July Update

Welcome back! Heres a short update for June 2010- Just to let you know how all the parrots in our permanent flock are doing.

Every one is doing fine, Cheeko has been re-assessed & it has been decided that the old injury to his wing can't be fixed. We have adapted his living area & he is getting along really well.

He now has a smaller cage which minimises his falls. The cage also is now at floor level rather than up on a stand. This means that he can access the floo & the room much easier & without risk of injury. This means that Cheeko has freedom from his cage for possibly the first time in around 20 years.

He has started on his clicker training programme & he loves it. When he first arrived he would hang from the top corner of his cage & growl , throw himself around & beome distressed if anyone approached him.

Now he will happily sit whilst I clean his cage, give out his food. He will come right around the cage to get a treat from me & even kisses me!

He sings, whistles & has even started to accept toys. GREAT PROGRESS CHEEKO- YOUR A STAR!!

Parrot Shredding Toy -Homemade

Here we have a simple homemade shredding toy. Simply cut brown paper into strips, Hole punch the strips through both edges. Thread onto shoe lace (new) . Thread shoelace through a toilet roll middle & hang in cage or play stand.Always supervise with homemade toys. Its your bird-keep an eye on it!-I have used these for years without issue. They will keep a Feather Plucking bird amused for hours. They make a mess on the floor with these but we dont mind. Cheap & Easy to make. Have fun

Brocolli Mix

BROCOLLI & RICE SUPRISE:
Here is another quick recipe to temp your parrots, healthy & delicious:

Brocolli- lighlty boiled or steamed, parrots enjoy the leafy bits & stalks too- cut into bite size pieces.
Boiled Rice or Pasta for a change.
Fresh peas,
Soaked & Spouted Seeds.

This is a very green coloured mix & I find the birds really enjot it.
If your bird is completly resistant to new foods, DONT give up.
Try eating the food in front of your bird. They may not recognise it as food.
They may well ignore it several times before they try it. Its normal.
Your bird may throw it all from the bowl, dont worry at least they are touching it, its a start.
Never leave fresh food out for hours on end it will start to go off.

RED PEPPER MIX- DELICIOUS

HERE IS A GREAT HEALTHY RECIPE MY PARROTS LOVE:
I am a big believer in including seasonal, local & organic produce to my birds.
LIVE food is of the hiest nutritional value to your bird, LIVE FOODS are sprouted seeds & beans, once they sprout, eben the smallest sprout the seed or pulse is active & can more than double in nutritional value from the dry product.
Here is a quick, easy recipe that all our birds took to straight away! I dont give amounts to use just make enough for 2 large birdy meals, serve the first on day1 , refrigerate & serve the following day:
Red Peppers, core & seeds too- chopped into birdy bitesize pieces.
Boiled brown rice
Grated carrot
Cooked Quinoa- pronounced KEEN WAH. Available from health food shops, the box I buy cost £3 & makes many meals.
Cooked sweetcorn.
Soaked & sprouted bean, pea mix.-Bought as a dry product.

All of my recipes are simple, cost-effective ways to really inmprove your birds well-being.

Introducing our African Greys to each other.

Cheeko is a very quiet bird, Nellie is a very active bird always singing playing & generally behaving as you would expect.We decided it would be nice for them both to have company. We started by having them in their cages in the same room together, after 2 weeks of them vocalising to each other we took the next step. The cages were placed right up next to each other. Immediatly they were both very interested & Cheeko started to be much more active. At night time we cover our birds & we covered them with 2 big sheets so that could still see each other & sit side by side in their own cages still.
We were suprised when Cheeko started to spend his time on Nellies cage top when she was in her cage. Nellie didn't seem to mind & was showing no territorial or hormonal aggression, she was simply interested. Up until now they had been taking turns a t being out of their cages with us observing.
We took the plunge & let them out together, Nellie immediatly went over to Cheeko & started kissing his beak as she does with me!! Cheeko responded with the most beautifull sounds I have ever heard him make. We were nervous of aggression & kept a close eye on this pair.
No aggression was ever shown & now Cheeko who was reluctant to do anything is like a new Grey! First thing every day they are out & kissing, intntly watching each other, cuddling up & basically being best mates! He has really come out of his shell & Nellie has loads of patience with him, even allowing him to go into her cage & play with her toys when he feels like it!!
We spend loads of time playing, training cuddling our birds but for the short periods of time we are not there they now have each other for company & comfort.
Nellie is a star & has really helped with Cheekos re-habilitation, he is vocalising more, exploring around the cage area, he even goes back to his own cage to eat, sleep e.c.t.
It just goes to show sometimes all they need is a bit of love & encouragement from there own kind, no matter what we do we couldnt have achieved this much confidence in Cheeko without Nellies help. WELL DONE NELLIE & CHEEKO.

