From 5 to 7 - Day 8: The Move

Yesterday was moving day.

All we did was go down a couple of floors in our current building, going from a one bedroom to a two bedroom apartment. What a difference it makes.

We got the service elevator at 1pm. The first thing I wanted to move was the birds, so that they didn't have to witness everything coming out of the old apartment as I'm sure a couple of them would have freaked out at the sight of moving big furniture. So in their carriers they went for the ride down. I then put the carriers in my new bedroom (which was still pretty depleted other than the dresser drawers we had brought down the previous night. We then proceeded to move the cages from the old living room to the new birdroom (aka extra bedroom). Once every cage was in there (couldn't fit them all at once in the elevator unfortunately), the birds went in their cages and I could then just close the door and render them oblivious to the rest of the moving. It went pretty well; they did do some flock calling at one point (and would stop when I would go in to get something or bring something) and once all the big pieces were settled, I brought them out in the living room on one of the many perches (Java wood perches are somewhat fashionable, right?) and they behaved.

It might have been only half a day, but I love the birdroom. They can now have all the uninterrupted sleep they can have at night, since the TV's light and sound won't be much of a bother and we can actually turn a light on if needed (tried to avoid that at all cost when we were sharing a living room). I still have to decorate the birdroom as I did my living room with hanging gyms, but that will wait a little big (aka until I have a stronger drill that will go through concrete or until my dad comes back (since he already owns such a drill). I\ll probably post pictures of the room once I have stuff up and hanging.

Foraging toy play

A quick interruption in the posting of daily updates from 5 to 7 with..some pictures!

Joey was caught playing with a foraging toy I bought the birds a little while ago. It consists of 3 cups on a chain with lids to be lifted. Unfortunately for Joey, he chose to go for the two cups that were empty but I still got some nice pictures.

From 5 to 7 - Days 6 & 7

Oh...starting to double post! I guess I'm feeling less inspired.

Truth be told, things have continued to be going better. They've been behaving more, letting each other be. I'm not complaining, it's rather refreshing after the rather bumpy start.
They have just been put "to bed". I guess it's time to continue with the moving of smaller items.

Moving of the big things tomorrow, including cages. I wonder how they'll react to the new environment.

From 5 to 7 - Day 5

Already starting to forget writing something at the end of the day.

Yesterday they were reasonably good once again. The morning time out of cage went pretty much without a glitch, and this without any food bribery. The first hour and a half out of the cage in the evening went fine as well. However, in the second part, after dinner, Shade tried twice to get to Nemo and Zuri kept flying around to get to Itsy without ever really coming close as Itsy was on a tree perch next to me and I was probably too close for her to try anything. Itsy actually tried to have a go at Shade. I know at my parents, she had been bullied a bit by Nemo and had started standing up for herself. Given that Shade didn't ever really do anything to her, I'm assuming Itsy is seeing a bit of her brother in Shade or maybe thinking all Senegals are the same, I don't know..But still, things are going better so maybe by the end of the week, everyone will just let everyone be.

Two days left before the move..

From 5 to 7 - Day 4

A much better day.

They were really good this morning, albeit there was a bit of bribing involved. They got Nutriberries whilst still being good and while they eat, nothing else matters.

Uncertain that if the change of attitude which happened this morning was only due to food, I was a bit worried about how things would go once I got home from work. To my surprise, things went really well, almost as if Nemo and Itsy weren't there. Everyone was on a different perch (a change since I, up to this point, at least always had one of four birds (Nemo, Itsy, Zuri or Shade) to a) avoid them chasing or b)avoid them being chased) and left each other relatively alone (I think Zuri went once towards Itsy without getting too close and the same with Shade and Nemo). Shade and Zuri went back to hanging out together, thing they haven't really done these last few days each too busy focusing on a new bird.

Crossing my fingers this continues.

Oh and only 3 days left...

From 5 to 7 - Day 3

Zuri has been better today. She hasn't really tried chasing Itsy this morning nor did she try much when I first let her out for an hour or so after coming home from work. However, after dinner she was a bit relentless about it.

Shade has been chasing Nemo a bit more, ending up in her cage a fair bit. I'm afraid I will have to start doing separate time outs, having Zuri and Shade out alternatively with Nemo and Itsy. I might still try to have them out together, specially in the morning where my time is rather limited, but will most likely separate them in the evening for this week. I'd rather avoid having to clip Shade and Zuri, although I must admit the thought has crossed my mind. But I'll definitively will wait until I move and have them out in different rooms (myself in a room with some and Bram in another with the others) and see how that goes before I make any final decision. I'm seriously looking forward to next Saturday, day of the move.

At least Petey, Joey and Piper are doing fine and not really caring for the others.

I still find it interesting that Shade, who is normally nice with any bird, has such an aversion to her own sibling...and they did use to get along well, when I was still at my parents. I'm not entirely surprised by Zuri, since she has a tendency to be a bit of a bully at times. However, the fact that she lets Nemo totally alone and only goes after the other Meyer's...she might not like the same species competition, specially from a Meyer's who came in here after her. She normally leaves Petey alone.

