Muse

Megan used to do this and in fact, my next to the last bite was for trying to put her in a cage when she did not want to go. She reached over and bit down hard on the inside of my forearm, breaking skin and twisting so she left a nice big knot and bruise that lasted for a couple of weeks. My solution has been to put her on the step up stick. I took one upstairs and put it by the sleeping cage. She doesn't normally sleep IN the cage (it's more of a glorified food and water bowl holder) but occasionally she will decide to fly off her stand, land on the bed and chew the covers or other antics, and then she goes in the cage. She's never happy about it as she prefers to sleep in her 'tree'. By using the stick, I keep that beak out of easy reach of my flesh, and by moving the stick and sometimes twisting it just slightly it keeps her off-balance. When she has to focus on balance, she's not sizing up the best spot for a bite. Most of the time she will step up on my hand and she's fine. But if I know there is a bite risk (as in she is going to be asked to do something she definitely does not want to do) I use the stick. Be very careful flicking her off as birds can easily be injured or even killed accidentally. I know bites hurt and our natural reaction is to pull quickly away but sometimes this makes things worse. Sometimes making a sharp, loud noise will cause them to let go. This is what another parrot would do, if you have ever watched them wrestle or play. I have been working with our big male using this technique and am having great success at teaching him to be more gentle. He lands on my head and initially I thought he was going to pluck me bald. He would grab hair and yank it hard enough to pull small clumps out at times. I found by giving a quick, loud "YIPE!" he realizes he's hurting me and he's getting successively more and more gentle until tonight he was very tenderly preening me and sat there for several minutes doing so ever so gently. I realize this goes against the advice that the "expert" trainers give, but I have done this for years with pups and kittens and am now having success with the birds as well. Yes, often they set out to hurt us, but then other times I suspect they just don't realize it hurts us. You will find a method that works for you, but in the meantime, please just be careful to avoid injuring your bird and also to avoid worsening the injury to yourself. Best of luck with your girl!

The recent photo contest at SeedsNow (http://www.seedsnow.com/) got me thinking about our garden project. We put a serious amount of time and effort in to this because it fits very importantly into the foundation of our long-term goals. We want to be as self-sufficient as possible because we know that no charity can be wholly dependent on the gifts from others for their support. We don't want to have to skimp on our meals because we feel feeding healthy, chemical-free fresh foods is vital to healthy birds - both in body and mind. Fresh food is one of the biggest costs here - right up there with vet bills. The more we can grow - the less we have to buy at super-high organic produce prices that they charge in the stores. And really ... can you be entirely sure that their produce is truly 'organic'? Does organic mean 'without chemicals'? And can commercial organic produce be contaminated with pesticides and other chemicals? The only way we can be 100% sure of the origins of the produce fed to the birds here is to raise it ourselves. We started small. This year, we built and planted 4 raised bed gardens. Next year, the gardens will be rotated and the herb garden will be moved closer to the house and will be replaced with more vegetables. We also plan to add a plowed and soil-amended (with organic soil/compost mix) area for a three-sisters garden Three sisters, if you aren't familiar with the method, is a way of planting that arises from Native American legend, however it is firmly rooted (pardon the pun) in good agriculture practice! You plant corn, beans and squash together. The corn towers and is a trellis for the climbing beans, the squash functions as a natural ground cover/mulch - protecting the soil around your plants from losing moisture and shading pesky weeds so that they don't grow (or don't grow as fast). Each of our current beds is approximate 2 feet deep below ground and 8 inches above ground. The beds are cedar wood to repel pests (except stinkbugs and Japanese beetles, apparently ) and are lined with wire cloth to prevent the huge mole population from tunneling in the beds. The beds were back-filled below grade with a 50/50 mix of native soil and the organic soil/compost (#3) mix which we ordered from a local organic nursery - Norwood Road Gardens. Above grade they are topped with the pure organic #3. Our watering system is on timers but needs serious work -as in a complete re-design- and an upgrade is on the "to do" list as soon as the garden lies fallow. Beds are planted with things our birds love - celery, melons, peppers (hot and sweet), beets, radishes, turnips, kale, snow peas, arugula, and spinach along with several lettuce varieties that were planted but did not germinate (Please note that NONE of these 0% germination seeds came from SeedsNow but were mostly Burpee and Ferry-Morse from Lowes and Wal-Mart). We also have cucumbers, zucchini and yellow straight-neck summer squash. Hopefully soon we will have pumpkins and okra. These are not only a fresh favorite but dehydrate nicely into chips with a consistency that is very papery that the birds go crazy for. Next year, we hope to add a greenhouse to the mix, so that we can produce food all year long for the birds here. Here is how all the backbreaking hard work has paid off: We used to go to a local grocery store once and sometimes twice a week for organic produce for the birds. The bill was always pretty high. We paid between 3-4 dollars A PIECE for things like small zucchini, 2-3 dollars for small cucumbers, 4-5 dollars for a small bunch of beets, etc. Berries were unreal. I did find two sources locally for organic berries - one farm that has several types (black, blue and I believe even raspberries) and one that has blueberries only. However, next year we hope that the bushes we planted this year (2 x blackberry, 2 x raspberry, 3 x blueberry) will provide berries. Being able to step out the back door with a basket and come in with a huge pile of fresh produce instead of running to the store has already saved me literally HUNDREDS of dollars. The dehydrator runs non-stop to preserve what we can't immediately use and that goes in their dry mix food. I have always loved to garden, but it was a hobby. Now it's become a cause and my dedication is being richly rewarded. And it gives me peace of mind in addition because I *know* for sure that nothing harmful has been poured or sprayed on the foods the birds are eating. It's a great feeling to know they are getting absolutely without a doubt the most healthy food I can give them. Once we get an established garden with heirloom varieties I would be happy to dry and send seeds to others here who are interested in growing their own bird-food-garden!

