Leaderboard

Hello all, We have had our delightful little CAG (Larry), for around 4 months now, we bought him at 11 weeks so he is approx 7 months old. Things we going very well - he was picking up a few commands / tricks step up etc and potty training. We decided against having him clipped and soon enough he was flying around the house and with the exception of a few crash landings was settled very well. However there has been a slow decline in almost every aspect of him. We started to notice he was pulling his black flight feathers out and he seemed to prune almost non-stop to the point where he pulled out so many feathers he has stopped himself from being able to fly. His behaviours changed slightly whereby he would refuse any treats (which he absolutely loved such as pumpkin/ sunflower seeds), and his overall energy seemed to decline - in the sense that a CAG his age should be investigating everything / being very active - however he seems to just want to perch on our shoulders or in his cage. After taking him to 3 different vets - last guy who seems extremely knowledgeable was very concerned about the fatal PBFD (Parrot beak and feather disease), and we are currently awaiting the results which will come this Monday for blood tests. He was extremely concerned at the colour / texture of his feathers and the fact he has plucked many - and he was particulaly concerned about the red feathers over his chest (which he has always had since we bought him). We was told the red feathers over his legs and chest means he is classed a "King African grey"? You can see these in the pictures below - the red feathers over his body and there is a photo from behind showing all the black flight feathers he has pulled out. Has anyone else had anything similar? Its a waiting game until Monday but we are devastated it could be PBFD. The vet said it could only has contracted this from the breeder as he hasn't been in contact with any other birds let alone Parrots. We did so much research and feel like we have let him down. Could anyone please share information they have regarding the red feathers and the behaviour i pointed out earlier? Thank you so Much. Photos below. James

GreyForums has very little traffic as the 4 or 5 of us know. I'm also on Avian Avenue and rarely post because there's too many there. So today, I was perusing the 'African Grey Parrots' group on FB as I do the 15 or so bird groups I'm subscribed too and came across this posting which I felt compelled to reply to. Check out my conversation which got me banned. Pictured is a thread off the main topic where 'Joshua' got his little feelings hurt because he decided to tie one on with a far-right leaning individual and lost. However Joshua is in good with the mods so of course cronyism is in play here. I took him to task for his liberal misuse of the term snowflake...and got myself banned. oh...I'm the dude with the cute little Caique as an avatar

This poem was exactly what Dave was all about, he was a man of sharp wit and a keen sense of humor but what he held in knowledge of all things concerning greys was priceless. He like the rest of us was not a vet but he was someone who had vast experience in dealing with greys, breeding them, raising them from babies and he did that for a long time. He took in a grey who no one else could handle and he accomplished wonders with his patience and skill in working with them for so long. He was our go to guy if someone had a problem with a grey and this forum sorely misses him as I do each and every day, he was someone you could count on for advice and not necessarily just about greys. I had many a conversation with him in the years I knew him and I miss his wealth of knowledge on greys along with his sharp tongue, I even managed to make him laugh a few times. There seems a strange silence to his absence and the forum is less active because he no longer is here but maybe in time the forum will pick up again. Dave was one of a kind, sometimes he was a bitter pill to swallow but he had a huge heart, I miss him so much.

I Talked to the man one time, and i think his words will live forever.

I think that we actually try to get along here. After all our Greys are flock birds we take after them a little squabble here and there share, some good ideas and learn form our feathered companions. (don't think we are quite as vain though)

I always have a mental picture of a Macaw when I read that.

We are most grateful for both you and Sukei being home and safe. Very pleased you were able to accomplish the refit on this site also-gratitude.

i can add that sometimes when a Grey plucks the replacement feather will sometimes grow in red. Kind of like when a Grey dog has an area that was injured the hair may come back in black Brown on a white dogs. Also the more you let him know you are worried the more worried and stressed he will be so try and stay positive. The Beak and feather disease test is not always correct sometimes gives a false positive or a false negative one of the reasons this disease is so challenging. What ever the outcome just love that Grebie. I think "king grey" is a sales tool not a real subspecies.

You've done the right thing by taking him to the vet. I'm afraid I am not a vet and I have no experience of this type of problem so can only say that I feel for you and please keep us updated on any progress.

Make no mistake, I know im new even after a few years, and ill have to earn yall's respect, but the site was dying and we just saved it. I wish there was a few computer guys here, I could share the code with, that was backed into this place and could understand it. Google understood it and marked the place. Now everything is HTTP encrypted, and is not at much risk as it was. Make no mistake, no mater how good you are, no matter how many security protocols you put in, your still at risk, however, its like car thieves, if the door is locked they move on to the next one. Soft targets. I hope the protocols we put in here will stop this kind of crap. But as I said, Im thankful for all of you for helping me get Sukei home. Ill be forever grateful.

