Kya

I think my two are chattier (is that a word?) when we are out of the room because they want a response from us. I call back and forth to them all the time, answer their questions, bring them their treats they ask for, etc. I see it as their flock call, only most of ours do it in English. They can't see me when I am on the computer at the dining room table, so the banter back and forth is constant. They know I am there, they hear the keyboard clicking, but they will keep on until I actually answer them vocally. (Or does this mean my birds are spoiled rotten and I am trying to make it into something it isn't???) It is interesting because we have a 2 year old Sun conure, as well. She has never talked until the greys came along, and didn't talk much until we brought Gracie into the home a few weeks ago. Now, the greys chatter back and forth between each other so much, she has started to pick up on it. She isn't as easy to understand as they are, but she is talking non stop. I guess she thought if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Gracie is really coming into her own. She will have been with us 5 weeks tomorrow. Every day, we hear new words from her, which is interesting to me because Kya hit the ground running when we took him in and has never shut up for more than 15 minutes or to sleep. But, Kya had one home other than us all of his life, and we don't know how many Gracie had, or really know anything much at all about her background. Kya went off the other night in his rapid gunfire - "pew, pew, pew" and this lasted for about 15 minutes. It always makes us laugh because he is so overzealous about it, and right after he finishes he does his monkey imitation so it's pretty predictable. Gracie was sitting about 6 inches away from him, staring at him with her head cocked. When he finished, she said "stupid bird". My husband and I both burst out laughing. I later realized that Kya doesn't say that and we don't say that so at some point in time, someone must have called her a stupid bird enough for her to retain it, and it made me sad, but it was hysterically funny when it happened. Gracie also loves some boxes. (Don't ever look in my spare bedroom - I have quite the collection for her.) She likes for me to put one up on her cage on it's side so she can play inside it and slowly destroy it. This past week, she had discovered that she loves to yell things inside the box and do her sound effects, she seems to like the way it sounds inside her little cave. If we go to put her back in the cage to go somewhere or go to bed, she runs inside what is left of her box and starts yelling "No, no, no!!!" We literally have to take her box away before she will step up to go back in her cage.

Kya is amazing. I should have titled this thread to include both of them, it's been a little over a year since we rescued him. He's just so settled in that it seems as if we've had him forever! Gracie has had a good week. Every day, she is throwing more words out there, last night she said "I love you" for the first time. (This is one of Kya's favorite phrases of manipulation, so I am not sure whether she already knew how to say it or has just picked it up from him.) She speaks in the voice of a little old lady who probably smoked 5 packs a day, so it's easy to tell her voice from Kya's. Kya speaks in several different voices - his previous owner, myself and my husband, and occasionally a child. When my grandson is over, Kya always uses his "child" voice. I am considering something and I need some opinions. I am really torn over this. I said initially that we were expecting some confusion, because our Chihuahua's name is Gracie, as well. She's a senior dog, so now every time I am calling back and forth to Gracie (bird) or talking to her, I have an old senile Chihuahua standing at my feet looking up expectantly, waiting to see what amazing thing I am about to do. Gracie (bird) does not really respond to her name if I call her name from a distance - Kya does. She's 19, and when the man surrendered her to rescue he had only had her 4 years, so there is no telling how many names she has had in her life. As much as she is talking now, I've not heard her use one single name, although she did call Kya a "stupid bird" the other night when he went into his rapid fire "pew, pew, pew" for about 15 minutes straight. (We thought it was hilarious at first, until we realized someone somewhere had probably called her a stupid bird repeatedly for her to have picked that up, and then it made me sad.) I've done rescue / fostering for years, and it really depends on the circumstances whether I change a name or not. For instance, I have a terrier that I rescued 2 days prior to euthanasia, after he was deemed unadoptable due to fear aggression from being abused. His name is Pedro, it really doesn't fit him, but I didn't change it, because I felt he'd been through too much in his life to throw that at him, too. With Gracie (bird), we don't know anything about her past. Her plucking started at the avian rescue, AFTER she was relinquished, that is why we felt she needed to be in a new forever home ASAP. If she voiced or responded to her name, I wouldn't even consider this. If the poor little dog wasn't staying so confused, I wouldn't give it a second thought. What do you think about a new forever name for a new forever life with a 19 year old parrot who may be smarter than I am???

