Just a rant and a word of praise for this forum

[Lee Penman]

Okay, it has been on my mind so I thought I would say it...and this might offend some
I have occasionally sought thoughts and advice from Facebook bird groups and the deluge of judgements and remarks from 'experts' never fails to amaze me. We all know the bird owners who attack anyone who dares to include seed in their companion's diet and those who claim to be experts in every nuance of bird behavior and disregard the fact that, in my case, I grew up with birds and am very familiar with the needs of our feathered friends...but hey everyone needs advice sometime, or reassurance.
I have been having issue's with Pica's sleeping (or not sleeping) habits lately, her predecessor Rico was the same. I often think can I just get a bird that sleeps? lol
However, and I know this may upset some., but can we just think about...you must cover your bird at night....they must get 12 to 14 hours quiet uninterrupted sleep. How realistic is that in today's world?
The covering part, well I have always covered my house birds...but when my father had an aviary when I was growing up, that was not an option...and the birds did just fine. Wild birds don't get covered and I would think rarely get 12 to 14 hours uninterrupted sleep - they also don't eat pellet diets but have survived since prehistoric times.
One of my apartments is a studio apt and I simply can't separate my bird while I go about my evening - nor do I wish to go to bed at 6 o clock. Pica would still want to get up at 5 or 6am even if I put her to bed as late as 11 - which I don't, its usually about 9.30.
What I am saying is I wish everything was as cut and dried as some people think
On the seed thing...some birds don't recognize pellets as food for a while and some birds just don't like pellets...should they starve because ' they who must be obeyed' decree so?
This is a LONG post, and I am hoping it does not offend but that is what I love about this form. Every time I have sought advice I have been given just that, advice not commands and judgement
Anyone else had themselves tested by those FB groups?

 

[LozBin]

I feel blessed as I gave up Facebook back in 2018 and have not regretted it!

 

[Zilga]

I've found this to be true of reddit as well, and I think there are a couple of different but related things going on. One is the "I'll be a perfect parent" syndrome, where they're more populated by people who are newer and in a spot where they haven't yet been smacked in the face with the realities of bird husbandry. Everyone is a perfect bird caretaker until they have a bird who gets sick that they really can't help, a rescue that just will not like you, an accident, etc. I think the bird forums are more enriched for people who've been through it enough to know that there's not usually only one right way to do things. The other is the format and fatigue - with the forum format, it's easier to follow a single person's or bird's journey, where on general interest sites, you often see the same new people posting the same preventable issues over and over, so the people who have been there get frustrated and impatient even though they've never interacted with this particular newbie before.

 

[patchyjoon]

That's actually why I'm on here. I deleted all my social media. Once Facebook took everything over (Instagram, Whatsapp, etc) I feel like everything just got worse. Also, holy crap is it a complete invasion of privacy. I remember the days of social media where you avoided using your real name as your user... nowadays I feel like everyone just posts about their name, address, etc. which is freaky. I hear about people getting harassed and getting death threats just for disagreeing with someone. Not a fan. I like it here a lot more for sure

 

[cnyguy]

I much prefer special interest forums like this one to typical social media like Facebook and X. Most everyone here recognizes that there are different approaches to living with and caring for birds and while they may not completely agree with some approaches, they recognize their legitimacy. People here are more likely to offer alternate suggestions in a civil manner rather than slamming someone for something like feeding seed to a parrot. That's the typical social media approach where too many people think they know everything and some people can only build themselves up by dragging someone else down. Sites like Avian Avenue are really friendlier and more helpful.

 

[Dartman]

The best diet is one your bird actually eats. Nerds vet told me feed him whatever he wants as he's so skinny. He got seeds, then hulled health food seeds, then pellets, seeds, nutriberries, and peanuts because I had no idea how bad they could be and he loved them so wasn't going to take them away after all the years together and he was still with me and happy.

 

[Clueless]

Many years ago when I attended one of the educational seminars (probably Texas), they mentioned that cockatoos in the wild would actually go down and feed at night. Possibly to debunk the idea of the cover and no disturbing a bird for that long hour upon hour period?

Don't know but figured I wasn't going to start it with the birds because of they got used to it, who would continue it? I'm working on the grandkids for Secret but boys won't be covering the cage and quiet.....

 

[Finchbreed]

My birds live in outdoor avairies within 1/2 km as the bird flys from a Bunnings store that is open and lit up from 7AM to 9PM - with the sounds of the "assistance required in aisle 4" Straight through view accross the firebreaks.
They do fine - mostly - have lost the occasional new bird to night fright.
My birds eat seeds and the odd pellett - with lots of greens - but they also fly arround in outdoor avairies and have fresh air and sunlight 24/7
I have learnt to realise that everyones birds and situation are different - we can give advice based on our experience - and it may - with luck - help - but if it does not - then that was possibly the different environment and personality of the bird/s
So I take what others advise on board with caution but never without reasonable consideration. Maybe some of this is due to being over 65 and living with birds since I was a preteen. The previous sentence may also have something to do with my aversion to Facebook.