Best of luck. when you say sunflower seeds are treats, presume he is on a good diet generally. He looks like a trooper too. :-) surely you doing the the right thing, as we here are more fans than vets!

Happy Holidays to you and yours! I really miss Dave. He was a real asset to the forum.

There are some things that are too special to be forgotten. Like the truly unique wit & wisdom of the equally unique Dave007. And of course, his huge investment of time & effort towards making Grey Forums greyt. Wishing everyone a very special Thanksgiving & holiday season. But especially to Dave's friends & family ...hope you'll reminisce w/a little charity & a lot of joy.

Another reason why Greyforums is better..and Facebook sucks...too many prima donners...imo

Not sure I'm in good enough with the mods to get you banned I hardly ever comment in that group, I usually just look at Greybies and watch videos, mainly gawking at all the fabulous talkers while mine sits here mute as a brick (grrrr...). I didn't see what started Joshua's rant (which is not shown in my pic) but seeing what happened to me, maybe the other guy wasn't such an ass after all. I'm guessing ol Joshy can't seem to take what he dishes out so he runs to the mods and whines. I was really surprised I got the boot from those two comments.

First I put "ha-ha" as a reaction, then reconsidered. I didn't want to hurt your feelings and get banned... Seriously though, people are just too sensitive and easily offended these days. I am sorry you were banned if you enjoyed the page, but you weren't rude or obnoxious.

You all know I have a spoiled rotten African Grey. Well, she's about to get spoiled even more. Let this be a long running thread, cause I'm going to post photos as this progresses. First the background: - my wife went back to work last year around December. Before that my birds had the run of the house and their outside aviary. Wifey was home to watch them for three years. When she went back to work I was forced to lock them up in their cages, in their bird room. I know this is probably what most people do, but I can't handle that. I watch them from my camera while I'm at work and it's heart breaking to see a Grey, who is normally so playful and full of life, just sit there slumped on a perch for 8-10 hours just waiting for one of us to come home. - my maternal Grandmother, just before she died, sat me down and had a talk with me. Something I was never expecting, she gave me a sizeable amount of money and asked me to use it for a car. I think she felt bad because I had bought her old car a few years prior and it was always giving us trouble, to this day I'm constantly tearing something out of it and fixing it. It's about to hit the 20 year mark and nearly a quarter million miles. I told her that I didn't want the money because I hate spending money on cars as they depreciate to nothing in 10-15 years. To me, a car is the worst way to spend money. She asked me to take the money anyway and do something special with it. - I have always been very frugal. When I was in the Marines and 17 years old, it took me over three years to save my first thousand dollars. This was a time when my breakfast before heading to base was 1 bowl of the $0.60 box of corn flakes we could buy at the commissary. We could barely buy anything but I was still trying to save and when I got that first thousand dollars I wanted to bury it in the front yard of my base housing unit. Sounds a little crazy but that's me and I'd never had any money before. So around a year ago, it just came to me what I should do with that cash that Grandma gave me...I'm going to build that addition onto the house for my babies. And should both of us pass on unexpectedly, it's something my daughter can easily take over and my birds won't have to get tossed into the wind. Something that has bothered me ever since I got GreycieMae. I've gone through four contractors who I had out to look at what I wanted. We've NEVER had any luck with contractors for other jobs that I don't have the time to do myself. Without getting into the details, they never do what they say they will or what you pay them to. And it usually involves people who pretend not to understand English. So out of the blue my wife asks me to contact this other guy she knows about. I don't know where the hell she found him but he is the REAL DEAL. He sat down and told me what I wanted and I was lapping it right up. He is semi-retired and only does "small jobs". He has apparently been involved in very large projects but I'm not sure how large. A few interesting notes about this contractor: - he's a very religious man. He told me prior to bidding the job that he would not be able to work on Wednesdays as he uses that day to perform his church duties. He's always fasting. And he uses no crew except his home-schooled grandson on Mondays and Fridays. I could not believe the day he showed up to start trenching and he pulled a bunch of digging tools out of his truck and just started ripping ground - manually. He's 66 years old. Can you believe that? I am still dumbfounded every day when I see him show up and start laboring away. He reminds me of my Dad who is near 80 years old and is THE hardest working man I've ever seen. They are both apparently cut from the same generational cloth. The purpose behind this new addition is, I'm hoping I can keep them inside in it, separated from each other and they won't have to live their daily life in a cage. My wife hates it that we can never go anywhere or do anything anymore because I feel 100% neglectful asking my birds to stay in lockup while we go have fun. That isn't fun for me. All I ever do is worry about them. It will have cameras and lights, just like their bird room and I'll be able to monitor them while we're out - at work, at play, whatever. So I'll use this thread to post photos as we go along. Let's hope this doesn't turn into a disaster. You never know how a project will go!