All is well with Gracie Lou! (Kya has a bee in his bonnet, between hormones and the storms we've had this week, he's a bit of a jerk! Right now, he's having a temper tantrum because I put a strawberry in his bowl. I am a terrible parront. ) I am now able to get her to step up and stay on my arm. She loves for me to walk around the house with her, talking all the while. If I stop talking, she tries to make her way up to my shoulder, and I don't quite trust her not to remove an ear for me yet! (I'm asking myself why I cut all of my hair off these days.) We now have new feather growth on the chest and belly! She's just doing great. We couldn't be happier. Unlike Kya, she loves her fresh foods and all you can see is her butt and tail sticking out of her bowl until it is all gone. She is talking non stop, mostly mimicking everything Kya says, but they also argue back and forth at times, and it's quite humorous. He will yell for "apple" and she will yell for "grapes". Or he will tell her "NO!" and she will really let him have it and yell "NO" over and over at him. Yet they actually seem to get along. Their cages are in front of a window, and when I know it is going to storm, I usually close the blind and curtains while we are at work. Yesterday, the storms hit much earlier than forecast, and both of them were out of sorts last night, neither would come out of their cages. I felt really bad, storms here in Western Kentucky are wicked, lots of thunder and lightning. And, of course, the power got knocked out so the tv didn't come back on, so they were left to deal with the storms in silence within the house and the curtains and shades wide open. I won't let that happen again. They are fine now, but it stressed them both out. One more picture before I go and pick up all the chop rejects out of the floor!

It's been a good week with Gracie Lou, if you disregard the fact that she woke me barking this morning and I thought it was my Chihuahua wanting to go outside so I jumped right up, only to find it was Gracie Lou. She has turned a corner this week, and decided I might be the human for her, rather than my husband. She will now readily step up for me at any time, I use no words, just offer my arm and that little talon is raised before I even get close enough for her to step up. She does not want to be touched, she just wants to hang out on my arm. Baby steps. Kya's favorite words are "NO" and "STOP THAT", he learned those from the husband of his previous owner who he did not like at all. So, we find ourselves with a very bossy bird, and now Gracie (who obviously also knows the meanings of these words) is having to deal with Kya's bossiness. Last night, the cutest thing happened. They were both eating their fresh food, face to face, and Kya yelled (straight at Gracie) "NO! STOP THAT!" She had a strawberry in her talon and she calmly looked up at him and said "NO, NO, NO" and continued to eat her strawberry. Kya was so taken aback that someone had actually disagreed with him that he just sat there and watched her eat with his little head cocked. Her favorite place to be is on her play stand or climbing all over her cage, which is fine, we're still giving her all the space she needs. I will take her into the kitchen or another room with me while I'm doing things but she pretty much just sits and watches, as opposed to Kya, who wants to knock everything off and destroy everything he can't knock off. The other night she was on her play stand and Kya decided he wanted to fly over to her. He's quite a bit larger than her, being fully feathered and just in general, so I am sure it looked like a 747 coming in for a landing to little Gracie Lou. It startled her and she flew for the first time since we got her, but not to one of us. She flew around the corner and into the bathroom and landed on a rug in the floor. Her flight was a little clumsy, even though she has all of her flight feathers and the majority of her feathers on her back are coming back in, so it gave me a scare because I have heard of greys breaking their breast bone with bad landings. I scooped her up - she was very happy to see me - and put her back on her play stand while my husband retrieved Kya from the play stand - we aren't going to let him push her, either. I do not believe he meant her any harm, I think he just wanted to hang out with her, but she wasn't ready for him to be that close outside their cages. And, he has been showing signs of being a little hormonal this past week, so who knows what his intentions were. I really feel like we're moving in the right direction, and I am so happy to see these gradual changes in her. The rescue that she came from (Exotic Avian Sanctuary of Tennessee) has recently bought a 5 acre piece of land that they are building a larger sanctuary on - right now the birds have taken over the homes of the two ladies who own the rescue. They are having a fund raiser and my husband is working on some paintings and I am working on some mixed media art for them to use for auction to aid in building their sanctuary. So, it's a beautiful weekend weather wise, we may set up our easels outside and see what we can accomplish.

