Rough Season of Hormones

[Karen]

Kady has his hormonal period in the fall. (When I first got him I thought I was doing something wrong that was making him hormonal in the fall and not the spring. Now I know this is not out of the ordinary for some Macs.) He is like clockwork, every year, I now know when to expect it and what behavior to expect. Having a few years experience under my belt; I was able to be very calm and patient throughout. I didn't want to add any drama to his drama. I did not take his behavior personal and I was consistent with his schedule. Oh and there was no bloodshed.

Kady exhibits FDB during his hormonal cycle and he was especially hard on them this time. He twisted all his secondaries to the point of breaking the rachis. All that's left on each wing is 4-5 primaries. As the hormone level drops I notice he is starting to also drop a few feathers here and there. (A normal molt cycle for him has always been in Jan/Feb) He's going to need a huge molt to get rid of all the stubs that were once beautiful feathers.

Thank goodness we're on the downhill side of it now and he's feeling much better and things are slowly getting back to normal.

I realize all mature birds will eventually go through these cycles and nothing we do will stop that but what can we do that would make this time a little easier for them?

 

[susand]

and can we spend up the process?

 

[Welshanne]

Have found giving ours his 9-12hrs of darkness and quiet to sleep on a regular routine helps, and cutting out or down with some of the foodstuffs in his diet that just makes matters worse.
Jay also gets so aggressive we have to confine him to his cage for the length of time his hormones are raging. This stops him attacking on a regular basis and it becoming routine!
Once all has slowly died down to a managable level out he comes again and is all sunshine and light until something sets him off once more.
Just as well we love him to bits or no normal minded person would put up with half of what we have to from him! Could not imagine life without him though, his charm when turned on makes up for all the down sides.

 

[Missi]

I realize all mature birds will eventually go through these cycles and nothing we do will stop that but what can we do that would make this time a little easier for them?

This is going to be a beautiful thread because I am so worried about when Bailey becomes sexually mature.

Thanks for starting this topic Karen

 

[Holiday]

I realize all mature birds will eventually go through these cycles and nothing we do will stop that but what can we do that would make this time a little easier for them?

Well, as Ann said, making sure the lighting and sleep are monitored and diet is beneficial are the only things that are really feasible. I don't offer any warm mashes when Elvis is hormonal. And I make sure she gets lights-out an hour earlier. Other than that, I just ride it out.

She usually has a cycle much like your Kady's (at least for the past three years). But, this year, she's late. I'm not quite sure why, but I was completely expecting her hormones to kick in this month like they always do. They didn't. But, then, her fall molt ran a little late this year. So, any day now...

Some of the folks here do say that the older they get, the less stressful/dramatic these seasons are, though. I'm looking forward to that.

 

[JLcribber]

Something that helps during that time is to make sure the first aid kit is well stocked and put the paramedics on speed dial.

Ohhhh you mean for the bird!!!!

Something that does make a difference to the birds is if they have that "itch", there's nothing like being able to "scratch" it.

 

[Deejo]

I realize all mature birds will eventually go through these cycles and nothing we do will stop that but what can we do that would make this time a little easier for them?[/QUOTE]

The thing that helped most, of anything we tried with our YNA, was giving him up to 14 hours sleep time. Uninterrupted sleep, in a quiet room far from any activity, tv or household noise.
For the weeks during his "season" we also gave less warm mushy foods.
Good luck, and I'm sure you'll get some great tips from others!

 

[Karen]

Jay also gets so aggressive we have to confine him to his cage for the length of time his hormones are raging. This stops him attacking on a regular basis and it becoming routine!

I could see where this behavior could become routine if we didn't change things up and try to work with it and around it.

Kady is out on his play gym all day but a big problem I had was getting him out of his cage when he's hormonal. Letting him come out on his own and being ON his cage leads to more aggression so I taught him to station on a designated perch. The perch positions him so that my arm is actually behind him and he has to step back onto it. On the mornings that he greets me in full attack mode, I get the treats out and ask him to go to the designated perch.

Thanks for starting this topic Karen

You're welcome Missi, I'm looking forward to the replies also!

Some of the folks here do say that the older they get, the less stressful/dramatic these seasons are, though. I'm looking forward to that.

I hope it gets better. Kady (male) is about 20 years old and this year has been the worst to date for him (I've had him 5 years). But it's been the best year for the way I've handled it all.

I know it sounds silly, but I used to take his behavior personal. When I first got him I had no clue what was going on. Everything I read said hormones in the Spring. So the first two years I had him I just thought he hated me.

Something that does make a difference to the birds is if they have that "itch", there's nothing like being able to "scratch" it.

Oh Yeah, dinnertime in their cages isn't just for dinner anymore.

The thing that helped most, of anything we tried with our YNA, was giving him up to 14 hours sleep time. Uninterrupted sleep, in a quiet room far from any activity, tv or household noise.

Good tip! I noticed as soon as the hormones hit the birds seemed to want/need that earlier bedtime. They were hurrying me along by grinding their beaks and if I was late they got crankiER. Right now I'm doing 5:30 to 6:00 PM bedtime and I've been opening the shades about 7:00 AM and letting the room naturally lighten before I turn on their lights.

Have to admit, there's been a few days that I needed the earlier end of the day more than they did.

I've noticed that I've also had to limit direct contact time because all Kady wants to do is rip up my shirt and regurgitate. Visual contact and indirect play periods seem to be less arousing to him.

So glad we're seeing the light at the end of the cycle here! I've truly felt bad for him having such a rough go of it this year.

 

[ortegah]

Something that helps during that time is to make sure the first aid kit is well stocked and put the paramedics on speed dial.

Ohhhh you mean for the bird!!!!

Something that does make a difference to the birds is if they have that "itch", there's nothing like being able to "scratch" it.

You know this all too well don't you?

My Hahns Macaw is finally starting to get over his hormones and he's becoming a sweet baby again. It's like night and day. I can't get over how much different he is right now.