People sometimes think about what they don't have, but I submit to you, think on those things you do have. Friends, Family, Health and a myriad of things I could list here. As an example, I thank God I have sight, and hearing and just the ability to walk around as a normal human everyday. Be thankful for what everyone takes for granted. The place I returned from, most folks don't have that luxury. Be Thankful for the time you have to spend with the folks that are alive and you still have the time to make amends, for one day you will not. But most of all give thanks to God for giving you one more day to do the right thing. I pray for the ones we lost, I hope their families can find a way to be thankful for there efforts in keeping everyone safe as can be. And most of all I am thankful for each and everyone of you for helping me get Sukei home.

We all love our little angels with red tails. We speak kindly of them and love them with all our hearts, but when they are bad we come up with new names for them to vent our frustration. So what do you call your red tailed darling when they are less than perfect ?? Well around here when Corky falls of her pedestal It`s Corky Monster.!!!! So when your sweet thing is less than stellar what kind of name do you call them OH, don`t tell me that your red tailed sweetie is never bad because I won`t believe you so come on, fill us in.

Ahhhh yes. Dave's Thanksgiving thread. I too miss Dr. Flock like blazes. Until we meet again.... You Old Growly Bear.

Facebook is facebook, yes it is full of all kinds of people but that's why I don't have a large amount of friends, I am very selective of who I friend and I do not hesitate to cull those who I find unacceptable to me but you know sometimes people open their mouths before their brain clicks into gear and that is where you get into trouble. Groups are usually where you find most of these flaming comments so I usually don't comment in those, sometimes its fun to see how comic some of them can get. I am so sick of all these people offended by whatever, it seems anything and everything is offensive to someone at any time, people used to have their own opinions and everyone got along respecting each other's opinions but now it seems you have to be so careful of what you say because it may offend someone, well all this offends me so back off. I am who I am and I believe what I believe but I respect other people's right to their own beliefs so why can't everyone else do the same. I apologize for nothing, if you can't accept me for who I am then leave me alone, keep your opinions to yourself, I take no prisoners.

This site had a host of problems and I am trying to get used to the new format, will take a while but it looks good and we are grateful you took the time and maybe money to get this site cleaned up and running. I agree that there is always someone out there who is learning to hack even the most secure sites, the more security we utilize the more the hackers work to undo them, kind of a game to see who can do it first but we do appreciate what you have done for us. It does make us happy to know this forum may have helped in getting Sukei home to you as no one of us would have wanted to have to leave our beloved companions behind when moving to another country, knowing you both are happy is enough, thank you.

Great progress so far! Keep the photos coming, this is an awesome project!

It`s good that you have taken him to the vet as we are not veterinarians. There are many things like emotional and nutrition issues that can cause plucking. I hope your vet is a bird vet as the have special needs with their health with their health issues. Taking them to your vet is the best thing you can do for your Grey. As to the red feathers on your grey, It`s called red factor grey so enjoy them as sometimes they out grow them and molt them out. Pleas let us know how things turn out.

WELL SAID !

That really looks great!

Walls and roof are fully enclosed on the 'littles' room as I call it. It's trimmed out on the inside but still needs some finishing on the outside. Also waiting for the tiling tie-in and then it can be painted and the door put on. Inside: Outside: And the Greybie GreycieMae's room. Did I mention that working with insulation is an itchy job?

I believe it is a Pride of Barbados. I was hoping it could stay because it would really appreciate the warmer enclosure during the winter and wouldn't die back to the ground every year. I've seen pics where they start to look like small trees. SHooot. I need to find some safe jungle style plants for GreycieMae to sit in and proclaim herself Queen of the African savannah sunroom.

It looks great. I think it's going up pretty quickly, though it must feel like it's dragging on for you. I think it's a fine use of the money you inherited, and I know the birds will agree. This is what love looks like. Lucky fids.

This happens to be one of my absolutely favorite photos. My wife and I both noticed that with the roof on and the windows installed, it feels kind of like being in the Colorado mountains for some reason?!? Whatever, it feels different in the 'room' now and Miss GreycieMae is going to love it! She's going to have her own personal little jungle!

Windows are installed! The 12ft sliding glass door is going to be one of the last things we put on. Don't want to bust that thing moving stuff in and out. That would suck!

