have a couple months worth.

Quinoa and Amaranth soaking. I assure you the foam is

perfectly normal and not a result of strange bad grains.

The ingredients:
- amaranth
- quinoa
- kamut
- barley (hull-less, not pearled)
- black rice
- long grain brown rice

- mung beans
- split peas
- garbanzo beans
- lentils

Notes:
-However it looks in the pictures, I can assure you that there are not, in fact, more legumes than grains. Actually, excluding the quinoa and amaranth, there is a 2 parts grains to one part legumes (so 1 cup legumes to every 2 cups grains); I do not include the quinoa and amaranth in my measurements, since they have all the amino acids.
- I really cannot remember specific amounts of each grain and legume, except that I use very very little rice, since it is so starchy and not as healthy. In fact, I rarely use brown rice in my mash.
- I always include a bit of black rice in my mash, though it is still starchy. As you should know from the press blueberries and blackberries receive, that dark purple/black colour is an indication of the very, very high levels of antioxidants it contains. I love purple corn, black quinoa, black rice, etc, for this reason.
- Notice I have a very short list of legumes. I stick to the most digestible legumes: mung beans, lentils, garbanzo beans, peas, and adzuki beans. These contain the fewest anti-nutrient toxins and are the safest to use.
- You can use any grains you like and that you have on hand. I mix it up every time, although never any wheat berries, since Chester is allergic to them. He seems to do fine with things like Barley and Kamut (gluten containing, closely related to wheat), no noticeable difference in the times he gets those and when I have made gluten-free mash. Many parrots, however, are fine with wheatberries, as are the rest of mine.

The soaking water from black rice can be rather alarming

the first time you see it. However, it is normal.

Method:
- The night before I plan to cook my base, or the morning before, I measure out all my grains and legumes and put them to soak in as much water as I can fit in the container with them- which should explain my references to bowls, pots, and water above. Basically, I am getting them to start sprouting, and in the process, release many of their anti-nutrients and toxins into the water. Before cooking, I strain them and rinse very, very well with clean water.
- Owing to the industrial scale at which I make my mash, I take an equal measure from each bowl or pot, rinse, and cook it in batches in my (cheery yellow!) dutch oven. I first put all grains and legumes save for the quinoa and amaranth. Once the other grains and legumes are mostly cooked, I add the quinoa and amaranth. They normally take very little time to cook, and take just a few minutes after sprouting.
- A benefit of soaking: everything takes very little time to cook, even the garbanzo beans, and needs far less water! Saves energy, time, and pot space, three very important benefits in this endeavor.
- Once each pot is cooked, I empty it into one of my super huge massive mixing bowls and add the next batch to the pot to cook.
- Once the cooked mash has cooled some, I packaged it in quart freezer containers.

After cooking

To Use:
- Each quart container lasts me from 5 days to a week.
- I take a quart container out of the freezer when I have about a day left of my current mash, so it can defrost in the fridge.
- Once defrosted, I mix the grain/legume base with an equal or slightly greater amount of chopped or minced (depending on preference) fresh produce. I do not include fruit, as any fruit is served separately. I always include one or two types of dark leafy greens, often my greens powder, something dark orange like sweet potato or squash, and whatever else fresh produce is in season/I have. I change the type of produce around each week, so while each mash does not have a huge variety, they do get variety in their diet as a whole over time.
- I also add some Omega 3 source, such as hemp or flax oil, or flax meal. Other supplements may include various spices, some form of sea vegetation like kelp, alfalfa powder, etc. I never include other supplements (vitamins, etc) unless needed, and then I just add the correct dose to each bird's dish. Even with the kelp, alfalfa I use sparingly, as a little goes a very long way.

Please Remember!
While this diet is based on the quite large amount of research I have done, it is also based on what I have found to work for my parrots, my specific parrots' special needs, and I suppose what you could call my (educated) opinion- since that is all there really is in regards to parrot diets, anyway.

If you have questions about behavior problems.....

2012-06-02T19:35:00.002-07:00

You might want to ask Lara Joseph! I really love the post she did today helping out a woman that wrote her about her trouble with her young macaw. Anyone that has even glanced at any of my other posts knows that I could go on and on and on and on for ages about behavior and training. I know you just read that sentence and changed the word "behavior" to "absolutely anything in the world" but that is not true! Besides which, I am talking about behavior now, and will not be going on and on, since I think Lara said it all perfectly. And if you have a parrot, or are thinking about getting a parrot, or have had multiple parrots for many many years, I highly recommend you head over to Lara's blog and read not just today's incredible post, but also the rest of her blog!

