Birdnut

Yum. I cook up a similar mix in my rice cooker. I cook together brown rice and an assortment of whole grains, along with some split peas and lentils and maybe some diced carrots, chopped broccoli, or other veggies. When it's done, I mix in some frozen mixed veggies. The frozen veggies cool the grain mixture and the hot grains thaw out the frozen veggies. When I serve this, I also chop in some raw veggies, like red bell pepper and greens, and maybe a little fruit. I don't know what I'd do without my rice cooker.

Sorry you were bitten, but what a neat story. Thanks.

I'm always amazed at how gently and carefully these birds can preen each other, even around the eyes.

Wonderful story! Thank you for sharing. Made my day.

We have eight parrots of various species, and we are able to have most of them out together in the same room. I have never noticed my birds play fighting, the way puppies might, but they do occasionally have little spats when they beak at each other, as you described. No one has ever been injured by this. I have two 3-yr-old blue crowned conures who were clutch mates. They are bonded to each other and are caged together and snuggle up together to sleep. But they still have noisy, quarrelsome interactions at times, without making any attempt to really hurt each other. I have a sun conure also, and she is best buddies with our small (umbrella/goffin hybrid) cockatoo. They like to hang out together, and the sun conure will sometimes snuggle up under the cockatoo's wing. So far, there have been no problems with this, other than a sometimes dusty sun conure. Our birds seem to have worked out their own little social order for themselves that seems to work for them. They go in and out of each other's cages. I will occasionally find them all in the cockatoo's cage, which is a very large, macaw cage. (Party at Gwyn's cage!!) I think it has helped that they are all fully flighted and free in a large room, where they are able to fly away from a situation where they might encounter any aggression. If they were not flighted, I would feel much less comfortable about leaving them out together without constant monitoring. So far we have only had a couple of problems between birds. We have a lovebird who will nip the other birds' toes. They have all learned to give her a wide berth. The only bird who stands up to her is the parrotlet. Those two have become friends. We did have to move the lovebird's cage out of the bird room, because she is so cage defensive and her beak was once bruised when she was biting at one of the other birds through the cage bars, and the other bird caught her by the beak. She is still released to the bird room regularly to exercise and play, just not with her cage there to become a defense point. Also, we cannot have our African grey loose in the same area with the conures, as the male conure will attack the grey. I would point out that this very real attack is nothing like the occasional beak-to-beak bickering that is common with the birds. Once we saw this happen, we have kept the two birds strictly separated at all times and do not allow them access to each other, even with supervision. So that has been our experience with different birds together. With few exceptions, we have not had problems. My guess is your sun and your grey will continue the friendship they have developed so early and will get along well. It would probably be wise to supervise them, as the grey's beak is so much stronger and capable of inflicting damage. Also, as your grey matures, it might change its preferences as to how it is willing to interact with your sun conure. But these birds have a great deal of sensitivity and control over their beaks and the amount of pressure they exert, so they are not likely to accidentally injure another bird. Those are my humble opinions on the subject. I would be interested in the experiences of other multiple-bird households.

We have concrete floors, which makes things a little easier. I squirt a little AviClean on floor spots and leave them for about 10 minutes. Then they'll mop or wipe up easily. For poop on chairs or fabric, I use the Poop-Off wipes. No bird home should be without them. Of course, if I witness them poop, I quickly wipe it up. As you said, Shit Happens. You just have to stay after it. (I actually have a little tile hanging on the wall that says, "Poop Happens.")

We don't use a sleep cage. For the birds that are in the separate bird room, we just turn out the lights. For the birds that are in the dining room, we cover them with a dark, opaque cover and then try to keep the noise down after that. The one exception is the cockatoo. She is in the bird room, but we also cover her cage lightly when we put her away for the night. That way she knows that we're all done and won't keep begging to be taken out for one more cuddle before bed.

Our Moussa will grab his bell and ring it like crazy when he wants out. We say he's "ringing for service."

Tosha, hope your birdie is all right. Unfortunately, it will take a while for the previous owner's bad clip job to grow out. This is exactly why these heavy-bodied birds should only get a light clip, if any. :mad:

Happy day for Harley!! You guys are amazing!

I'm like Judy. I just have a lot of cheap t-shirts I wear around the house with the birds. No buttons to remove. No delicious pictures to chew off. No jewelry. Just plain t-shirt.

Thanks for the entertaining narrative of your life with your fids. I guess we all do tend to wrap our daily routines around our birdies. I think I'll quit whining about not having enough space for us and all the birds and their cages. LOL!

That's a guilty face, if I ever saw one!

We live in town, and you can hear our birds from outside, but not very much. Fortunately, the only neighbors that are really close to our house are very nice. Also, they have chickens in their back yard. We don't complain about the chickens, and they don't complain about the parrots. Actually, we think the chickens are cool. :-) We haven't had a problem with people looking in windows. Fortunately, someone would have to very brazenly intrude within our yard fence to do so. But we have often wondered if we might some day be visited by the Georgetown Police to investigate a potential "grow operation" in one room of our house that sometimes glows with full-spectrum lighting in the evening!

Great update. Thanks for taking the time to write it. What an amazing turnaround for Joey.

Our birds that are in a separate bird room do not get covers, as their light is turned out and the door closed at bed time. The birds that are in the dining area do get loosely covered at night. We use some tightly woven dark-colored tablecloths. The covers all get washed every couple of weeks.

We have a lovebird, and she flies loose with the other birds in the bird room. It hasn't been a problem for us, since all the birds have a healthy respect for her beak and give her a wide berth. Only the parrotlet will stand up to her. Her cage is in another room (not the bird room), to avoid cage defensive squabbles on her part. Moussa, the grey, is also housed outside of the bird room. We do not have the grey and the lovebird loose in the same area at the same time, as the lovebird will attack him, and he is terrified of her. So far, we have not found it necessary to protect that little feathered piranha that is Izzie, the lovebird, from anyone or anything!

Like Azzie's Cleo, our Moussa has the soft red/pink feathers around his legs. He is going through his first molt now, so it will be interesting to see if any more pop up.

Now that's just cute.

Our Moussa is a year old, so may be a little young to really know how he's going to end up relating to us. Right now he seems to have a slight preference for me. But he also readily goes to my husband and is friendly with him. My husband spends a good bit of time hanging out with Moussa when I'm away from home. I think it's important for all members of the household to spend time with the bird, interact and handle it, and participate in the bird's care. That can help minimize the chances that the bird will become so fixated on one person that others cannot handle it. But then it's up to the bird to choose who it may become smitten with. Ah, the mysteries of love!

This is really great work you're doing with Marcus. I can't wait to hear more about his progress. Who knows what these guys are capable of.

I don't have any input on what mature female greys are like. But I do know that cockatiels and lovebirds are both known for having this egg laying problem, so they may not be a good model for what a female of a different species might be like.

I agree that it sounds like your precious dog died needlessly. I am so, so sorry. This is just an awful thing to have happen.

Boy! You must really have your hands full with that crew! I feel like I have all I can do to keep up with one grey.

I think your babies are right on schedule. My Moussa was doing the same thing at 6 months. Now he is a little over a year old and starting to talk using words.