Excellent points, birdhouse. I guess Kya was so accepting of her from day one that I just didn't let my mind wander in that direction. Coincidentally, (or maybe not) we have had an exceptionally warm winter, many days with the windows wide open, and we did gain a little over an hour of daylight the month of February, plus our daylight savings time hit last weekend, right about the time Kya started to act like a 16 year old boy in a room full of super models. We have noticed he's even being a bit more aggressive towards my husband when changing out his bowls, but his aggression towards him is only while he is in his cage. He's acting totally normal when out of the cage. Gracie is not yet bold enough to join in the fun - Kya is a Velcro bird when out of cage, she prefers to play on her play stand or climb all over her cage. Kya tried flying over to hang out with her one night this week and it scared her into flight - the first time we have seen her fly. I really don't think he was any threat to her, she just wasn't ready for him to invade her space. Both get calcium supplements daily, Kya was a plucker when we got him - he isn't anymore but he doesn't like enough fresh foods that are high in calcium to get what he needs so I help him out. Gracie is getting calcium supplements daily, as well, due to her semi naked state, and the fact that she is an older female, and I guess I will always worry about the egg thing. (That's what I do. I worry. Just ask my kids!)

I think going to schools would be a great idea, just not sure how I would feel about people knocking on my door and asking to see mine. I'm not sure how impressed my cantankerous greys would be, either. I so admire what you are doing there, if I had the space for the cages without giving up my guest room, I would probably be doing the same thing. However, we have a grandson who stays with us often and family from Ontario who come in, and as tempting as it is to turn that room into a bird room, it's really not a good idea. Guess I'll stick with my entertainment crew in our main living area!

That is how we felt, too, SterlingSL. I saw video after video of greys happily coexisting, and since our sun conure is a psychopath and thinks she can take on an eagle, we really felt as if Kya needed a friend. He was raised with his brother, but the brother beat up on him on a daily basis, and they were never separated until a few months before Kya came to live with us. (I would have separated them as soon as it started.) Not sure why those two didn't get along, as from what I have read and seen, most greys do get along with each other. I am betting on jealousy, Kya is pretty hard to resist.

That is what it was! She was fully feathered when she got to the rescue. They had 30+ birds, mostly cockatoos and macaws and a few other greys, so I would imagine the noise level was way up there. Also, the man who surrendered her told them that she had plucked when he first got her 4 years ago. That is why I really expected things to get worse before they got better, but she has really surprised me. When I contacted the rescue about adopting a grey, they had 2 - the other was a 9 year old male, but when they learned that we had dealt with plucking with Kya, they paired us with Gracie. We all decided that she was the best match for us!

We are trying really hard to put Kya first, or at least, make him think he's being put first. We don't want him to become jealous of her, that is why we initially thought that if I worked with her most, Kya wouldn't mind so much. I think it has backfired, because now Kya is following me around like I'm a huge almond or something. Gracie clearly prefers my husband, he was the first to be able to give her scritches (without nips) and the first to get her to step up. But as long as he is out of sight, she is fine with me, and so is Kya. Kya is so brave compared to Gracie, and I can see her watching him do things that she does not do and thinking about it. I think she is proud of herself! She's more cocky than she was when she first got here, more self assured. I don't think she's ever been a snuggle baby like Kya, but she watches longingly, and I am hopeful that eventually she will cave in and give it a try. For now, we settle for whatever tidbits she gives us. She is mumbling a lot, she has a considerably quieter voice than Kya, and it's hard to pick up on what she is saying. I get the feeling that she may have been punished or admonished for making noise in her previous life. She only raises her volume when music is on.