And just in case you somehow missed all the links I peppered that short paragraph with, I will give you one more chance to get there- larajoseph.wordpress.com

One-line Problems? So Passe

2012-05-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

I am sure everyone has heard about the dreaded hormones with parrots. Most of you will even have researched about the dreaded hormone issue. Many of you have likely personally experienced the dreaded hormone issue. The question is, should any "angry", "antsy", "annoying" or "not-my-sweet-little-cuddle-bunches-darling-prince-sparkles-love-of-my-life" behavior automatically be considered hormones?

Firstly, branding behavior as hormones can be just as much a problem as branding behavior, as, oh say, just a broken parrot. Why? Because once a behavior is branded (i.e, one-lined), it is often considered consciously or not to be solved, when there may actually be both a reason for the behavior and something that can be done about it.- although that will usually involve changing your own behavior, so consider yourself forewarned.

Take this as an example:
Let's say you got an adorable male amazon, perhaps even an adorable double yellow headed male amazon as a baby. You have had him for a of couple years, and little Joe is now becoming a mature parrot, about the age hormones can start to be a problem. One day he bites you, totally out of the blue, and is no longer very cooperative about getting out of his cage. He starts yelling a lot soon after, and tearing around his cage like a madman (or bird) so you know at this point that the problem is hormones, so famously a problem in the "hot three" amazon males, and you will have to give him lots of toys and wait it out, being patient with him, moderating his daylight hours, etc., right?

Well how about another look at this story:
Since you brought Joe home as an adorable little baby, he has let you do anything with him. You never really trained him to step-up, and always just reached in and stuck you hand under his feet whenever you wanted to get him out; you used the same method to move him from any area to another. Joe is a sweet guy, and seems to love doing just about anything. Occasionally he is not quite as willing as other times, but you know he loves being with you as much as you love being with him, so you get him to do whatever you want anyway- like get out of his cage when he is busy playing, because you want to take him in the shower with you.

Everything is going so well, and you so adore little Joe, that as the years go by, you do not notice the subtle signals Joe is giving you that he would rather not be [essentially] forced to mold his schedule to yours, or that he might rather finish playing before coming out, or perhaps is tired of having most or all of his choices made for him- which is something most humans dislike, as well. First he just leans back when you go to pick him up, or grips his perch more, then he tries moving away from your hand, looking away from your hand, trying everything he can to tell you politely that he is not interested, perhaps even "play attacking" your hand. You mean well, that is quite true, and Joe I am sure knows this, but he cannot seem to get through to you that he would like a two-way relationship!

Joe finally reaches the point that he is so irritated with you that he bites your hand as he sees it coming in to get him again. And this time, you respond! You take your hand out, and go away! Yay! Joe is so happy to have a communication method now, and knows that biting will work although nothing else does. So he starts biting to communicate his messages, and you needless to say are not able to get him out of the cage very often. Being in the cage more, however, is no fun, so Joe gets "cage fever" and starts screaming more, and seems so antsy inside his cage, tired of the same little box.

The Point?
This example is made up, but actually fairly common. Yes, it is full of behavior branding, but that is to get the point across- very difficult to tell a story from the parrot's hypothetical point of view without it! Not all parrots will become raging balls of hormones when they mature. But pretty much, they will all change. Joe may or may not become a raging ball of hormones at some point, but in this story, he is not so much hormonal as he is simply an adult trying to state his rights and decide on his place in the world.

From a behavior standpoint, even with what you are sure are hormones (like a female laying eggs and building nests, or a male feeding everything) you need to resist the urge to brand the behavior. Look at the behavior as you would any other, as there are often still things you can do to make life easier and more pleasant for all. Formal training of some kind will always help. It redirects their attention to something else, something rewarding, and allows you to interact with them in a safe way- you can even train parrots that are not safe to let out of the cage. Things like target training, or taking an object and dropping it in a bucket, etc, are all trainable with bars in between you and your parrot.

Most importantly, while every one needs to be aware of how hormones can affect your parrot, and therefore your life, and aware of the fact that all parrots will change in some way as they become an adult, you should not let that knowledge prevent you from finding solutions to the problem currently at hand.

Sunny day, chasing the clouds away...........

2012-05-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

Give them a bath if it is hot, even on humid days it is quite cooling.

