murfchck

They are entertaining! Does Loki talk to you too?

I soak mine in a stainless steel bowl over night after rinsing them thoroughly. Then for 2 days I rinse them in a strainer 2x's a day and set them on my counter (with a gnat catcher, lol) and on the 3rd day they feast. The first couple times I did this, I worried so much about them spoiling that I had a bad smell in my nose to begin with so they smelt spoiled and I tossed them. lol I smell them daily and usually by the 4 or even 5th day I toss them. Mine get them at breakfast and dinner and I am slowly removing the regular seed mix out completely, per my avian vet, my birds are fat and sprouts don't cause the weight gain. (I may have failed to mention the other "treats" they get during the week but... heehee, you only live once and if a cube a cheese a few times a month makes em happy then they will get that.) Oh, I just read where you said some didn't sprout. The do this at different times so when you have them in one container, some will be sprouted and some won't. Usually by the second day my peas and safflower and sunflower are sprouting, the rest are just starting to sprout but they continue to grow even after they are refrigerated so don't give up hope on them. Mine like them after the overnight soak too so if your beans are safe to feed without the tail, you can start feeding that then.

Yeah, your right. My house is so tidy now, not sure i could live with messy animals. ;-)

Sure thing! Why the heck not. No ducks or anything that swims or floats? I have this pool in the back yard that is just taking up space. Looking to rent it out to some ducks. Had some renters last year but they didn't pay and flew the coop while my back was turned.

I think I am insane! My neighbor just asked me if I would take care of her 4 birds and her dog while they go on vacation for 9 days.

That is wonderful news! Loki will gain weight quicker than you would think now that they both have someone who cares very much for them!

Good Morning My Loves, I just wanted to tell you all how very special you are to us and that I am very proud of each of you. I just heard last night that Thanksgiving is in 2 weeks, living with you all time just doesn't compute anymore. Our house was elected to host the dinner again, some of you will remember last year, the rest of you moved in after. I have sent out a memo to them all that they are to keep their fingers away from you and your cage. I told them you look pretty and sweet but have your moments. Bongo, Oliver, Bubba and Gabby, you were the only ones last year. Gus moved in the week after, then Lily, then Cotay. After that came Koko and Chacho. I was asked yesterday if I would pick up Ixta this coming weekend and I said I would but the weather is going to be pretty cold and chance for rain so I bet he will say to wait again, but just in case he doesn't I just want you all to know. I know it seems like I have not been home very much, but Daddy has been sick and taking care of him is a challenge in its own. Then our dear friend had to have surgery and that was where I was yesterday. He needed me too. I will be going again today to pick him up and take him back home so I may be late again today. We will make this up to you, we have taken Thursday off so we get to be together all day. Daddy will be home Friday to but I have to work. Cotay, daddy found your Christmas stocking, umm, not sure if it fits you but he sure thinks so. It is pink and lacy, a ballerina. Has he met you? lol Chacho, mommy feels bad. I can't believe I forgot yours. I will fix that and I see camouflage for you! That or an elf, not sure yet what I will find but don't worry fiddo, you will have yours soon! Gus I may have to get you a new one this year. I remember now that the snowman on yours had real sticks for arms and I am pretty sure you ate them off then pooped on him a few times. Gabby, yours is a high heel shiny red boot with big rhinestones around the top, I still have the rhinestones you removed so I will fix that for you to remove again. I am stunned that #1, I will not be able to put up the tree, just no room this year. I am still going to have a tree-ish kind of thing but... #2, all you babies and the doggies and cat have out grown the mantle as far as hanging your stockings! There will be 10 of you by Christmas time, and the 4 dogs and Cook the cat. Do you realize that is 40 feet not counting mommy and daddy's feet that walk on our floor every day? Yikes! It is no wonder I have blisters on my hand just where the broom and mop would sit. Okay, so you have been updated on the pre holiday madness. I will update you on any changes. I love, (Bubba, you have trained me very well, I now only say I love, even to Daddy. We gotta work on the "you" part!) Lisa

Thank you! I just love him to pieces! Everyone is right, they are nothing like greys. Their love and willingness to understand us and show off for us is unreal. Yours will get there too! There is another name in the mix now, Gonzo. Not sure where that name came from, his buddy was Frazier and I have heard him say that name but the other night he was on my shoulder telling me he loves me then just said, "I love you Gonzo" I told him I love him too and he said " I love you Gon" Then just said Gonzo a few more times. My hope is that is the name he has picked for me ( my others call me "Ptthh" so Gonzo will be so much better.) I have also begun to understand that he is Chacho when he is being good and fun, but when I need him to do something like step up, he is Albert. He listens when I say Albert, when I call him Chacho, he laughs at me.

okay! :-) Got ear plugs???

No, i told them the blood was at her tail area. And that swelling and irritation was way longer than overnight. I told then i liked the vet just felt he should have done a full exam not stopped when he found one feather no where near where i told them.

