Gracie & Kya - the road home

[Kya]

So sorry I haven't updated sooner. I have had severe bronchitis and it's taken everything I have just to get through the day. I decided to take a day off to rest and stay on top of my breathing treatments today.

 

And for the record, before I begin, I HATE photobucket.

 

 

Baby girl is home!!! (Did I mention I hate photobucket???)

 

The home visit went very well, as you can see. It was a beautiful day and the amazing ladies of Exotic Avian Sanctuary of Tennessee loaded up Ms. Gracie and her cage and drove up.

 

She is absolutely adorable and precious, and I know she is going to fit in just fine here. She seems to be settling in really well. She is 19 years old, and was surrendered several weeks ago by a man who no longer wanted her. He had her for 4 years, we don't know anything about her history before that. When the rescue got her, she was terrified of everything - toys, humans, etc. They have worked with her and she's made a little progress. She is now playing with some toys, but anything new has to be added very slowly. She was fully feathered when they got her, I think the stress of the sudden rehoming into the sanctuary with so many other birds / so many changes initiated the plucking, as the former owner told the rescue that she had plucked when he first got her. I have seen pics (I have pics - did I mention I hate photobucket?) of when she first arrived at the rescue, so I know what is possible with this little lady. Regardless, it doesn't matter. She really hasn't plucked anywhere near as bad as they had prepared me for, and I know we can make her feel secure again and get her back to a good place mentally. Physically, she's in great condition. (Kya plucked his chest completely bare, and had started working on his skin, so this looks good to me.) I have not noticed her plucking once since she has been here, and take that as a good sign.

 

Amazingly, she has a decent diet, and is very receptive to fresh foods and grains. Her pellet choice isn't my favorite, (Zupreem fruit blend) but we'll work with it! She is a bottomless pit, and will eat anything I offer her. I am hoping Kya will learn a thing or two from her diet wise. I could use some cooperation from that boy.

 

It is going to take a lot of time and patience to bring her around. She loves to come out of her cage and play on the top of it, and will allow head scritches, but so far, she lets you know really quickly that she's not interested in that "step up" game. We're just taking it slow and letting her do her thing. The first night we had her cage on the opposite side of the room from Kya. They kept doing the grey call (Woooooo) back and forth so the second day we moved them side by side. Kya immediately turned his back on her for the whole day, just wouldn't even look at her. At feeding time, their bowls were face to face, and hunger won out so they sat eating together, and then started interacting with each other through the cages. They seem to be very receptive of each other, and chatter back and forth. I have not allowed them out of the cages together, but if things keep going in the direction they are going, we will try that this weekend.

 

She's very vocal, and it's funny how her voice sounds so different from Kya. I can tell exactly who it is from the other room. No one knows if she talks, at the rescue there were so many birds that they said they would have never noticed unless she said something directly in their face. I have heard her mumbling something this morning, but can't make it out. Besides, it's hard for any of us to get a word in with Kya's constant narrative. She knows her name well, so that must have been something that has stuck with her throughout her life. I won't change it, even though we have massive confusion with a Chihuahua who is also named Gracie.

 

She loves to be misted! I was beginning to think that greys preferred to be dirty, but this baby twirls on her perch like a ballerina with her wings up so you can get every spot. I'm glad, because I think that will help with feather regrowth, not to mention the dust of 2 greys!!!

 

Gracie does seem to be more tolerant of my husband's attention at this time - larger parrots really have a thing for him, and she was a man's bird. The rescue also said she was partial to a male volunteer that helped out. But, we are not pushing her at all, and I am sure the dynamics will change as she makes herself at home and starts to have out of cage time with another grey. I can give her scritches, occasionally she will try to nip, but if I calmly put my finger on her beak and make eye contact and say "no bite" she will drop her head in invitation to see if I will do it again. And, of course, I do. My husband can give her scritches all day with no beak at all, but she still won't step up for either of us. We are able to put our arms inside the cage and she does not seem to feel threatened or lash out. All in all, (and yes, I know it's a honeymoon period) her fears are not as evident as I thought they would be, and that is promising!

 

Thanks to all for the support through this, and again, I apologize for not updating quickly. I may be a nurse but I'm a terrible sick person / patient, and I have pretty much been in a fetal position all week long. I will try to keep this thread going with our progress, and pics if I can make friends with photobucket - it really didn't used to be that big of a pain, did it???

Edited June 11, 2017 by Kya

[SRSeedBurners]

Great write-up and so nice to 'meet' Gracie. It must be so neat to have two Greys to interact with each other. I dream of the day... She looks very sweet the poor thing seems to have been through a lot. I'll bet she settles in a lot quicker with just Kya there to show her the ropes and keep her well entertained.