Kya's hormones seem to be in overdrive, we've had him for a little over a year and this is the first time I have seen him hormonal. Of course, we just added a pretty little girl to the mix 2 weeks ago. We don't want to breed - we are firmly into rescue and will not add to the problem, I just know that with 2 birds it can happen and wondered about her fertility with her being 19. It's easy enough to remove eggs, and from what I understand it is very rare for a grey to become egg bound, but I just kind of wanted to be prepared for what could happen. They are not bonded, yet. In fact, they could not care less about each other at this time. There is no aggression, they just ignore each other for the most part. Kya has actually shown nesting behavior in the past couple of days, he's shredding newspaper like a wild man, and not that chicken scratch that they do - he is taking pieces of newspaper up to his favorite perch and shredding it from there. Bless his heart. He's optimistic, to say the least. My husband got nipped yesterday by Kya for the first time, and he got in my hood on my hoodie and yanked my hair a few times. I think he saw potential nesting material. Gracie is totally oblivious as to what is going on. Would the introduction of a female caused him to all of a sudden realize he is a male? I suppose so. Up until now, he thought he could mate with my husband!

Thank you, Talon. Interesting read, but I am more concerned with what age range they are most fertile. I have googled and googled and I found one vague article that hinted to reproduction into their 30s. Since egg binding is always something we need to be on the lookout for, it was great to read the comment that Dave made about it being very rare in CAGs. I certainly do not plan on babies, too many in rescues needing homes for that to even be a consideration, and Gracie and Kya are not bonded. Yet...But hormone season is upon us and it certainly has me thinking. In the big scheme of things, 19 isn't really that old for a CAG, so it's just something I thought I might need some answers for before a problem arises. I do know she has laid eggs in the past, I just don't know when or how often.

Thought I would update on the feather regrowth! She is really doing great, considering her chest and back were completely down feathers, all she had was her flight feathers and those on her head. Just a few new ones in neck area... A LOT of new ones on her back... This has happened in 2 weeks time, and I was really expecting to go more in the other direction for a bit with her new surroundings, so I think overall, she is content and happy. As with Kya, I am using Dave's aloe vera juice remedy, misting her 3-4 times a week with that. On the days she doesn't get the aloe vera juice mist, she gets cool water misting. Thank goodness she loves this and is much more cooperative than Kya was! I am running a warm mist humidifier right beside her cage, and giving her daily avian calcium in her food, along with sprinkling hemp and chia seed and bee pollen on all of her food, kind of like a seasoning. My husband had to work yesterday, so I had her all to myself. Out of sight, out of mind is certainly true, because when he is not around she's my girl. It was cleaning and laundry day, so we cranked up the music and danced the day away. When I got ready to put soup ingredients in the crock pot, she easily stepped up onto my arm and stood on the kitchen counter watching me prepare the soup. There may or may not have been chunks removed from some of the pieces of veggies we ate last night. She hung out in the kitchen with me while I washed dishes - she was very inquisitive over everything, so I don't think she's had a lot of that type interaction in her life. When I was done, she daintily stepped up and returned to her cage top to hang out and destroy a box while I worked around the house. I was offering her my arm to return her to her cage after being out all day when my husband walked through the door. She had already happily stepped up and the second she heard his voice she nipped me. I may have to send him on an extended vacation.

Just read the thread about the 20 year old Amazon laying the single egg, and this got me wondering at approximately what age do greys stop laying eggs? I guess I initially assumed 19 year old Gracie was probably past her egg laying days, but now that I think about it in terms of life span, I probably should stop assuming anything. And, is being in close proximity to a male going to increase egg production? (I bet Dave has the answer to my question posted somewhere, I just can't find it!)

I do give her chamomile tea daily in with her water, I have ever since we got her, just to help keep her calm during the transition. She seems so comfortable now that I will probably slack off on it soon! I do highly recommend it when they are settling in to a new home. I think it helps tremendously!

I know this is an older thread, but my two love 100% grape / cranberry juice and cherry juice. It is a bedtime ritual for both of them, and has helped us to build trust with our newest rescue, Gracie. She is very timid, but not too timid to step up on a mug held by us to have some juice!