Zeus and Loki are lucky to have found you. Loki does look a bit shy of some feathers there. Please don't take what you read on the internet to be the final truth. I did that with my boy Oliver, i cried all the time and three years later, he is doing just great! The area plucked on his back, is that near his bad wing? They will sometimes pick an area where they hurt. His face looks like an over excited mate pick at it. I saw what looks like new feathers coming in so maybe the one who did that isn't with him any more. Both of their eyes looked bright and happy so just get them to the avian vet and see what he says before you go into panic overload, lol. We are all here for you and congratulations! If you have not had birds before, you are in for some fun times and lots of changes! Please let us know about the vet and keep us updated on them!

Lol. She gets that and whatever else she wants!

Hmm, weak cord, factory defect no doubt? lol What i should do is make ear muffs out of the 2 of them. This way they get to be with me as they want to be and i get to have warm, sound muffled hearing!

They sort of did. Gabby needed his expert doctoring ability last night. ( read thread in the heath room, What a sight to wake up to. ) All he wanted to do was come home from a home cooked meal his mom made for him and go to bed and watch tv. Well that didn't happen. lol Now he will want to relax today since he didn't get to last night and i got too much stuff for him to do!

And so poor Gabby, her saga continues. So much for really liking that emergency vet. More blood yesterday. Daddy got to really look at her last night. Again yesterday morning their were little beak marks of blood on the bars, and again I thought i missed some spots. It wasn't a whole bunch and nothing on the papers below so i didn't put much into it. When i got home from work it was a big rush, I finally dumped State Farm and was on the phone with another company, Pat was waiting for me because it was his birthday and his mom cooked him dinner so she was also waiting for us. Got that all settled, ran in and told them we had to go but would be home soon. When we got home Pat asked that for his birthday, he gets to rest and wanted to go to bed. Hahahahaha, i agreed. I let him go to bed and i went into play with the birds. Blood again, and this time i know i didn't miss any spots when i cleaned it. I went and got Pat so he could look at her. She very nicely let him look her over and he found 3 more broken feathers and they were on her butt area. He pulled them out and then we saw it. She had a very swollen follicle with a broken feather in it. She had damaged all those other feathers trying to get to it. Pat put her back down on the table and pulled it out for her. She was so sweet, no holding her down, no toweling her, she knew he was helping her. It was so sad though, we cleaned her up and then worried about how many he pulled out, would she be too stressed now? At this point, i called the emergency vets again and told them what had happened, it upset me that the vet found 1 feather and said he was done. Charged me 150. In my opinion, did not do an exam which i paid 120 for and missed 4 feathers so he actually owes Pat 120 for the 4 he had to pull, at 30 bucks a feather. I think it is fair to pay for the one he did pull.

Progress! Pat was able to go in the room yesterday without being attacked. Chacho flew at him just once and when Pat did not react to it he just flew to another cage and watched him carefully. Pat tried to get him to step up and Chacho struck at him a few times but didn't break any skin so that was good. He was just warning Pat, not out for blood. It is so funny that all the birds just love Pat except for my two, Bongo and Chacho. He has to call me to get them, yet his who all dislike me, i can atleast handle and move them around as they want. If he goes near mine they fly away or bite him. lol

I gotta get my head back in the game here. Gabby's blood feather, Bongo plucking, Cotay learning to fly and the Too's having sex with Lily screaming. I have just been on auto pilot going through the motions feeling overwhelmed. We have the toos under control again, as much as they will allow anyway. Gabby had her blood feather found and removed- this has been going on since Oct 21st- so i am down to just the two other issues and now today is Pats birthday. lol. Deep breath and moving forward!

150.00 bucks for a broken blood feather, i would say well worth it! The feather had been broken and try as she might, it just wouldn't come out so she chewed it closed. Every time she would try and mess with it, she would squeeze the feather to pull and the blood would start again. We couldn't find it and the reason why is a good lesson, doh! Just because the blood seems to be in a certain location doesn't mean that is where the injury actually is. Remember when this first happened i thought she broke her beak, then when hubby got home the blood was near her tail feathers so he looked and looked and we assumed she had taken care of it herself. Turns out the nasty feather was on her wing, I know i never looked there. I took her to North Texas Animal Emergency and i will tell everyone that i love that place. I pay 75 at my vet for the exam, it is 120 at the emergency. Not a whole lot more at all to get your bird seen right away, no dropping off and the vet seeing her when he has time. When you drop off they hit you with an 8 boarding fee too so now we are even closer to the 120. If the vet uses a tech, you get another additional charge. They just keep adding on. I spoke with the vet at the emergency and turns out his wife is an avian teacher at Texas A&M so that is where his passion is, in birds. His final words to me though were that Gabby was fat, i said "really?"( in a sarcastic way ) He just said really, really fat and that even though she doesn't get much seed to remove them from her diet all together and no nuts for a while. Ha, he needs to just babysit her and get her weight under control then because she loves her nuts and daddy will not deny his baby girl anything! lol He told me sprouts and pellets are just fine with her fresh fruits and veggies everyday, no seed not nuts!