Trust me, I am from the humid south. It is. However, if you

see any signs of discomfort, get them inside immediately!!

Getting outside is important for parrots- they really need the Vit. D. In fact, for some species like African Greys, getting outside regularly can be the difference between seizures and all the trouble with calcium deficiencies, and a happy, healthy parrot. Vit D plays an integral role in healthy body functioning; you need vit D. to properly absorb calcium (so not enough vit. D means not enough calcium), which affects magnesium, and phosphorous, etc. etc. Vit. D is also is an important hormone, which helps boost your mood and do all the wonderful things those happy hormones do. Further, as it naturally is not good for bacteria and other nasties, it can help external skin issues. If you do not have enough vit. D, you cannot expect a healthy, happy, stable parrot. In basic layman's terms, sunshine is even better than it feels!

Clementine, your thoughts?

Wait......... ugh....

just a minute........

getting .... umm......this..... feather......

You can get vit. D from pellets and other fortified foods, but there is some debate over how well the body can use those synthetic sources; personally, I think you need some form of Vit. D, but the best form, if you can get it, is naturally from the sun. As someone that does not feed pellets, I make sure to get my parrots outside year round. In the winter, this is not overly often, but since I am in the south, there are usually a few days a month when the weather is in the upper 40s/50s, sunny and not really windy so they can go out. They rest of the year I try to get them out all the time, several times a week if possible. Vit. D can be stored in the liver for 20-30 days, so there is some leeway on this.

Claudia says:

What do you think? Should I peroxide???

Yes, I do hope to have an aviary soon, but up until now, I have done this just like most folks have to: with carriers and harnesses. If your parrot is not harness trained, no worries, a carrier is fine. If your parrot will not go in a carrier, you have a huge problem, one that would need a post of its own, and you need to address that problem. What if there was an emergency, not to mention vet visits; all parrots should accept carriers with little fuss, and it is not that hard to train should you have a phobic one; Barbara Heidenrich has a lot of advice on this.

Chester says:

Ummmm..., nah, I like the red.

Lastly, a warning- NEVER take a parrot outside unless in a safe and secure carrier or in a proper harness; falconers use jesses, those are not safe with parrots!!! Even well clipped birds, can, will, and have gotten away; all it takes is one good bit of wind, and they can be surprised in to taking off, and once off, as they are unable to fly, they will be unable to come back to you.

Peek-a-boo!

I don't know why I like this picture.......

must be all the shades of green!

So make some time, get a carrier, and get out in the sun! Good for you as well, and with some good reading material and a nice drink (I like lemonade and ice tea, what 'bout you?) what could be better? Just watch for hawks!

Why are you doing that??

2012-05-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

Ohhh, of course darling, we know all about behavior.......

like I was just telling Peter, simply fascinating!

Something to think about:

1. Why are you doing whatever you are doing right now? At least one of those things is reading this post, I know (smart, aren't I?) so I will use that. I know you are not reading this post instinctively.... even if you are not absorbing anything at this moment (this would be the point in the conversation my Mom would throw in "and then the dog drove to the store" to catch my Dad) at some point you starting reading my blog for a reason. I doubt it was because it was here, otherwise my readership would be over 7 billion, very impressive if I do say so myself, but not true. So perhaps it is because you have a parrot, reasonable enough, or would like one. That does not mean you inherently will read everything on parrots, plenty of people with parrots do not. So I can without too huge a leap assume it is because you are interested in parrots, or that you wanted to change something about your parrot, or about yourself in reference to your parrot, like care, etc. Going deeper, why are you interested in parrots, or why do you care to spend time changing something? Could it be you get pleasure out of learning more, or pleasure from the parrot, and therefore wish to improve their life? Or could it be that your parrot is driving you crazy, and you wish to change that- but then, why change it rather than re-home the parrot? Could it be for some reason you enjoy being around/having them?

This is the gold nugget in the bottom of that pan- you are doing the behavior, in this case reading my blog, for a reward!

Got it? Reading my blog is a behavior, and there is a reason for this behavior.

"bathing" in the food dish:

I have my reasons.........

2. Look at any other area in your life. Can you really think of something that you do for no reason? If you can do it, it is a behavior. Period. There are various reasons for behaviors, and your reason may be quite unusual, or even non-discernible to yourself, but there is one. If you hate your job, why do you work? For money, or if an internship, to get money later (complex thinking, that, looking to the future!) It is easy to point out gold stars or ice cream cones as rewards for children, or bribes for adults (and yes, sometimes those two examples mix) but those are hardly the only time rewards are handed out, far from it. And likewise, there are many more punishments than being spanked for doing x as a child, or getting a speeding ticket for going too fast.

