Acappella

So pretty. Dorian has never come close to playing on his back. It's so cool to see Miss Dayo so happy and relaxed.

Sometimes a beak gets a little untidy looking with parts of it flaking off,and an owner might request the beak gets polished up, which is cosmetic. I wouldn't do it because of the trauma to the bird. As for the talons, I've had Dorians trimmed a couple of times. Sometimes they get to a needle sharp tip and to spare my poor hands I've gotten just the tips trimmed off. Some members here use a pedicure perch, which is a perch with a rough surface that works like an emery board and takes the point off their talons when they perch on it. Dorian declines to use these perches though. I wouldn't worry about it because I suspect you've got a while before Chicken is perching on your hands. Get a pedicure perch and place it by his/her food bowls or up high for a sleep perch and see if the talons take care of themselves. You may have to fight about the wings. Letting birds have their wings is a relatively new trend with pet birds and lots of people out there still insist on trimming wings. IMHO it should be left to the owner, but I have heard of vets and groomers who refuse to care for a bird unless the owner consents to having the wings trimmed. It's something you might want to ask when you're booking an appointment.

What about a plastic bin?

It just makes my blood boil to hear of a breeder who seems obviously to be in the business purely for the money and not the welfare of the birds. I think you're right that Clara (what a pretty name) is better off with you. It sounds as if you're being as careful as you can with her and you're obviously already in love. As for the bathing, I'd just make sure you clean her gently as you go before the formula can harden and get stuck to her.

Dorian was a rehome so the only knowledge I have about babies I picked up here. You should pad the bottom of the cage with towels so that if she falls she'll have a soft landing. Get used to doing lots of laundry lol. Also, look up information here on abundance weaning so that as she gets older and closer to being weaned you'll be setting her up to have a great relationship to food of all kinds. She is so precious. Sometimes I wish I'd had the baby experience with Dorian but I don't think I would have been brave enough to take on such a small soul. Bless you for making the time commitment to take care of this little one. Please keep posting pictures so that we can live vicariously through you.

When you are out of the room and he starts making sounds make sure you respond with a sound or word. This is a contact call and will help establish you as a member of his new flock. It may take months to develop a trusting relationship with Chicken. After all, the poor soul has had some truly, horrendously, bad interactions with humans. Find the distance from his cage where you can be before he growls and fluffs up to make himself look big and scary. Place a chair there and just talk to him, read to him, let him get used to your presence and your voice. Another thing that might help is food. After you place his food in the cage, sit down in your 'safe' chair and have something to eat yourself. Mealtime is shared in a flock and eating with him will help establish your place in his new flock. Other than that, just keep things calm and happy around him. Don't pressure him into stepping up for you or allowing you to touch him. My guess is that touch is a good distance off in your relationship. Of course I could be wrong. Chicken could be a grey with a more resilient personality that adjusts more quickly to his new environment. Only time will tell, and in our grey world, time is something we have plenty of. Congrats on your new flock member. <3 from Dorian and I.

lol @ stink toad!

Sweetie, I know you didn't want momma to leave to go to "play" tonight, but did you have to bite momma? I'm sorry but I couldn't leave you on the desk for hours while I was away. You wouldn't want to anyway, there' s no food or water on the desk. Play is almost over sweetheart. Bear with me a few more nights, k? Love U.

http://news.distractify.com/megan-mccormick/23-039-bird-shaming-039-moments-reveal-that-these-feathered-cuties-are-quite-the-troublemakers/

Aw, poor girl. Hope this doesn't wear her out too much.

Aw, Mylo is playing, eating, grooming, he looks like he's settling in nicely. Congrats on your new flock member. Tonya, start your own thread about your rehomed fid and we'll be glad to offer you some advice on helping your new companion settle in. It does usually take quite a bit longer for older birds.

Tyrion's a nice looking grey. I see you have one of those upside down half bird half bat greys lol. I have the same play stand. Dorian used to go on it at the old house but since we moved he acts like he's never seen it before. Sigh

Dear baby boy. I'm sorry momma has been late getting home some nights lately. I'm helping out with a thing human's do called a 'play' and it doesn't end till after 10:00, which I know is 2 hours past your bedtime. Thank you for being a sweet boy when our neighbour Brenda came over to put you to bed. She was thrilled when you said 'hi' to her. Also, thank you for not holding a grudge the next mornings. The next play nights aren't until next weekend so we'll have a few normal nights now. I love you.

Dorian just joined in on the barking. Sweet video.

Welcome to being owned by a grey. Lol. The best thing to do is take a look through the various forum rooms for info. Start with the 'stickies' threads at the top of each forum room. If there's some question you don't see answered ask away, we love helping out new and old members alike. A good way to introduce new food to a grey is to let them see you eating it. They usually and immediately want whatever we have, so you might as well use that to improve their diet. Get to the point where sunflower seed are only for treats and possibly training. Loved the pictures.

I'm sorry Annie is being difficult towards your grandparents. My advice is to ask them not to try to pet her at all right now. I know that's hard when they see her being so affectionate with you. In the meantime, let them be the only people who put favorite treats in her bowls, maybe let one of them turn on the lights/uncover the cage and wake her up in the morning. Keep their fingers out of her way while letting her associate them with good things. When she is on the floor and allows them to pick her up, praise the heck out of her. They love praise and will associate getting it with letting them touch her. This is a slow path to tread, but it' soy ur best chance at building a relationship with the other members of her 'flock'.

Here's what the floor looks like.

I gave Dorian last years catalogue and some desk time. He took care of things.

Here's hoping! Lol

I keep getting the same annoying pop-up obstructing the screen.

So cool. I wish Dorian would discover the joys of chewing wood. He can't seem to progress past paper and cardboard.

Dorian usually finds his way to my last straw with sound, not action. He's got a new favourite one right now that's driving me nuts, a loud, short, bossy whistle that he made up all in his little grey head.

I agree with the cat warning. Dorian doesn't have a bit of sense when it comes to my cat Jac he'd go beak to nose any day. I have to always watch when they're in the same room together.

Lisa, I've gotta ask, do you have any human room in your house besides a bed? lol Your birds must really learn to be resilient and to roll with change. Dorian would make my life miserable if I dared move a finch into "his" room, and here you are bringing in more of the big guys. Hope these birds figure out how lucky they are to have won a safe birdy home.

I wouldn't worry about replacing the cage. What you have is exactly the sort of cage many of us have. I do have one worry. The bells on the yellow toy at the end of the length of plastic chain would be easy for an African Grey to open up and get the loose bits out of the inside of them. It would be fine for a smaller bird. I'd take it down and get a big stainless steel bell that he/she can safely beat the stuffing out of without any risk.