 

I'm not sure what a good alternative is for photobucket. I didn't even think photobucket was still around. When I snap shots on my android phone they automatically sync to my google photos account. I can then download them and upload here. However their 'shareable link' isn't compatible with the software here so it's not as easy as it could be...

[Ray P]

Good luck with your new love Gracie.

It sounds like you have what it takes to give this gift a good home.

[Timbersmom]

What a great update! It sounds like Gracie is fitting right in

[Greywings]

She is lovely even in her fluffy underwear! Looking forward to hearing more about her personality as she relaxes into her new environment.

[Kya]

Thanks, everyone. This morning, I heard her first word from the other room. Kya was going through his boisterous rendition of every single word he knows at full speed ahead. Gracie was at her bowl (in her cage) 5 inches from him, probably wondering if he would ever stop talking. I hear this sweet little "hello" and look to find them with their beaks pressed to the sides of their cages (still at their food bowls) looking very intently at each other. Of course, Kya set off on his rambling commentary again, and she seems content just to listen to him, but I know it was not Kya who said "hello", unless he has seriously learned a voice we've never heard from him. (He has 3 very distinct "hellos" - mine, my husbands, and the lady who was his former owner.)

 

Tonight, when my husband is here for back up, I'm going to allow them outside the cages together for the first time. I haven't seen Gracie fly so I want both of us to be able to be right there, just in case. I really don't foresee any problems, but do not want her to fall, as her breast bone is pretty short of padding. I am enough of a worry wort that I have been placing pillows on the floor around her cage every time she is out, in case of a fall. She has all her flight and tail feathers, but everything else is pretty much down, so I am not sure how well or if she can fly, and we all know greys can be clumsy at times.

 

I've been home from work this week some with bronchitis, so she has had lots of time outside the cage, and is getting braver and braver in her adventures, but has not come off the cage yet. I offer the step up, but she backs up, and I just stay close and talk to her. I placed some foot toys on her play stand on top of her cage yesterday, and she is slowly inching closer to them. She will also occasionally do the "grey lean" towards where I am sitting on the couch, and raise her wings as if she is preparing to fly to me, but she changes her mind. I really think it will happen soon. You see, I have pistachios and almonds...

[Greywings]

Ah bribery, oops I meant positive reinforcement, it works.

[Ray P]

So does bribery!!

[Acappella]

She's beautiful, even in her underwear! As far as step up goes, she may have negative reactions linked to the phrase "step up?" Me, and a few other members here, have had to invent other phrases. With my Dorian it's "Wanna come with mom?" that works. Maybe try that. Welcome Gracie to your new home and to the forum. I hope she and Kya continue to get along, and I hope you're feeling better soon.

[Kya]

Ah bribery, oops I meant positive reinforcement, it works.

 

I am not above a little blackmail here and there. I buy those little diet size bags of Smart Pop (no salt, no butter) popcorn and discovered that I can get her to do just about anything with a piece of popcorn. I think that was a new treat for her and I plan to use it to my advantage.

 

Acappella, that is not something I had considered, but you may be on to something. The rescue said it took her about 3 weeks to begin to step up for them, and even then she wasn't consistent. I have tried silently offering my arm with no command (request at this point) involved, but will try using a different phrase. I wish I knew more about her past.

 

I am feeling better, as long as I continue my breathing treatments, which is entertaining in and of itself. I have been worried about what all of the albuterol released in the air would do to the birds, so I have been taking my grandson's choo choo train nebulizer out onto my carport to do the breathing treatments. It has flashing lights and makes a choo choo sound. I'm 56 years old so I know the neighbors truly believe I have lost my mind.

 

We did not get to do the face to face introduction with Kya and Gracie last night - my husband sliced his thumb to the bone and spent 3 hours in the ER waiting to get it stitched up, so needless to say between the two of us and our health issues, it wasn't a great night. Hopefully, today will be the day.

 

I can tell that Gracie is really starting to feel comfortable, she is becoming more vocal daily, and she isn't as wary when we approach her. She got really excited when my husband finally got home last night, I've been pretty much stuck here with her daily the past few days, so it's nice to see her happy to see someone after an absence. She is adjusting to our schedule, but didn't care that I wanted to sleep in a bit this morning - she was the first "woooooo" I heard. Kya and Sookie have always been content to wait for movement in the house. Gracie wants to do a head count of the flock at first light. That is okay by me, and my husband has somehow managed to sleep through it, after his ER stint last night. Or maybe it's because they are too busy stuffing their beaks with scrambled eggs and "floffles" (Kya's word for waffle) to worry about the rest of the flock!