I should start a countdown to Saturday....4 days left...

Daily pictures

Joey posed nicely today.

With a fake pencil.


Being as flat as he can.

From 5 to 7 - Day 2

This morning went well. Birds behaved, each did their own thing.

Then it started to snow.
I don't know if this has truly anything to do with their mood change. However, in the past, they have been known to act a tad more crazy and be a little overly zealous when snow storms or abundant rain would hit us for a day or two or more, so maybe it is the current weather that is affecting them this way...

Shade was trying to go after her brother, which ended with either my boyfriend or myself intervening before anything happened and putting Shade away for a few minutes and Zuri doing the same with Itsy and also ending up in her cage for a few minutes to calm down. They've been put aside a few times today. Itsy also wanted to have a go at Shade and it was her turn to end up in her cage for a few minutes.

Can't entirely blame jealousy, as I've made sure to spend times with my own birds before giving any attention to the two newcomers, so that they know the "pecking order". And why is it that both Zuri and Shade are only going after one of the new birds, and always the same one, baffles me a bit.

Piper's reaction to the snow? Being much more vocal than her usual self.

I'm happy that Joey is happy doing his own thing, so is Nemo when Shade isn't trying to get too close. Petey couldn't care less about the other birds as long as she has my boyfriend to herself most of the time.

Hopefully they'll calm back down before the day is over.

From 5 to 7 - Day 1

For the next couple of weeks I will have 7 birds. My parents will be gone for the Holidays and I will be looking after their Senegal Nemo(who happens to be Shade's brother) and their Meyer's Itsy.

They dropped them off earlier this evening. I let everyone out together and it went reasonably well. Somewhat of a surprise was how jealous Zuri was given she is the least affectionate (she would much rather play with toys all day) of my birds. I guess she had to try to show she was dominant bird with Itsy. They were supervised so no fights happened but I'm not sure it would have been the case if I wasn't keeping a close watch.

After a while though she went back to "normal" going on gyms and playing with toys. It will be interesting to see how she'll behave in the next few days.

Examples of fresh foods I give my birds

I actually can't figure out why it took me this long to write an entry on the subject.

I usually chop a number of fresh food items and put them in a bowl to last me a few days. This saves me time each evening, and frankly, there are some evenings where I just rather do nothing. I usually put either an orange or a lemon in the mix so that the citrus juice helps keep the food fresher longer.

Here are some examples of what I do:

Batch #1

It contained in no particular order:
-Collard Greens
-Swiss Chard
-Pomegranate seeds
-An orange
-Yellow Bell Pepper
-Corn (freshly cut off the cob)
-Broccoli
-(Orange) Cauliflower
-Carrots
-Sweet Potatoes
-Snow Peas






Batch #2

It contained in no particular order

-1 big carrot
-Broccoli
-(1) Orange pepper and (half) a red pepper
-Some sweet potato
-Some red cabbage
-A couple leafs of Red chard
-A couple leafs of Kale
-An orange
-Pomegranate seeds from one Pomegranate





I also often add sprouted grains on top of the greens when I feed them to my birds.

Friends

Shade preening Zuri

Before the preening started...


I'm very happy they get along so well.

Light or darkness?

Joey who was basking in rather harsh light which made for rather harsh shadows.
But I like the shot!

Tree of Pois

I've been wanting a Java tree for a long time.
For the last few weeks, I've been looking around for one. I was in no hurry and I did pass on a few; either too small or the branches were too big or there weren't enough branches to my liking or all branches were kinda stuck in the same spot.

Yesterday I found one I liked and bought it.
The birds seem to have taken a shine to it.

Some pictures (of course..)

Happy Halloween

-From the birds.

(You can view a larger version of the picture here)

Cuddly Joey

It might seem pretty normal, but this is the first time he's really been that cuddly with me, or rather on me.

When I first got him, Joey had a preference for men. He would choose to go to any other men in the room and then, if none were there, he would come and see me. He didn't dislike women as much as Petey does though.

Anyways, over the year and a half I've had him, we've been working on his biting. He's gotten much better. However, I did not trust him enough still to let him on me, not that he really tried. Lately, he's been really good; perching close to me (not on me though) but still withing biting reach if he wanted. But he behaved.

Today, he decided to just come on me. No real warning, one moment he was on a perch, then he was on me. But I figured I'd give it a shot (there's no moving forward without a little risk, right?)

I admit I was a little nervous in the beginning because of where he had perched, I couldn't really see what he was doing. It felt like he was rubbing his beak on my neck (which was confirmed by my boyfriend when I asked him what Joey was doing), but it wasn't in a trying-to-bite-you-way. He then rubbed his head the same way, his way of asking me to scratch it.

He stayed there for a bit. He did not try to bite once.
Progress.
Funny what a little patience and trust building can do...