 

[Parront]

I have never had a "social media" account, for the very reason that I personally don't have time for the "BS" that can take place. I had a breeder tell me 11 years ago when we rescued our "Petie Girl" who is a Budgie, that she probaly would never eat pellets or other foods. Give her the seed that she will eat. YES try the pellets and other foods but don't be surprised if she doesn't eat them, mainly because in the wild that are seed eaters. So she has shared a flight cage with our tiel and IRN for years. They have plenty of choices, and she will check out the other food, but YES...she is a seed eater. Our Tiel Baby who also in the wild would be a seed eater, does pick at his pellets but he does like seed as well. AS for covering our cages, I have always done that because of the nite lights and street lights that filter in our house. Everyone has to do what is right for their environment. I have had experiences on other bird forums, where I was actually made to feel stupid, and the remarks were so un called for. This forum has people who know how to express opinions with out insulting others.

 

[~Drini~]

I think like all sciences, the science of avian husbandry is constantly changing. Growing up with birds does not give someone credibility because what was best practice 20 or even 10 years ago is different from what is best practice today. We're definitely improving as we learn more, but we should also not pretend that science has determined the best way to do everything yet. We should be consistently attending conferences or seminars and keeping up-to-date on the latest research.

As for pellets, they are simply a human-convenient way to provide our birds with the correct balance of nutrients they would normally get in the wild. For most, I think the best is a full diet of balanced fresh foods, not pellets. Feeding fresh food can be a risk because it's harder to determine if they're consistently receiving a balanced diet, and if a bird hasn't been weaned onto a diversity of foods then they may also be unwilling to eat everything they need, but I also think a fresh food diet is avoided because it requires more work on behalf of the human. Obviously not all birds have the luxury of being weaned onto a diversity of fresh foods or even pellets, so it may be very difficult to transition them later on, but we should not lose sight of what is "generally best" even if it is not best for a individual bird's situation.

 

[Lee Penman]

My birds live in outdoor avairies within 1/2 km as the bird flys from a Bunnings store that is open and lit up from 7AM to 9PM - with the sounds of the "assistance required in aisle 4" Straight through view accross the firebreaks.
They do fine - mostly - have lost the occasional new bird to night fright.
My birds eat seeds and the odd pellett - with lots of greens - but they also fly arround in outdoor avairies and have fresh air and sunlight 24/7
I have learnt to realise that everyones birds and situation are different - we can give advice based on our experience - and it may - with luck - help - but if it does not - then that was possibly the different environment and personality of the bird/s
So I take what others advise on board with caution but never without reasonable consideration. Maybe some of this is due to being over 65 and living with birds since I was a preteen. The previous sentence may also have something to do with my aversion to Facebook.

Well Said! When I responded to one woman telling me how many dark hours my bird needs by saying I have never had a bird who followed that rule, she replied, how do you know, you obviously don't want advise...and yes she spelt advice that way. Never take advice from someone who can't spell the word lol

 

[ThomS]

My parrots cages are in what my apartments call the dinning area.
The kitchen is across from the dining area. My livingroom then the dining area. So I put up a curtain across the opening between the livingroom and parrots. I can open the curtain during the day. But once the parrots lights go out I close the curtain so the parrot area does get a lot of light off the TV. Also I keep the volume down as well.
Between the parrot area and the bathroom I have a heavy black canvas drop cloth as a curtain. Being a senior citizen i get up at night to use the restroom. This way the tarp blocks out me turning my light on going to the bathroom and going back to bed.
Also I have read a few articles on sleep and parrots. The articles state that is not 12hrs of sleep it 12hrs of darkness and being able to relax, and not worry about predators. They are able to relax and get some sleep. Sometimes when I get up at night I can hear one of them chewing on something.

 

[rocky'smom]

I do not do Facebook at all. I did do it as addition to the farm for selling our wool. That turned into hot mess before 2 months of being there. Our sheep according to the “experts” were not properly housed or fed or sheared according to their standards. It got to the point that one of our so called neighbors ( a “expert”) called the local humane society because our sheep were skinny and bleeding.
The sheep had been sheared that day of a great quantity of wool. Yea they looked skinny too. They always do after shearing. And when you shear sheep they can get little nicks and razor cuts from the shearing blades. You dab on bleed stop or corn starch and they are fine.
She took it to point of calling the sheriff’s office and local PETA group. We woke up to a protest and people milling around our farm.
Sheriffs officers were called out as well as the vet. We now have locked gates and security cameras at entries.
I don’t need “ experts “ to tell me how to raise sheep been doing it for 30+ years as farm kid and adult.
When I came here to avian Ave everyone was welcoming kind and caring. We love our feathered friends and will help as much as possible. Gentle teaching of better husbandry for them.