-Your reason for eating breakfast could be to stop being hungry (negative punishment, the removal of something unpleasant because of the behavior)
-or because you feel so much more awake after eating (positive reinforcement, adding something desired because of the behavior)
- but if you take too long eating your continental breakfast you will be late for whatever it is you do (positive punishment, adding something undesired because of the behavior)
- while if you eat all your dinner leftovers for breakfast, you will have none for lunch (negative reinforcement, the removal of something pleasant because of the behavior)

Got that? Looking at this, I can tell that I have learned to eat breakfast for two reasons, and what to eat for another two. Throw away what you think these four behavior terms should mean. You just need to know four meanings: negative is subtraction (the removal of x) positive is addition (adding X); punishment is something you dislike (even if someone else likes it) and reinforcement is something you like (even if others hate it.) So mix those four terms, and you have the four reasons for a behavior to continue, or to die out.

Floofing my feathers:

I feel more comfortable with them all in place!

Complex stuff, behavior. But not unreachable! There is a reason for your parrot's behavior just as there is for yours, just as there is for every living creature. Anything you can do is a behavior, and there is always a reason for any behavior that continues. Very important to remember, though, it might NOT be what you think is logical- if the behavior continues, there is still a reason. Period.

I miss you, budgies. Rest in Peace.

Ava

2012-05-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ava passed away yesterday evening. Odd that she passed so close to Peter. I do not know quite how I feel about that; despite their divorce..... it somehow seems fitting. My two little budgie loves. The house seems strange without their cheerfulness.

I was with Ava after dinner, but when I came in later last night she was dead. She died on her perch. She had been as usual, happy, seemingly healthy, playing with her toys, chattering away, singing, talking, being her usual sweet demure diva self. Her dinner was one of my buffet style meals composed of her favorites- hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds, grain mix, and apple chunks, so I am happy for that. It was so shocking to find her, but thinking about it later, I am glad it was sudden, that is a better way to go than suffering like Peter.

I have no idea of her age. I know she is at least 8, quite likely several years older. She has been though a lot in her life. Left outside the animal control at night, I adopted her the next day. With me she has laid one clutch of eggs, which she diligently cared for, and was obviously extremely upset when none hatched, as they were not fertile; it took her a very long time to get over that. She has had a fast growing lymphoma removed form her wing, a bad concussion and beak injury, badly injured from being caught in a toy, and multiple attacks from other birds despite my attempts to prevent them. She has survived it all, and maintained her disposition and dignity throughout. She was truly an incredible bird, and I, all of us, will greatly miss her.

Baking, Cooking, Eating, Repeat

2012-04-23T12:51:00.002-07:00

This post approved by Frank. Barely. Scraped through by just this much. Seriously, Frank?

So, been a bit since my last post. I am once again getting treatment for Lyme disease, seems every other tick bite I get develops that tell-tale rash- granted, my body is very susceptible, but in my body's defense it is very common in Virginia. This one I let fester too long before connecting the dots, though, so I got rather sick. Oh well, getting back on track now!

Anyways, I thought I would do something rather different for this post- healthy people/bird recipes. Whatever diet you feed your parrot, everyone likes some treats, right? And why have those treats be unhealthy? And further, if you are going to go to all that trouble, why not share the treats?! I love baking and cooking for myself or the parrots, and since I have to keep to a strict diet, the recipes I use for myself are usually very good for parrots as well.

I made up a second recipe using the Avian Organics fruit powders,

which is also a delicious one to share!

You can read it here- After School Apple Snack.

To prove my point, I pulled up four recipes online to post. With such good directions (and mouth-wateringly motivating pictures!) I think anyone should be able to give these a try. I have linked to the recipe in the title, and put some helpful notes for any good conversions, either for simplicity (no excuse not to make them!) or health reasons. These are not the typical bird recipes, full of pureed vegetables of all types (not knocking them, though!), but still quite healthy and delicious for you to share! And for picky birds, that can make all the difference.