LOL! Thank you!

Thanks to all who voted. We did not win, sadly, but will still be ordering fall garden seeds (and more seeds next year) from SeedsNow. They sell non-GMO, non-hybridized and heirloom seeds that are capable of being harvested and saved for future planting! Many hybrids, patented, and GMO plants produce infertile seeds or seeds that do not produce true to the fruit. We are hoping once the garden is well established we can let plants "go to seed" and produce the seeds needed for the next year's crop. I have already ordered from them and planted and have okra plants and a pumpkin vine growing very well. No harvest yet as I found SeedsNow late in the planting season so they are trailing behind what I started indoors. But we still have a lot of summer/fall to go! Thanks again to all who voted!

Hahahaha, Nancy! At least your "punishment" does not include blood loss. Megan's idea of punishment is not only to bite, but to bite down and TWIST while biting down, for maximum pain and bruising! Her feathers are almost all grown back (thank God) so I have slowed down on the showers and am praying for at least a few days off between bites!

I don't read a book to Peck, but we do have a bedtime routine. I sing him a lullaby (usually Teddy Bears' Picnic) and then I make the kissing sound. The last few nights, it's a 50/50 chance of getting a kiss or what sounds like a very loud ... breaking wind. Last night was a kiss. Hehe. Lucky me. Megan's routine is simple. She goes to bed earlier with daddy, and is on a stand in our room. I have to walk right behind her to go into the bathroom, and as I do, I stop and give her a quick scritch, and if she wants, a kiss. She has been making "the noise" (a soft 'coo') as I scritch her. She's come a long way from the bird who used to strike the bars as I walked by coming to bed.

Too funny!!! Even funnier when they do that when you are on the phone. It's always fun explaining to non-bird folks who is talking loudly about poop during a business call.... Megan loves to say "Go potty, do it, do it! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE one out! Come on!" It always cracks me up. We have one water-bowl-pooper and that is Ariel, the little lovebird. She has a water bottle that she drinks from, but we give her a dish as well. She seems to think the dish is there to act as her own personal toilet. Every single day, like clockwork, she poops in that water even though there is no perch nearby - which means she has to go sit on the edge of the bowl holder and turn around and intentionally go in the bowl. I have never seen her drinking from the bowl (thankfully!).

One of our goals here at Marden's Ark is to try to be as self-sufficient as we can. One of our constant and highest expenses is fresh food. To do what is best for the birds here we feed normally expensive organic produce to avoid pesticides and chemicals. To help with our goals we have a garden project, started this year. We eventually hope to add a greenhouse to enable year-round produce to be grown. We order many of our seeds from SeedsNow, and they are currently having a photo contest. We have about a day and a half left. The prize is a seed bank for fall planting but they are also giving away gift certificates. We would be extremely grateful for any votes to help us in this contest! Here is the link - no registration required, just an email address: https://www.wishpond.com/lp/198981/entries/2029087 Thanks in advance to anyone who votes for us! -- Muse (Dee) at Marden's Ark

Very well put, Dave. There are a lot of factors that influence why a bird would not be adopted out. Our end goal is not to do adoptions but take in and give refuge to the types of birds that are typically considered not adoptable. Mainly ex-breeders who are aggressive and fearful of all humans. We'd love to be able to offer them the freedom to fly in a big aviary and to live like birds should live. We can't take them back to where they came from (though I wish we could) but we can give them the next best thing. A safe place to live with room to fly, the company of other birds, and lots of natural enrichment. Any adoption is risky. I have seen it already with rescuing dogs and cats. I just saw something the other day where a person adopted a dog from a shelter then turned around and was selling it on Craigslist - stating in the ad that he got it from this shelter. Someone notified the shelter, and they contacted the person but he declined to bring the animal back and the shelter declined to pursue the matter. I am sure this happens with birds as well.

