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Pictures Somebody is itchy

JLcribber

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Hal has a lot of sprouts on his head. Time for a beak trim very soon too.
IMG_3586.jpg
 

Calpurnia

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Do you know why Hal's beak overgrows like that? Also, I've always wondered... how on earth do you keep the peace between your p'let and 'toos all living in one room? Our last p'let was seriously injured (through the cage bars!) because he would not stop pestering a larger bird and now I'm resigned to the fact that the birds will forever be split into two rooms. None of our other birds have ever been as inquisitive and in-you-face as the p'lets. Is Hal just a saint?
 

JLcribber

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This is a situation that has developed over a number of years. It's mostly about the TOOZ being conditioned to the littles constantly flying around and just accepting this as a normal everyday thing. A lot of vigilant supervision in the beginning.

The littles have also learned over time that those two big white birds are not to be messed with. The TOOZ don't fly. The littles fly like F18 jets. Not even a contest.

Everyone has enough space to have their own space. They've all shared all the space for 5 years.

Probably not something to be recommended for most people. There's always some risk. I've weighed the risks in my situation. The choice of freedom and space far outweighs the risk here.

The soap opera going on here is that Hal's boyfriend ScooterX likes Mr Chirpy too and Hal is not having any of that. Mr Chirpy being the newest member is not quite there yet. I'm working on a zone for him.
 

JLcribber

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The beak is just a deformity. It doesn't have the right curvature to it. Grows rather straight.
 

finchly

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Interesting about the flock dynamics! My little guy Skittles was accidentally out yesterday with the tiels. He thought he was such a big boy, perching on their high playground! Fortunately he behaved himself, and they didn't seem to mind.
 

JLcribber

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None of our other birds have ever been as inquisitive and in-you-face as the p'lets. Is Hal just a saint?
Hal is rather bossy and loud. He is the king of the littles and not timid but he is not "hand" tame so all his hair triggers are sharp as a tack. I think all little birds know instinctively that any bird that big (Tika is 10 times his size) is not competition but more of a predator and very bad odds of taking it on with success. Similar sized birds (different species) would be more inclined to see each other as competition and something they have some odds against.
 

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When the birds are loose in the birdroom, the Pois, tiels, lovies, canaries and budgies all know to NOT land on Emmie CAG's cage bars as they will get hurt if they do. Emmie is obsessed with keeping the littles off her cage bars, but does not care of they are on the playtop or sitting on the cage skirt. Just no cage bars! Emmie will take off a toe if he can given the chance. Presently I have no littles who are missing a toe and only one missing a toenail Emmie removed (canary).

Oscar RBP loves to beat us on the cockatiel cocks. He will wait until a cock is sitting on a dangling swirl and quietly slink down behind the tiel, slowly reach around and grab the tiel's tail and yank. The tiel tries to fly away and Oscar just hangs on to the tail and laughs. Oscar's aggressiveness has decreased each year and now he prefers to pick on the newbies in the flock, either hen or cock. I hope to have Oscar a potential mate by the end of January and he can then stop being jealous of the tiel cocks and their girlfriend hens. A friend has to rehome her hen RBP because it is attacking her infant daughter. I have volunteered to foster her RBP hen and Senegal cock for a number of years while her kids grow up. We figure about the time I can no longer care for the birds, her children should be old enough to learn how to interact with her birds and she will take them back. We will see...
 

Lady Jane

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John good thing you don't have a GCC. They don't seem to care how large other birds are because in their mind conures are huge!
 
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JLcribber

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John good thing you don't have a GCC. They don't seem to care how large other birds are because in their mind conures are huge!

You're exactly right. And I don't have one just for reasons like that. If I did the environment would be set up different.
 

Calpurnia

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Everyone has enough space to have their own space. They've all shared all the space for 5 years.
I wonder if that's our biggest issue: even though the birds have their own room it isn't very large at all. Maybe with a bigger space the p'lets would feel less of a need to in everyone else's business all of the time. While I love these guys their inability to realize they are only 5 inches long means major headache and heartache for sure.... so far the list of injuries is a cracked beak, snipped off toenail, and broken foot. I think our risk assessment is pretty clear. o_O
 

Laurul Feather Cat

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I do have a GCC, Bocca. He came to me with a damaged beak because in his former home, he picked a fight with a CAG and lost. He has no hook on his upper beak and I have to be careful what I feed him and how large it is. I think, because of his injury, he recognized Emmie as a CAG and is very careful to never get close enough to his cage to be in danger from Emmie. Bocca is very aggressive to the other birds and is totally hand phobic. He wants scritches but cannot tolerate hands. I have to hide my hands in a towel or blanket to scritch him. He has a terrible history of abuse by his owner's sister.
 

Lo_

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Oh gosh....I love Hal :heart:
 

JLcribber

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I wonder if that's our biggest issue: even though the birds have their own room it isn't very large at all. Maybe with a bigger space the p'lets would feel less of a need to in everyone else's business all of the time. While I love these guys their inability to realize they are only 5 inches long means major headache and heartache for sure.... so far the list of injuries is a cracked beak, snipped off toenail, and broken foot. I think our risk assessment is pretty clear. o_O
As you know every flock has its own unique dynamic. If/when it comes together there's a lot of luck, a lot of hard work, a lot of patience, time and as much influence as we can instill along the way. It is what it is in the end. :)

My bird room 33ft x 16ft all zones together for 5 birds. 2 big. 3 small (has been as many as 5 small)
 

DQTimnehs

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Hal's blues are so beautiful! :)
 

expressmailtome

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He is looking great!
 
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