No’Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
You can replace the sunflower and pumpkin seed with any nuts you like, if you do not happen to have these on hand. You can also replace the coconut flour with any flour you have, and if you do not have tapioca starch corn starch would also work. I do not use vanilla extract, and you can just replace that with an equal amount of any liquid, water or juice. And finally, at the bottom she notes how she replaced the honey in the recipe, if you are not comfortable using honey, take her route. You can leave out the Stevia, it is for your own sweet tooth if you leave it, not theirs. From my research it is safe (note- I do not trust truvia because of additives), excluding any additives some brands have.

Quinoa Crunch
This one is pretty straight forward, leave out the salt, stevia optional if you want it. But very healthy, no? And simple!

Simple Yeast-Free, Gluten-Free Flatbread
Now I love this one, so inventive. It is again pretty straightforward, leave out the salt (salt your own portion after baking, if you wish) and give it a go! You could serve it with smashed sweet potato, butternut squash, or fruit puree (organic baby food is good if you really dislike preparation) as a topping.

Savory and Sweet Crackers with Almond Flour
Now who doesn't like crackers?? That crispness lives in my dreams, seriously! I love crackers. Crackers..... Ehem, to the point- you could use any flour here, although I recommend anyone get some good flours to boost nutrition, such as nut flours and coconut flour. Chickpea flour, quinoa flour, amaranth flour, teff flour, the list goes on and one. But if all you have is oatmeal, grind that up in your blender or even a clean coffee mill and use that! Again, leave out the salt.

You can also go through these blogs, and others, for more healthy recipes, there are literally millions out there. Better for you, good for your parrots, win-win situation. And on this damp, cold, rainy, grey, and also quite wet day (there is not even mud any more, just wetness), what could be better than some baking?

Frank is terribly excited because he is now a proud member

of Fagan's Little Green army- aka, Susan at

Oliver's Garden latest contest for green/mostly green parrots.

Why not enlist your green pal, if you do not have facebook,

just email her!

Just a Note

2012-04-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hopefully everyone that is celebrating a holiday this weekend has a good one. I have some family coming over today, but since so many here are hormonal, I do not think they will appreciate the company. I suppose that is only fair, since the company is unlikely to enjoy the parrots, either. I will be well satisfied if there are no casualties, and everyone leaves with all digits, noses, and without the need to use an ear trumpet. The little things in life, folks, that is all you need.

Oh well. I think I will make them a special treat, some banana-pumpkin bread, and that they certainly will enjoy. After all, can you expect them to be at optimum annoyance on regular food? No, not at all, not at all.

Also, I was happy this week to be asked for permission to re-print one of my previous posts at the new blog by Elaine Radford, peachfront, so maybe my post in its "new- larger size!" audience it will help someone, or at least that is my hope!

Friends? Pretty Please?

2012-04-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that I do like to keep my birds in pairs, something that will always carry inherent risks, I consider myself fairly cautious about allowing any of my parrots to be together. Then again, since many people, such as one of my past vets, think keeping birds together at all can be quite dangerous and should be preferably avoided, maybe I am actually a reckless caretaker. Who knows. What I do know is that whatever the risk, my birds are much happier with friends. There have been disasters before (think Peter and Ava) but I just cannot really regret the situation which allowed the fight, and though I can hardly speak for any of my birds, I am not sure Ava necessarily regrets her life up until he flipped, either.

Let me be clear- I do not think anyone should get a parrot they do not want. Before getting any parrot, any bird at all, you need to think through how it could change your household, as well as how it definitely will; costs, mess, etc, are things that will always be there, at least. I mean really think about it. When I say a friend for your parrot is a good idea to consider, I mean it is a good idea to consider AFTER you have already decided to get another parrot. If you have decided another parrot is something you are prepared for, it is then I strongly recommend looking at the option of another of the same species.

However, I do not just throw any birds together and hope for the best. There are many fine people in this world, even some I admire, that I would likely try to kill (assuming my hatred of violence suddenly dissipated) were I forced to live with them. Sad fact. I see no reason why we should think animals, and in this case parrots, are any different. It is somewhat easier with flock parrots, like budgies and some conures for example, as they are small enough to have a fair amount of room in a standard flight cage and are pretty good at getting along with others though they may not be their heart's desire- think roommates. Contrary to popular opinion, though, many parrots do not naturally stay in flocks, and would in the wild spend most of their lives just with their intimate family- their partner, chicks, and not-quite-mature young. This means they do not generally take kindly to the idea of a roommate, since all they are looking for is "the one", so to speak. And, getting back to the first sentence in this paragraph, you can understand why getting another parrot, even of the same species and opposite sex, and expecting them to be "best best!" friends can be quite chancy. They may, and they may not. You have to be prepared for either outcome.