MEET CHEEKO

Cheeko is our latest member of the flock.He is a Timneh African Grey.Sadly Cheekos owner passed away recently. He has a ver interesting story. Around 15 years ago Cheeko was sadly imported in the U.K. He arrived at Liverpool Docks in a crate with many others. His last owner heard of the situation & found the pet shop they were taken from. This lady rescued Cheeko along with several Senegal parrots & gave them a home. He has a dropped wing from the injuries reciebed being transported this way. He is also missing several toues.Cheeko again found himself in need of a home 2 weeks ago. On arrival with us Cheeko was moved into his new cage, fed & given fresh water.For the first few hours he hung upside down from the inside of his cage. He looked terrified. Didnt seem to mind all the other birds though!
Within a couple of days he was perching, eating & taking great interest in the daily birdy routine.
I took Rosie my special needs Cockatoo over to meet Cheeko & was amazed when he ventured out of the cage to have a better look at her!!
Well as for now Cheeko is vocalising morning & night along with rest of his new flock & is content to sit atop his cage. We are sitting by him talking gently & earning trust. Cheeko had a sunflower diet but has taken to his new healthy diet with no problems at all. He is a lovely little guy & I think there is a lot of personality behind that quiet "settling in" stage.

ANATOMY OF THE AFRICAN GREY

I found this on Google pictures & thought it might useful to all of us African Grey keepers. If you double click on the image it is printable.

ALFIE THE ORANGE WINGED AMAZON

Alfie is 2 yrs old we think. He came to us from an excellent home with a very severe behaviour problem, we took as we felt we could work with him. Alfie would scream top note, like nothing I have EVER heard before from morning till night, he wasnt hand tame & was extremely aggresive at times, he couldn,t be in the same room as our other birds as he attacked.
And so the work began..we put him in a seperate room with access to ropes, bells, chewable things e.c.t lots of stimulation. It helped once he was in there as he has a phobia of the front door being open & of new people. Once he wasnt near these things some of screaming stopped. We changed his diet & hid food in his toys e.c.t to keep him occupied, this helped too. Over time we noticed what triggered off the screaming & dealt with each thing as best we could. Alfie now only does the normal morning & night screaming & calling & about twice a day for 10mins or so. This is easy to cope with!! He loves a head scratch but still wont step up, we are using clicker trainig to overcome this. He is a great little guy.

NELLIE THE CONGO AFRICAN GREY

Nellie came to us about 5 months ago.She was a little thin (pure sunflower diet) but gerenally in good health. Aged 4, she was semi-tame. Her past owner said she was all for men She would step up for my husband & son but would go the back of her cage & growl if I approached the cage. I started out by taking over her care, I cleaned the cage daily, dished out the food e.c.t. After a couple of weeks Nell stopped growling at me & started to take interest in what I was doing, her cage door was open one night & I was eating a McDonalds she climbed out of the cage, down to my knee, climbed on & started to eat my burger! I was shocked & delighted-what a breakthrough.
From that day on Nellie will only step up for me unfortunalty & we are working on that, every morning she shouts "COME ON"until she gets cleaned out & fed.She blows me kisses, says HELLO & WHAT & is starting to pick up new words.
I have taught Nellie to SHAKE HANDS and she has learned 2 colours Red & Blue.We play toghether every day & she now trys to follow me around the house
CHECK BACK SOON TO SEE WHAT NELLIE DOES NEXT

More from Rosie

After a week she drank water on her own, I was overjoyed, within 2 more days she was eating on her own, bobbing up & down as Cockatoos do & really seemed to be improving.
From then on its been nothing but progress for her, She can walk with her head down to balance, she cant fly butis sretching & flapping her wings now, her sores are almost healed & she is doing well.
Rosie,s past owners never noticed how ill she was, thats what happens when you dont spend time handling, observing your birds. They had fed her daily but the seed was such poor quality that she got no nutrition from it. Rosie now eats a varied homecooked diet & a special seed mix which I put together myself to meet her dietry needs.Rosie is putting on weight , she has an adapted stand were she spends her day, a cosy warm pet carrier for nightime. Rosie has TOILET TRAINED herself at nightime & has been clean at night for weeks now! This amazed me.
ROSIE IS THE SWEETEST BRAVEST LITTLE BIRD & IT IS A PLEASURE TO CARE FOR HER.

Our Birds.

Each of our birds have been rescued by us over the past year, here are their stories so far...
ROSIE: Rosie is a Rose Breasted (Galah) Cockatoo, age 4. She was hand reared & sold for £1400. When we went to collect Rosie it was obvious she was very unwell. We got her home, I took her from the cage & examined her. I was devasted to see the state she was in. Her legs were splayed, she was bone thin,covered in pressure sores & lumps & bumps.It was late at night & I sat up with her on my lap until the following morning when we went to the vet.By the time the vet saw her she was vomiting. The vet said she wouldnt live through the day she was severly malnurished( she had been raised on a poor seed diet)The vet couldn't take blood or really do anything as she was too far gone. We brought her home & I started to nurse her. I gave her water with a baby medicine syringe every hour & a weaning formula every 4 hours the smae way. This went on for a week, I kept her warm & clean in a small box.