Hormones emerging... >;

I've noticed that all of the birds are having spurts of hormones... just "spurts," but never the less, making life less peaceful.

Bobby (TAG) is in heightened-fright mode and training is limited because he drops the seed.  He's too scared to do his stuff right, and then acts so desperate.  For now, minimal training every day followed by a portion of seeds to munch on, for the pacifier effect.

Gracie (TAG) is panting and wagging her wings for attention and is a bit distracted.  She's doing her stuff for treats, but almost bit me when I went to replace her into her cage. Gracie bit me lightly ONCE just before she came to live with me.  She bites everyone else, but has always respected me.

Coco refused to train despite going all day without his favorite sunflower seeds.  He is madly chewing boxes to shreds.  He did step up and got a seed ball this morning.  He got  6 sunflower seeds "free" in the cup.  He needs a "primer" sometimes to get him started on the bird food.

Lucy, yesterday, bent her head for a scratch (yes!  She's learned to trust me from the training!) and then lifted a foot to step up...  retracted her foot and bet down and bit my finger!!!  It wasn't a big bite, but just a little one, but it hurt and drew blood.  She got returned to her cage, placed gently on the floor of her cage, and didn't hear from me for a little bit.  (Grrrr!)

... I've started to introduce "shaking the head NO!" with the two girls, but just barely.  We manage to get through every other trick we've conquered, but just barely.  It's hard not to just feel discouraged, but then I have to remember that hormones are natural and will diminish over time until everyone is happy and pleasant again.

Now, I am giving the 3 greys juice (Coco hates it) to get some fruit in them.  They've all decided fruit and veg are not good.  I give Coco papaya squares for his fruit.  The greys throw that stuff on the floor.  I fixed some nice canned salmon (wild caught) and all the birds liked it AND the dog. 

We will continue to train and play every night for as long as hormonal birds can hold their attention.  I shall not get discouraged!!!  Hahaha!  These birds can live very long lives and giving up is just not an option even if they are spoiled rotten and grumpy!

Happy Valentine's Day next month.  Hopefully, these guys will be "over it" by then.  :D

Just a little update...

There isn't a thing going on that is exciting, but there are some subtle changes around the bird room.  The timnehs both seem a little "needy" lately and I'm wondering if hormones are kicking up again.  We're still doing the training with both and Bobby (phobic Bob) is improving every day.  During "brave moments" he will cross his entire cage to "target" now and he's definitely clued into the training sessions... able to focus and put his "fright" to the back while he does stuff for food.

Lucy says "hello" all day long, hoping for a treat.  Getting her to sound like a chicken on command has been totally without gain, so far.  Her attitude about training is soundly positive and she runs all over the place for a sunflower seed... something she threw away a few weeks ago.  I'm just giving the PRIZE PISTACHIOS randomly now as a sort of jackpot and you should see her eyes light up when one pops up after a simple trick.  (Earlier I showed her the treat and then she would only respond if she saw the pistachios.  Now I put my hand into the treat bag, but do not show her what her reward will be.)  Anyway, Lucy has not shown any aggression for weeks.  I did note that she was nervously chewing on a spongy toy last night and my intuition tells me that foraging birds still need that "forage" to eat and relax at the end of the day.  She got a small dish with pine-nuts (in shell), cashew pieces, and a few safflower seeds.  The other birds got seed mix as they prefer, but no sunflower seeds, because those are exclusive to training.

Coco taking a nap on the bird stand.

Coco is plugging right along, doing as requested during training.  He still refuses to step up most of the time if I don't show a treat.  When he does step up without a treat offered, I make sure to give him a really good experience... a trip to the kitchen counter, a visit to the back door window, a mom-play time, and a little seed-ball when he returns to the cage.

What I want from my birds is to see them happy and interactive.  What I am getting is an amazing amount of affection back!

I do switch it up with the training.  We were busy this weekend, moving 7 tons of rock and dirt to landscape with, and I was simply too tired to do much with my birds.  Instead of training, they got clean cages, a pat on the head, a "training" at intervals as we were inside for lunch and dinner... and a nice bowl of their favorite seeds to much on before bedtime.  We got chickens at Sam's Club and the timnehs got leg and thigh bones to marrow out, something they all love.  Again, it's foraging work and good for them.  Coco doesn't like bones, but he loves the double-thick-glossy boxes from Sam's Club, so he gets those to keep him busy. 

Personally, I think the silly birds look forward to training and running like silly chickens to give me a kiss for a sunflower seed.   I can't believe the difference in our little flock!  We will always do training because it is the best time we spend together and so rewarding.

Happy New Year! An even better bird year!

Bobby, the hyper nervous Timneh Boy!

He has been improving, Bobby, that is!  When I started the training, he was too afraid to step up and could hardly accomplish his old tricks of waving and meowing on command.  He had been absolutely too afraid to walk toward me to get a kiss.  He panicked whenever I introduced the "target" stick and was too scared to "turn around" or "flap your wings" on command.