Yes, this has picture been posted before,

but if you do not think it is cute enough for a re-post.....

there is just no hope for you.

I am perhaps more fortunate than the average parrot caretaker in the ability to search and find friends for my parrots. Since I foster, if I think one of my foster parrots might work out with one of my own, I can introduce them after quarantine and find out. Obviously, this is not an option for everyone, but it may be more of an option than you think. If there is a rescue near you that fosters out, such as Phoenix Landing, you may be able to try this for yourself. If the foster does not work out, you are still helping them get to a wonderful home. If fostering is not an option, carefully evaluate your parrot. Do you know whether they were ever socialized with other parrots, particularly those of their own species? Were they hand-fed from a young age? Do they play well on their own, or are they severely attached to you or another person? What is their general personality, and what personality do you think would mix well with them? These questions, save for the first two, are just guessing, but they will certainly improve your chances rather than a shot in the dark.

Frank was not socialized, was totally hand fed, and is a hyper active, very sensitive (formerly often depressed) special dude. Lola seemed a good match. Because of Frank, I had to decide what seemed to work and try it over several months, since Frank was not going to be able to make friends quickly. And yes, I was prepared to have a second quaker he could not be with. Back to Lola- she was older, calm, confident, and somewhat maternal. Most importantly, she knew she was a bird, and (shocker!) a quaker at that. I was hoping watching another quaker would help Frank, I could hardly imagine both how close they would become, and more surprising still, how much it would help Frank; he is a totally different bird now, and clearly very happy.

Clementine has quite surprisingly become good friends with the ekkies. She has been around many different birds throughout her life, including several other greys, but she never took to any of them and would attack if they got too close. Therefore, I was not planning on allowing her out with any of my parrots, even when she showed such interested in the ekkies, and they seemed to return her long-distance friendship. Chester took an almost immediate liking to her from across the room, which considering he has an even worse attack bird history, is very surprising. After several months of talking to and mimicking each other from their respective cages (and turning the bird room into a real college cafe in the process, seriously) Chester stole over to Clementine's cage one time when I was [practically standing on my head in a very unique and previously unknown yoga position] cleaning his own cage. Needless to say, I was a bit stunned to turn around and find him feeding her through the bars. I also lifted the ban on time out together, so now all three play quite happily on the play gyms and tree! You just never know, do you?

By the way, I do not recommend ever allowing one bird to "corner" another,

as in this picture, even if they are getting along. There should always

be an escape route. Below the bottom of the frame

is another perch Clementine could easily reach,

but I moved her anyway after shooting this, just to be safe.

Powder Up!

2012-03-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

With the approval of Chester-the-sun-loving-jester

I love fruit and vegetable powders, which, for those who do not know, are fruit or vegetables that are dried and then ground to a fine powder. If food is dried at a low enough temperature, it can still be considered raw, but even food dried at "higher" temperatures is still hardly cooked. It is incredibly, incredibly versatile. Does your bird really like toast and little else? Sprinkle a small bit of powder on the toast! Because the powder is so concentrated, even a tiny amount packs a powerful punch. It makes it extremely easy to add nutrients to anything, which is particularly important for birds that do not have a varied diet. For instance, if a parrot eats any plain cooked grain, or plain baked items, you can add the powder to them while you work on getting them to eat actual fruits and vegetables. You can get garbanzo bean flour, coconut flour, quinoa flour, etc, mix in some of the powder, an egg, and maybe some mashed banana or pumpkin and have a very healthy treat! It will be quite dense, though, so please, don't let your parrot get overweight!

I love making greens powder. I have a small dehydrator and simply fill it up with whatever greens I have on hand, drying them at a very low temperature for around 30 hours ( I put it in one day and turn it off next, but usually it goes longer than 24, you want them really crisp) to preserve all the nutrients. Right now it is a mix of kale and collards; I remove the stems, as they stay hard and make crumbling the final product much more difficult! Besides, those are happily eaten raw, so nothing goes to waste.