At Project Perry, in the Grey Aviary, they have birds that have dug little cavities in the dirt that they nest in. They are pairs, but according to Matt Smith, do not lay eggs. But the one little female had a pretty nice little tunnel going and was a bit defensive over it with the other birds. I cannot imaging them ground nesting in the open wild - as that would be really high risk for predators to trap them. I think these birds just feel safe where they are.

Megan steps up when I ask her to, most of the time. She will shake, wave and kiss if there is a treat involved. Peck steps up when I ask, as do all the other birds including the two new ones, except Ariel, the lovebird and Anya, the budgie. The green cheeked conures will all "go back" and "go the playroom" when asked to do so. Some birds step up on a stick only (Aria, Auna, Lora, Peck, Rasa and Jack) others do on stick or hand. Maks, Megan, Alex and especially Peck are pretty reliably recall trained. Peck blows me a kiss most nights. I sing him a lullaby, standing very close to him and he 'sings' along, and when I am done, I tell him goodnight and I love him and make a kissing sound and he makes the sound back. Not really on command, but on cue, lol.

She's so beautiful!

Happy belated hatchday! I always love hearing the heartwarming updates on the sweet little Inara! What an adorable girl.

Today I had a really DIRTY birdie... the morning started out well. I brought Megan in while I prepared breakfast (no cooking, just chopping) and she sat on the stand and threw all the food out of the food dish. Peck chose not to join us today, and that was fine. I get about three fourths done with breakfast and Megan tries to insert herself in the small "locking crock" water dish on the play stand. I think OH YEAH! And grabbing the sprayer, I get her to take a few squirts while playing in the dish and I manage to get her pretty wet. I am using the aloe juice, and tea brewed with chamomile and rosemary then cooled with a little water mixed in. I was feeling pretty happy about this because I got her daily shower without a huge fight, which means I probably wasn't going to get a bite later. So I finish the bowls and carry hers and Pecks in to their bedroom. I set her on her door perch and get the dirty water bowl out (mistake #1) then put her food bowl in, thinking she will go in after it. Wrong. She climbs to the top, and while I am opening Peck's cage, takes said bowl of water and dumps it - on me, the cage, the floor. So I grab Peck's dirty water bowl, the remaining dribble in her bowl and go back the kitchen for the two bowls of clean water. I come back and and Peck, who was sitting on HIS cage when I left the room is now on TOP of Megan's cage with a very evil look on his face. I look down, and poor Megan - he dropped a huge morning poop right down her back. He had every chance to do this on the rug in front of his cage (where he usually does it) but saved it and AIMED it and got her square in the middle of her back and all down both wings. Of course, the really bad news was that she now needed another shower. Yeah. That went over really well. Not. I'm still waiting for the retaliatory bite that I know must be coming.... hehe.

The newest two birds came from the same home. The woman is moving into smaller space and needed to reduce the number of birds she had. When Ariel saw Jack, she got very excited. She used to act very scared and shy when I put my hand in the cage, but since the other birds are here (and in quarantine with her) she's been much more active and much less shy. I see a bite coming in my near future, lol.

Smell is a powerful sense as it relates to emotion and memory. I had a cat that showed up at my house, and the moment I smelled him, I knew he was mine. I can't explain it, but his scent (and it was a very light one) instantly invoked full-on mother in me. It was just like smelling my own baby. I love the sweet, powdery cockatiel smell, almost like baby powder. I love the wonderful smell of the Greys, especially when they have been outside. And I have now come to realize I love that musky Amazon smell. Alex, the sun conure, has very sweet breath most of the time (maybe because he loves fruit?) which is good because he loves to kiss and gets very... intense when doing so. I like his smell too, and now that there is an Amazon here, I notice that the sun conure smell is kind of like Amazon-lite. LOL. Maybe we need a 12 step program for bird sniffers, or even just "pet sniffers", lol.