So we noticed blood again on her cage. It was dried so i wasn't sure if i had missed it, didn't think so but... then this morning there was more. Going to vet in just a bit to see what is going on. Can't have my Gabs sick!

Ahh, the beautiful screams of the umbrella cockatoo. It is the sound that burns through your ears like a hot sword. The sound that even earplugs could not stop. The sound that makes your entire body twitch. No amount of distance could stop those beautiful screams from getting to every nerve in your body. Even if I did not have cockatoos anymore their beautiful screams will live on, both Bubba and Bongo have learned to copy them! Yeah for us! That being said , we think we have figured out why Lily has been screaming so much the past few days. Cage placement. It was changed up and we swapped her and Gus. The night before last and all day yesterday were the worst! Couldn't figure out what was wrong until yesterday morning but couldn't fix it until i got home from work. WE ARE SO STUPID! We switched everything around but then when dinner time came, we put them in the wrong cages. It isn't that they look the same or anything, just out of habit, Gus goes here, Lily goes there. So not only was Lily in the same place in the room she hated, but now she was in a different cage. What a mess she was too. Pat still didn't notice when he got home that he had done that. I walked in and went right to work fixing the issues. Peace was had last night by all.

My dearest flock of hooligans, I want to thank you all for being somewhat docile yesterday. This has been a hard week for us and a little down time helped me compose myself some. Bongo~ thank you for the nip you gave me right on my stress induced cold sore. That really helped with the discomfort it was giving me. I was so worried about the pain when it would break open but you helped me move past that by breaking it open sooner than it should have! What a pal, thanks! Gabby~please share your claimed place(s) in the house. The macaws and cockatoo's are much bigger and more agile than you are so attacking them because they got near your area when you were on daddys shoulder isn't the smartest of ideas. Cotay~ I am so sorry that i had to redirect you spastic flight yesterday, the stove had just been turned off and you were heading right for it. Your flying is getting better by the way, do you think it is those two lone feathers you let come in on your chest that helped carry you as far as the kitchen? I think so, try for a few more and then maybe you could fly anywhere you wanted. Keep up the practicing and in no time we will have to start putting you in the cage when we have to leave the room too! Bubba and Oliver~ you two were a mess last night! I see how you totally enjoyed your couch time, i am pretty sure there is an extra hole in the pillow. Oliver we thought you were going to try and fly from the coffee table to get to that couch you wanted there so badly! Maybe we can do it again tonight?! Chacho~ You are getting more and more comfortable here and that makes us so happy! Thank you for trying with daddy, he just wants to love you. Your talking is non stop now and we are picking up some words. I get that in your first home, your name was Albert and you freaked out a lot. You were allowed to fly around and that is great. I guess since you get to fly here too that is bringing back memories so you mostly use your Albert voice. I hear a few other voices you use too, your last home where i can assume your name changed to Chacho because when you say that name it is in a deep voice. Then there is a female voice, high pitched but you only say hello in that one. Is that one me? Lily~ Thank you for helping me in the kitchen. I really didn't want your dinner bowls on the counter either so you throwing them off was just perfect. Yeah, i know i sat on the floor in the corner and just watched you. Your concern was a much needed boost. Gus and Koko~ All i can say to you two is 3 umbrellas are enough, if you give me a 4th, i will have to shoot myself. Gus, you need to learn to cuddle Koko when you are "done". When you fly away right when you finish hurts her feelings. You should stay there with her and sing like she does, whistle too. Girls need to know they are not being used! She is not a black widow and you will not die if you stay there with her. HOWEVER, if there ends up being an egg out of all of this you may die by me! haha So to you all, tomorrow is daddy's birthday and all he has asked for is a day of peace. Most of the day he will be at work so all he is asking from you guys is for the latter part of the day for you all to behave. I know it will be hard but i also know you can do it! Give him lots of kisses! I love, Lisa

I do have three unbrellas, so if you want to practice first i will gladly send one or three your way. :-) Oh, did i mention it would only be a one way trip??? lol

Lol! I love it. I think i will use that instead of nudist colony! I am managing a strip club!

So Chacho is all over his tantrum and was talking up a storm last night. We couldn't video him talking though he would stop so Pat hung out at the door and video taped the door so we could get him talking. He has 3 different voices, one sounds evil lol. Still watching it ourselves to try and hear what he is saying. You can hear Bongo in the background and all the others making their noises too. Typical night in our house, loud and crazy. Actually, this wasn't that bad on the noise level. lol

Lily is driving us crazy! She screams and cries all the flipping time unless she is on the floor or in her corner on the kitchen counter. We decided she needs Prozac and we need valium, will the vet do that??? hahahaha Gus "got" him some last night with Koko, maybe Lily is jealous?? Last time they were together though, she took the top of his head off so can't do that again.