If you do not have a dehydrator, you can dry greens without one. Many people dry them just with the air, and I have done this myself in the past. For a smaller amount it is a great way to go; I have so many birds now I just need to do huge batches! You can go fancy and get one of these, but you could also just get a large cookie sheet, lay the greens on that, and leave them somewhere safe such as on top of the fridge, until they are nice and dry. And yes, I am sure mold is possible, but I formerly lived in the very humid south (supposedly the mountains are better, although still the south) where chopped vegetables smelled in half an hour and steel often rusted in a couple of months.... and I have never seen moldy greens. Air drying has been used for who knows how long for various green foods (think bundles of herbs hanging form the rafters) so the odds are in your favor, at the very least. Why not try it and see? Once the greens are quite dry, I just take them out, and crumble by hand or with a small coffee grinder if I want a finer product. And there you have it, a very easy method to add greens to anything!

Some powder I also buy. Avian Organics, for one, has some lovely organic powders- blackberry, blueberry, carrot, and apple. Obviously, blackberries and blueberries have lots of antioxidants with not too much sugar, and carrots lots nutrition and vit. A (although much more sugar!) but her apple powder is also quite good, being made only with the peel of the apple, where most of the nutrition is. If your parrots are anything like mine, they eat the apple and leave the peel (same for anything, even fresh corn is peeled) which makes this powder quite useful!

Peter

2012-03-18T06:47:00.002-07:00

You can see his story here. I brought him to the new house since I could so easily keep him separate from all the others here, since I really really missed him. He was happy at my parents, but seemed as happy to be here as I was to have him. I am glad for that.

He died yesterday, March 17 at 4:20 in the afternoon. He started having seizures Thursday evening, which progressed to severe vertigo and vestibular issues. He only really wanted to be held by me the last couple of days, cupped in my hands as he was unable, too dizzy and weak, to sit up or balance on his own. On Friday I put two small toys with him which he did try to play with briefly with a little of his old spirit. He would give me some kisses when I was holding him, but by yesterday he was too tired for much of that. He was still sweet, still responded to me. I was holding him when he died. I had been holding him for a couple of hours. He was calmer, and in less pain than he had been. He seemed better and a bit stronger that afternoon, trying a bit pitifully to perch on my finger while leaning on my hand. I am glad, at least, for that.

I do not know when he was born. But he was at least eight. I think, in my poor human opinion, that he had a good life, at least after he came to me. It was his time to go, but he will be missed.

Please and Thank You

2012-03-13T19:16:00.001-07:00

With help from Linus

What qualifies as a well-behaved parrot is always going to vary from person to person. And how to achieve whatever your definition of a well-behaved parrot is will also vary widely. I am not going to get in to that fray in this post, after all, I intend this to be a short(ish) one. So instead, I will focus on a simple way to get a little closer to that goal.

And just a note, this post applies only to parrots that in general very much appreciate interacting with humans and will actively seek it out from you or another human. It does not apply to those that have not learned to love human companionship yet, and especially not to those that are distrustful of humans.

Whenever you go to interact in any way with your parrot, stop first and see what they are doing, ie, their behavior. If you want to encourage that behavior, such as playing alone, then go ahead and greet your parrot and continue with whatever you planned to do. More important than ignoring the bad is praising the good. Even for birds that have no glaring issues this is extremely important. How else will they know what you want? Even more than talking and doing tricks, a parrot that plays well on its own, is not overly loud, is friendly, and eats a varied diet is highly desired. So why just praise the talking and tricks? Praise the little stuff, since a parrot that does not wave on cue can still live in harmony with you, but a parrot that does not play? Not so much.

Going further, whenever I can, I will ask for a behavior before giving attention or food. In fact, many of you likely already do this by asking your parrot to step-up. Any time you request a simple behavior which they already can do before giving them what they want, ie attention, is a step in the right direction. Not only does this empower your parrot by allowing them the opportunity to shine (or not, if they choose), but it also gets both you and your parrot in the training mode. If you have a parrot that does not really like new toys, and you get them to beak a toy before picking them up, then the toy soon becomes associated with you and fun. Just as important, the idea that certain behaviors are rewarded is instilled at the same time, so if you choose several little things you can do throughout the day, your parrot will not only learn them, but also be on the lookout for new ones.

And last bit of advice on this subject? If you ask for said behavior (assuming they do indeed know the behavior), like step-up or as per my example beak the toy, and it is not given, you need to walk away. Really. Just walk away. I know you want to play with them, but you will send mixed messages by going ahead with that now. Once a behavior is asked for, if the request is refused, then giving in will weaken that request greatly. If you are consistent, you will very quickly find the only time you are refused is when your parrot genuinely does not want to play. And that means you now have two-way communication. In the words of that infamous ad campaign....... priceless.