I am so sorry. It must be very hard for you. I hope things turn around for you soon and you can see your baby. I am done with breathing treatments and finish my third round of antibiotics today, and I am feeling almost normal. Of course, the crazy weather we are having may get me - we had 70 + degree temps this week and woke to snow this morning. Gracie is barking at the snow this morning, apparently it is a threat of some sort. She loves looking out the window that she and Kya share. We've seen real progress this week - besides the barking. She has at least 15 new feathers on her back, and 4 or 5 on her upper chest. She seems to be leaving them alone, but of course, I am aware that it could change at any time. She seems very happy, loves her out of cage time but still mostly prefers to do her own thing. She loves boxes, and will spend hours destroying one on the play top of her cage. She will now step up to be returned to her cage, we are not using any phrase or commands at all, just offering our arm, and she steps right up without hesitation for my husband. With me, we have to turn it into a bit of a game. She drops her head and pretends she wants scritches. I give them to her, she pretends to bite me (without serious intent) and then steps up. It's a ritual for her, I think. She was bonded to a male for 4 years before she came to the rescue, and then bonded with a male at the rescue, so this is no big surprise. Just don't think she realizes how stubborn I am! My husband is working today so we're going to have some uninterrupted girl time. She is starting to mimic many of the sound effects that Kya does, and she is getting so good at it that I can't always tell who is doing it. When we first got her 2 weeks ago, her voice was "smaller" - for lack of a better word. Now, it's strong and confident. She's feeling more secure. I am so amazed at how open she is to trying new foods. Of course, not knowing her history, they may not be new to her, but she really will eat just about anything. I hope this rubs off on Kya, my picky boy who immediately throws anything he finds questionable to the floor. Gracie has taught me something, though. If I take mashed sweet potato or applesauce to use as kind of a paste to hold everything together, I can sneak all kinds of stuff past Kya. He doesn't like finely chopped foods in general, so I was trying to feed him chunks of the things that he likes. Now, I've learned that if I make a mash out of it, he will eat it better and I can cut the chunks smaller. He also likes to eat face to face with Gracie, so I think her enthusiasm for food is wearing off on him. Well, time for our Saturday morning "floffle" and scrambled eggs, according to Kya. He's started to cuss so I may have pushed it too far trying to have that extra cup of coffee.

Where is your Precious? I hope everything is okay.

Jason is adorable! We have a Chihuahua named Gracie, so we have total confusion at times. I don't want to change either of their names, so we've been trying to call the dog by her nickname - Bug. That doesn't stop her from running when we are talking to Gracie, though. I've even tried calling her Gracie Lou, but I still manage to get the Chihuahua, too!

I am feeling much better! I am down to 2 breathing treatments a day, and even used the stairs instead of the elevator at work today. I could barely breath when I got to the top but 3 days ago I couldn't have made it halfway. Nurses are terrible patients, but my nurse practitioner chases me around with her stethoscope and makes sure I am on the mend. Well, apparently, we have an extra dog in the house. We pulled into the driveway yesterday. Kya started his usual "WooHoo" and sound effects which we heard as soon as we opened the car doors. But, I also heard what I thought was my Chihuahua barking, and thought I had accidentally left the two little dogs out for the day - they have their own room and stay in there behind a gate and closed door when we aren't at home. I have locks on all of the bird cages, but my terrier gets overly excited over flapping wings so we don't take any chances. My husband and I unlocked the door and walked in, expecting to be greeted by the dogs, only to find Gracie, barking at the top of her lungs. It was precious. Today, my daughter came by to drop off some make up for me - she was just going to leave it between the storm door and the wooden door - and she heard her barking. When we got home from work tonight, we were greeted with barking again. So, we've got "Hello" in the sweetest little voice you've ever heard, and we've got a perfect mimic of water dripping, and now we have barking. (The water dripping is really nice when you're sick and trying to take a nap 3 feet away from her! ) She's really settling in. I cannot wait to see what is next. She's also helping me to get Kya to eat more veggies. She loves everything, and I have their cages side by side, with their food bowls facing each other. Tonight, they had sweet potatoes, roasted corn and peppers, and wild rice. Normally, Kya would turn his nose up at anything that did not include fruit, but he watched Gracie chowing down on hers for about 3 minutes, and dove right into his bowl and ate quite a bit. This is huge! I never thought anyone or any bird could influence my crotchety old man, but she is doing it.