Guess what?  He is still "always shaky-nervous,"  but now I've got him approaching the target-stick (nervously!) and walking the 6-10 inches towards it to target for a treat!!!   I started asking him to "flap your wings" when I had him out for his 10-count-step-up and after a few frightening failures, he actually did it!  He also realized, by himself, that it was too stressful to try to do training when he was on top of his cage and now... when he sees that treat bag come out... he makes a beeline for the inside favorite perch.

Baby steps, but steps in the right direction.

We have been practicing the same-old-stuff with all of the birds, but stretching them a little bit by targeting a little farther away and asking for 2-times on tricks now and then... instead of once... to get the treat.  The bird should realize that it has to do stuff to get stuff, but it also has to understand that "sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you win a really big prize!"  So, occasionally, I hide the treat in my hand and they don't know what they'll get for the "trick."  Lucy was startled when she got a big old pistachio for simply waving and then later, got just a sunflower seed for saying "hello" on command.  It is a gambling thing.  People play the lottery, hoping for a win and sometimes a big win.  They keep coming back for more unless they lose too often.  I'm hoping that I can interest the birds in gambling a little bit so that they will do stuff on command, not knowing if they will be treated (or not) or if they'll get a really big treat.  <%  I NEVER let them become frustrated with the game.

More later.  Happy New Year!

Training and the holidays...

Training Progress Video  <% 

Disciplining myself to *not* treat the birds all day long represents a problem.  With the holidays, it seems we have a wider variety of goodies around that are both good for them and yummy.  Sweet potatoes, warmed up with just a little bit of butter... 


Bobby is definitely showing signs of less-panic and managed to target the stick without shaking himself off of his perch to do so.  And, he seems to understand that the 10-count with step-up is okay now and doesn't panic at all.  Baby steps.

Coco is still throwing away his birdie kibble and I'm still putting it back into his dish.  He's covered in pin feathers and grumpy and I understand.  He gets lots of training to get lots of sunflower seeds... and I never let his bowl go empty.

Gracie is due to learn something new.  I'm thinking about asking her to do the "what does a cat say" with the meow response.  She says meow already, so I just have to train her to respond correctly.

Lucy is my champion this week.  She now says hello in response to my hello even when she's perched on my hand!!!  She is allowing much more Mama Touch and even says hello to my husband for a nut.  She did, however, dump her full water bowl TWICE today.  Grrrr!

I did a video showing the birds' progress.  Who knows, maybe I'll inspire someone to help their relationships with their own birds.  I hope so.  If nothing else, it inspires me to keep going because it works!

Merry Christmas!~

Breakthrough... <%

 


In the video above, you will see the proof that I've got Lucy trained to answer my "hello" with her own "hello" while I'm in the room!  It took something like 3 weeks of my getting closer and closer and running like a nut with a nut... to treat her. 

She has always been a "closet talker" and I'm excited that she's answering me while I'm so close to her.  What is really exciting is that Peter was able to get the same response while in the room with her.

Bobby is a little less paranoid and nervous the past days, but in general the birds haven't trained well otherwise this weekend.  It seems I have provided too many goodies during the day so they simply weren't hungry.  (: 

I'll get some new videos of the birds in-training for the coming week. 

It's working.  I'm happy.  Now to get Lucy to respond to "What does a chicken say?"  (She already sounds like a chicken.  I just need her to do it as a response to the command.  She "did do this" when she was about a year old, but quit doing it.)

Bobby had a little improvement yesterday.  He is getting used to his new/old cage and actually did some of his tricks for treats last evening.  He approached me (while on top of his cage) and gave me a "kiss" for a nut! 

Usually, he won't do anything while outside of his cage because he is too scared!  I'll take any progress I can get!

He got warm mashed sweet potatoes before going to "bed" last night.  He loves those.  (:

Sweet Bobby!

"Hello" saga standoff with Lucy!

Lucy is saying "hello" all the time when I'm out of the room.  We have her "answering" hello as long as we are outside of the room.  When I go into the room and say "hello," it appears that she knows that I want her to answer with her own "hello" while I'm in the room... but she just can't make herself do it!

Lucy's agitation is palpable when I offer a pistachio, say hello and wait for her response while I'm standing in front of her cage.  She "walks" the top of her cage all-round and chips away at wooden toys... but won't answer "hello" in my presence.

Worried that the bird might be simply frustrated and not learning, I have done the routine for days without being inside the room...so she knows what is expected.  And, when I've done the training in the room with the other birds, I just ignore the lack of response and (in short order) turn around and ask her to do something I know she will do for a lesser nut, ie sunflower seed.

The past two days, I offer the nut and hello... wait a count of 10, say goodbye and walk out of the room.  She says "hello" many MANY times after I leave, but I ignore her for a while and then go in and repeat the process.  She is (hilariously) saying hello using different accents and voices from my normal and funny voices to my husband's voice.

I feel that if we get her to respond while I am inside the room, we will have managed a breakthrough.  Until then, I'm doomed to hear "hello" over and over again as soon as I leave the room.  /:

Oh, Coco got grumpy and feigned a  bite during training last night.  I terminated training and ignored the behavior.  He has lots of pin feathers and is grumpy.  This morning, he was anxious to please me.  Timnehs are doing just fine and Bobby, maybe a little improved.