Thanks! We actually made our last outdoor aviary out of PVC, so this may very well be our solution! I like that design, but of course, for 20 or 30 birds, I will have to expand it. I will keep everyone posted!

We barely have our wings as a brand new rescue, aren't even 501©3 yet (application IS filed but not granted) and already we have taken in two this past week and now are possibly taking 20-30 budgies from an extreme neglect/hoarding case. I am working closely with a wonderful veterinarian who is going to assist with the vet checks as this case is very high risk. The budgies are reportedly flying loose in a 800 sq ft home with feces that is AN INCH THICK, throughout the house, living in holes carved in drywall, and nesting there. A call went out to rescues but none responded. It is amazing how huge a response for Macaws, Amazons, Cockatoos and Greys, but not one response for these poor little babies. The vet is trying to raise funds to provide a huge cage where they can all be kept (walk-in style). We will probably be disassembling the bed in the guest room and putting it against the wall to accommodate until the three currently in quarantine are through and vetted and in the 'bird' room. Then the aviary would be moved here. I just can't leave these birds in the situation they are in. Quarantine will be very strict with isolation protocols going in and out of the room, at least until we make sure they are disease free. Please pray for us. That is all I can do at this point.

Thank you so much for adding Rasa to the list. He would thank you but his beak is full of breakfast at the moment!

They sure can make it a nightmare to give them a bath! We just took in a wild-caught 25 year old Amazon reported to be incredibly vicious. I 'offered' him a shower and he went crazy, cooing like a dove and hanging upside down with wings spread - loving every minute of it. Then I forced a shower (ordered by the vet) on Miss Megan. She growled and screamed and screeched. I expected animal control to come kicking the front door in to save whoever I was torturing. The next morning she gave me a really good hard bite on my forearm for my troubles. She's such a vindictive little bird. I sure wish she'd take a lesson from Rasa, the Amazon. Peck, our other Grey, doesn't go crazy over showers but he does cooperative and fluff to get the water under the feathers. Megan is the only bird that is a complete stinker about baths. And I considered making a sign like what you have on your avatar for her. I'd only need to make two zeros and number about from one to seven.... lol.

As a nurse, I am leery of putting medicine or vitamins in water. You can never establish what dose has been administered that way. Many of the ingredients have toxic principals but then again, so do many modern medicines. I am going to be taking one of our new intakes in to the vet very soon. I am going to run this by her (she's a certified veterinary herbalist). Several of the ingredients are things I routinely use myself (chamomile, passion flower). I am considering furthering my education in the specialty of homeopathic medicine and herbal remedies. It's something I have done for myself for years, and I would like to know enough to safely use for the birds here. I am definitely going to look into this. Megan has stopped plucking for now, but it may prove useful if she starts again (which I predict will occur when I begin working again).

I am so sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is, and how badly it hurts to lose one of these babies. I lost my son in much the same manner. He was being treated for a leg injury and we blamed the lack of appetite on the medication which is hard on the stomach (NSAID similar to ibuprofen). When the appetite did not return after stopping it, he was treated for a bacterial infection, then more blood work was done showing it was a fungal infection. By the time he was started on the anti-fungal, it was too late. He died of systemic (ingested) aspergillosis. It did not affect his respiratory system so the symptoms were pretty vague at first. I beat myself up for a long time, and still do, for not requesting follow-up labs. You better believe that WILL be the case next time one of them gets sick. The void left in my life is almost indescribable. It's been six months now, and I still cry every single day. You have my deepest condolences and you will be in my thoughts and prayers.

I don't buy that myth about not bonding to humans if they have another bird one bit. Our Greybies had each other for three years and were definitely bonded as 'mates' (at least in Marden's mind) and yet they were VERY bonded to their daddy and Marden was very bonded to me. I think they all have a capacity to form lasting relationships (plural) with those they feel they can have a relationship with. Alex has Maks and Maks has Alex and they sound as if they are dying if you separate them, but both of them are mama's boys to no end - very bonded to me. I don't think love is limited to one person or bird per bird. Just my observation here.

Odd... Megan does the dove sounds very quietly, too. Even though when they are sitting in the trees outside the playroom the doves themselves are not quiet at all.

Have you tried making a toy from the birdie bread? Hide it in something like a paper bag, or if it is dense enough, run a skewer through a cube of it. I found there are things mine will only eat if they can play with it. I have been on almond milk for years now. Tried soy and it was almost as bad as being lactose intolerant - gave me lots of upset stomach. I love almond milk and so do the birds. I even got my husband drinking it. What an adorable boy you have.