[Inara]

YAY!!!! So delighted to tune in today, and see that Gracie is home and settling in. She is BEEEUUUTIFUL! She is already giving signs that she will flourish with you, Kya, hubby and crew. If she is already saying hello to her new flock, eating well, then the best is yet to come. I absolutely detest the words "step up," and the old-fashioned technique that it was/is associated with, on a personal note, and understand why many birds have a negative reaction to those words and actions. You are correct in just giving her some time to get to know everyone, and simply offering her invitations to become more physically chummy. I have a feeling that she is going to turn out to be a real love bird.

 

HRH Inara has a buckwheat waffle each morning with pureed fruits and veggies on it. She calls it her "up cookie," because it pops up from the toaster. Kya's "floffles" is so sweet of a word. It is so lovely that both Kya and Gracie seem to be going along OK at present, and I can't wait to hear more and more stories. I love reading about Kya, and Gracie has already stolen my heart too. <3

 

*You* get better!! or it won't be long until Kya and Gracie are "coughing" right along with you. LOL Sending lots of love your way and am completely confident that Gracie will thrive!

[Kya]

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.

[Kasperhm]

What a beautiful update, and welcome Gracie to her new home. Think she could hardly have dreamed of a better one, and hopefully she can stay there forever.

 

Your thoughtfulness and love for them Kyas mom, is so obvious and uplifting.

 

Love the name Gracie too !!

 

Mine named Jason, after my nice receptionist who helped me bring in his cage and stuff.... hehe

[kittykittykitty]

Gracie is very fortunate to have found you and you are blessed to have her. I am so homesick for Precious!

 

I am glad you are improving. From one nurse to another, please take care and don't overdo.

[Kya]

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.

[Kya]

What a beautiful update, and welcome Gracie to her new home. Think she could hardly have dreamed of a better one, and hopefully she can stay there forever.

 

Your thoughtfulness and love for them Kyas mom, is so obvious and uplifting.

 

Love the name Gracie too !!

 

Mine named Jason, after my nice receptionist who helped me bring in his cage and stuff.... hehe

 

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!

[Kya]

Gracie is very fortunate to have found you and you are blessed to have her. I am so homesick for Precious!

 

I am glad you are improving. From one nurse to another, please take care and don't overdo.

 

Where is your Precious? I hope everything is okay.

[kittykittykitty]

Precious is living with my daughter near Sacramento, California. I had to relinquish her when I became very ill several years ago. I was with her for six months while I was recovering. After that I visited once or usually twice a year, until last year, that is. In March of last year I fractured the left femur. The first surgery failed, necessitating removal of the hardware and bone fragments and implanting a total hip prosthesis. This was June. I tore the scapho-lunate ligament of the left wrist while doing therapy. Long story-- I have been mostly housebound and am unable to travel so I haven't seen, let alone be with, this most wonderful Congo Grey named Precious. (Yes, I am prejudiced!)

 

It must be a riot having two Gacies

 

Continue getting well. No relapses!!!

[Kya]

Precious is living with my daughter near Sacramento, California. I had to relinquish her when I became very ill several years ago. I was with her for six months while I was recovering. After that I visited once or usually twice a year, until last year, that is. In March of last year I fractured the left femur. The first surgery failed, necessitating removal of the hardware and bone fragments and implanting a total hip prosthesis. This was June. I tore the scapho-lunate ligament of the left wrist while doing therapy. Long story-- I have been mostly housebound and am unable to travel so I haven't seen, let alone be with, this most wonderful Congo Grey named Precious. (Yes, I am prejudiced!)

 

It must be a riot having two Gacies

 

Continue getting well. No relapses!!!

 

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.

[Kya]

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.

[SRSeedBurners]

Haahaaa! Can't be seen loving on someone other than the favorite. How dare you try and step her up in front of Daddy!

 

Sounds like that girl has landed in a Grey paradise. She so deserves it. Her pic she looks so proud of herself. Just love her!

[Timbersmom]

What a great report! So glad to hear she is settling in so well

[Acappella]

Maybe it was the chaos and noise of the rescue that caused her to pluck and now that she's landed in a relatively quiet place that's all she needs to stop plucking. Here's hoping for many feathers left alone and un plucked.

[kittykittykitty]

Greyt reports from you and Gracie! Hurray for Kya's improved eating. Who could help being in love with Greys.

[Kya]

Haahaaa! Can't be seen loving on someone other than the favorite. How dare you try and step her up in front of Daddy!

 

Sounds like that girl has landed in a Grey paradise. She so deserves it. Her pic she looks so proud of herself. Just love her!

 

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.