I have belonged to several bird groups on fb - I have even been asked to moderate a few of them. The members come and go, and they have nothing to lose for blasting someone for the way they do things, never taking into consideration that what works for one parront will never work for another. It's easier to hide behind your phone or computer on fb and stir the pot, in my opinion. There are lots of groups to move on to if you burn your bridges in one. After awhile, I realized I had never seen so many judgmental know it alls in my life, and I dropped out of the majority of the groups. There is one that I do really like (The Top Perch), it's well moderated and light hearted, and I've yet to see any judgment - I guess the clean up crew comes in pretty quick! In a forum setting like this one, members actually get to know one another, and there is more respect. I have learned so many things on here about greys, even though I don't post every day, I'm always reading. The information here is invaluable. It comes from members who have years of experience, and those members come here to help when help is needed, or just cheer others on when they find themselves with a grey and aren't quite sure what to do from there. It's more like an internet home. More comfy... Honestly, if it weren't for us living in Kentucky and a large part of our family living in Ontario Canada, I would not be on facebook at all.

Thank you, Inara! "Up cookie" is perfect! It is so funny how they form their thoughts. Kya and Gracie love the whole wheat with blueberries or strawberries. They don't get "floffles" every day, even though they would love to. I am afraid if I gave in and let Kya have them daily, he would only want floffles for the rest of his life. He is impossible to get to try new things, so I keep the rotation interesting. Oh, and Kya has my "cough", and Gracie has my "sniffles". We're quite the crew. It sounds like the plague has infiltrated the house. I am better, hoping to go back to work tomorrow with my choo choo nebulizer in tow. My coworkers should enjoy that. I had an interesting incident this morning. I made breakfast for them - brown rice, scrambled egg, broccoli, jalapeno, snow peas, diced apple and banana. This is usually a hit because I can mush the banana and make sure a little gets on everything, so they eat the things they normally might not eat. (Gracie eats everything, I have to get creative with Kya.) My son came in right about the time I was serving it up, and every single bite went straight to the floor with the greys, one blob at a time. Kya literally asked for an apple right about the time a piece went sailing through the air. I seriously think it made them angry that someone other than my husband and myself were here at mealtime. This is the first time this has happened, and I suppose yet another "grey" lesson learned by me. The second my son left, Kya started asking for everything that had hit the floor. Kya and Gracie have met, they are actually both out together right now. It was kind of anti climactic, I was so worried and they both came out of their side by side cages, Gracie went to destroying her box on top of her cage, Kya hung out with her for a bit and watched - he's afraid of boxes, then went to his daddy to hang out and clearly show his superiority. They seem totally uninterested in each other, but I wonder if that will hold true once those hormones start to rage. Hopefully, at some point, they will decide they are good company for each other, but I am so relieved that they aren't fighting that I will just go with it. Gracie is now asking for scritches anytime my husband or I come near. She sometimes changes her mind mid scritch and will nip, but she isn't serious about it and hasn't left an indentation YET. Kya is actually constantly asking me for kisses now, and professing his undying love for me - he will even do it when his beloved daddy is in the room, so this is definitely a change brought about by Gracie's presence. Whether it be jealousy or just deciding I am not quite as evil as he initially thought, I'll take it. I think things are going pretty well, so far.

I am so sorry for your loss, but so happy that Gypsy wandered into your life.

I am just reading this, after spending part of my day yesterday pouring over some of his posts for guidance with our new rescue, just as I did when we took Kya in a year ago. His presence will be sorely missed, but we are so fortunate to have the wealth of knowledge that he left behind here for us. Such a sad and sobering loss.

I guess I had that coming! We don't physically turn the remote over to Kya, if we did, we'd be replacing it daily! My husband has this ritual with him every morning, he goes through about 10 channels very slowly right before we leave for work (Disney, Nickelodeon channels, Animal Planet, Nat Geo). Kya knows what he is doing, and he will show excitement - he is watching the whole time. For example, Pete hit Dora the Explorer the other day, and Kya yells happily "Hola, amigo!" That's where the tv stayed all day. Interestingly enough, he NEVER shows any enthusiasm for older cartoons like Tom and Jerry or Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote. As soon as the channel is decided on - and sometimes my husband has to flip through them twice - Kya starts saying "Bye, bye. I love you. I be back". We are dismissed. If he shows no interest in any tv, he gets rock and roll all day, with the tv on mute, usually on Discovery. Occasionally, he's just not in the mood, but he's always up for some good rock and roll.