At the rate I'm going, I should be done by NEXT Christmas! The tie-in for the roof is done on both sections, this was a very difficult piece and has taken for dang'd ever. Now the professional roofer can come in and do the easy-peasy part, shingle it. Shingleing onto the panels will be tricky but he says he knows how to do it so I'm not worrying about that part. You can also see we have all but two of the 'Solar Grey' panels installed. We need some parts before we can do the ends so that's on hold for now. Remember, a GreybieGrey needs Solar Grey panels

So jealous!. It's gonna be beautiful!

I said it before, Ill say it again, that is dedication. Just WOW

Roof ramping to complete the tie-in between the house and the aviary is almost complete. We're looking at a couple samples of the the corrugated paneling we are going to use. This stuff is called 'SunTuf' and has a 15 year hail damage warranty. So it should standup to some abuse. We have clear (90% light transmission) and a solar grey (35% light transmission). We're thinking of going with the solar grey because of the brutal summers here. And a nice closeup of how we're doing the tie-in:

Its gonna be an amazing place for the birdies to play and you all to enjoy, can't wait for the finish.

OMG, I am impressed, and I am not easily impressed.

Roof cedars are nearly complete. When I was designing this I considered a completely opaque roof on part of the long section to allow for some shade. But the roof cedars are providing so much shade I think I'm going with the 'solar grey' all the way across as it is partially opaque and the cedars are blocking a lot. I don't want to create a completely dark area. Once the cedar beams are complete we can get a professional roofer in here to tie in the roof to our house. We don't want to screw that part up and create a leaking problem into the house.

That's gonna be great! It's going so fast!

90% framed out. Cedars are sitting in my parking lot drying from the stain job. They're going on next. Windows are ordered and should be in next week. We had a change of direction on the middle section which we love much better: we're going with a full glass double slider. It's a 12ft beast and will be delivered on the back of a large truck but it will allow us to open the up the veranda and use it when the birds aren't in the middle section. They could literally be on both ends while were doing our thing in the middle!

Yeah, this is designed so that I can leave them in it while at work. The walls are house-grade, sitting on a poured concrete curbing with rebar and piers. The walls will be made from hardie board (a concrete slab made to look like a board and paintable). The windows are tempered glass and will be reinforced on the outside with wire panels similar to what is on my current aviary, probably smaller holes though. The roof is being made with cedar similar to a deck but will be topped with 15year hail proof corrugated panels. We're still trying to decide if we want some sun to come through. THinking of making part of the long run partially blocked from the sky with full opaque panels and the rest in solar grey (75% blockage). So during the day when we're not there the thing will be sealed and locked up tight, dogs in the yard and a camera feed on my other monitor at work. Oh...and the great thing, when I'm tired of their b.s., I can toss them out of any one of three windows or the back door and get some sanity back for a bit. I designed the doors to open flat and allow a channel through the whole unit so it's kind of like a 18'x100' aviary with the interior doors open.

Omg! I'm so jealous. Yes, I had an aviary built for my birds. I've had it for 4 years, my Amazon LOVES it! She will spend hours out there. I won't leave her there while I'm at work , but I will let her spend the day on the weekends When I run errands or am working in the yard. My greys....well, they will only go out on me if I am there....they want nothing to do with it. I can leave the door and window wide open, but they have no desire to go there unless I take them out, even then, they will quickly fly back into the house. I love how you have 3 seperate rooms! Looking forward to following the progress!

Sounds like a fantastic project! I have recently ripped out and re-created by back garden. Well I say I... it was actually my dad who did all the work. I just pointed at things, explained what I wanted and made sure he had a steady supply of tea and snacks! I have included an area at the back of the garden for an aviary. It's going to be 12ft long, 6ft wide and 6ft high. It will be multi-use: for my two bengal cats and also for Alfie to use (though not at the same time for obvious reasons!). I haven't bought it yet because I used a lot of my savings on the garden itself. With the weather getting colder and Christmas looming I'm holding off on buying the aviary until early next year. But I'm super excited for Alfie to finally have a safe place to play outside! I'll be following this thread with interest!

These are 5.5"x4" rebar'd curb sitting on 18" concrete piers every 4'. You can just barely see the anchor bolts in the pour. When we put up the forms, I thought it looked way to small to be building on. Concrete crew very hard at work here! I guess the white hen is the inspector Stamp of approval or maybe just her signature int he wet concrete

Of course I didn't get a pic of the 'before'. But this one is close, Day 1. Tools and crap everywhere already but... This thing is going to be three 'rooms'. What you're looking at here are room #1 where the blue cooler is sitting and room #2 is the covered porch area. Here you can see room #3 on the other side of the covered porch. This is after we trenched and have the concrete curb forms set ready to pour. Room #1 overhead Room #3 overhead