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Kristy Rankin

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Hello I have read many of these forums and all tho close, none fit the behavior I'm experiencing with my jenday. I'm not new to birds, but cant say I've ever experienced something like this. I just got my jenday 3 days ago. Didnt get her true back story till after I paid and realized she has been abused and I'm probably in way over my head. She/he (I'll call her J for this thread) just turned 5, the previous owner kept her in a dirty covered cage, and who knows what else. They were young and didnt like the screaming. Her original cage that they said came from previous owner (shes had several owners) was a 12x9 small cage and no perches. Previous owners sibling kids poked at her with sticks and someone has swatted her with brooms/hairbrushes as for she goes into a screaming panic if she sees you pick something up that resembles. So now to the present issue, J bonded very fast with me. I saw the sweetest most loving bird, so careful and gentle, she stole my heart! She mimics every sound I make, I'm in awe with how intelligent she is. Same day of bond she flew off my shoulder and attacked my husband. She quickly returned to my shoulder, my husband left the room. Her new 6ft high cage is in the family room where she can see everyone. She will scream a distinct scream when she sees or hears my husband, and now also my son who is 16. She will lunge against the bars when she hears or sees them. If she is out and they walk thru she will fly off and full on attack. It is not provoked in anyway. Sometimes there is no warning at all, just a silent attack. Last attack on son he was in his room, he peaked out and saw she was out so he went back in room, Jenday saw him and flew down the hall, landed on the door frame, KNOCKED on the wood! He opened the door started to walk out to see if I wanted something, and the Jenday swooped down on him and attacked him. Pecking and biting and screaming as I was trying to get her off of his head she bit me, it was a bloody mess! The bird planned out his attack! What I have done to correct the bahavior I can, is put in cage and cover for 5 minutes then when good and not screaming I take cover off and back out of cage with good enforcement. Have son and husband talk to bird thru a closed wood door, but then the distinct screaming starts, and back to cage for a minute. She has many new toys and sadly doesnt know how to play. I do not fully cover cage at night so she can see what is around and bed time is not bad. I'm running out of time to make a decision. I think her behavior and trust issues from previous abuse is more then I'm qualified for. I'm afraid someone will get hurt. So far she hasn't attacked my chihuahuas but I see her eyeballing like they could be her next prey.. I can not pass her to another home, for again she could hurt someone or end up being abused again, all outcomes are heartbreaking. I wanted so badly to give her the life she deserves. I knew she was not cared for correctly, but had no idea the extent.
If anyone has any experience in this, I'd love to hear what you did and if it helped. I am meeting with a bird specialist and possibly surrendering her to a professional who can assist her with living a full, healthy, happy, and safe li
 

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faislaq

I have macaws and don't post enough pictures
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Welcome Kristy, and thank you for giving J a better life! :hug8:

Is J only aggressive towards men so far? Our macaw's previous owner's husband used to hit his cage so it took a lot longer for my husband to start a relationship with Buzz. And our gcc Scotty came to us afraid of hands, anything stick shaped or flat, and blue things. Not sure why those particular combinations but it's clear they were not kind to him and it is still a challenge for us, though he has gotten a little better as his confidence grows.

I wonder if a mod might move this thread to the Behavior Byway it might get more of the attention it needs. In the meantime I'll tag a couple of members who have dealt with challenging birds. @Mizzely @sunnysmom

 

Mizzely

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First off, I know how scary it is to be at the other end of those attacks. I had a quaker who would seek me out to attack me too. It feels like you're a prisoner in your own home.

Her attacks are being fueled by two things: being scared due to her prior abuse, and her love of you. She wants to get rid of the competition, so anyone she's seen you give any hint of affection is a potential target.

Next, though I don't usually recommend it, I would seriously consider clipping her wings for everyone's safety, including her own.

I would try to take things very slowly with her. This could be done without her wings being clipped but she would need to be in her cage quite a bit while she's desensitized to your family. This would include keeping her in her cage and everytime they walk by, dropping a treat into a bowl through the cage bars. A designated treat bowl on the cage door would work well for this. You could take her into a closed room alone for your own one on one time.

I'll also say that you need to keep her interactions as positive as possible at all times. Allowing her to come out, attack, and then go back to her cage does a couple of things. It shows her that her attacks have an immediate reaction which can be a reward in itself, and then it shows her that she either gets left alone (which she may like, again a reward) or she is getting a negative association from that person. Such as, "Husband = being caged. Reminds me of my abusive home. Husband = bad things."

It's a complex issue and needs to be dealt with slowly and with you in charge of the situation as much as possible so that she doesn't get a chance to make her own reward system, as that is a hard cycle to break.
 
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Kristy Rankin

Checking out the neighborhood
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12/11/18
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Kristy
The previous owner said he bit her several times, and that distinct screech I referred to that he does only when he hears or sees male, she said that was her normal non stop, constant scream. However, when it's just me and jenday I get peaceful chatter and quiet clicks.
 

Kristy Rankin

Checking out the neighborhood
Joined
12/11/18
Messages
3
Real Name
Kristy
Just wanted to share what I found out, its mating season for conures. A sweet conure can change over night and become a hormonal terror. She does have issues from the previous abuse, so I guess in a few weeks I'll know more on how much of it is just hormonal. We may do injections to help with the hormones. Also, clipping J's wings temporary while it adjusts to our home and gets thru the mating challenge. I'm relieved that there is hope for this sweet/devil bird
 
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