What to do with Janey?

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Skyes_crew
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by Skyes_crew »

Ellie, I saw a video where they gave the fake eggs to the female to play with in hopes that they would distract her from wanting to lay. I don't know if it works though. Ill see if I can find that video.
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ellieelectrons
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Interesting, thanks. Out of all the people I've spoken to about this problem, that's the first time I've heard of doing it that way. I might see what my avian vet thinks of that approach. Thanks so much for the idea. :) I will definitely check out the vid if you find it.

Ellie.
Skyes_crew
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by Skyes_crew »

Here is the video I watched. Not sure if it would help janey, but maybe it's worth a shot

http://youtu.be/Pokpp7HznQM
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InTheAir
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by InTheAir »

Heyo.

I just watched that vid, they did say to they are to replace the eggs. But I wonder what Janey would do if you gave her a nest full of eggs before she lays. The shocked look would be priceless! :wink:

Janey does like to keep you on your toes, doesn't she!


Good luck, I hope she doesn't freak you out like that again!
jmlw7
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by jmlw7 »

YIKES - I hope Janey learned from that. I really love my girl, but from our very new experience and the ongoing stories of females during mating season are really making us wish we had a boy :roll:
ellieelectrons
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

InTheAir wrote:Janey does like to keep you on your toes, doesn't she!
She certainly doesn't leave ANY room for complacency. She is a challenge but we love her sooooo much that she's definitely worth it! I must say that her nesting behaviour has been easier to manage this year than last year despite still presenting challenges.

The differences between her and Charlie are so huge. He's overall pretty easygoing whilst she's so highly strung and emotional.
jmlw7 wrote:YIKES - I hope Janey learned from that.
Unfortunately, no! She was up there again this morning unsuccessfully trying to poke her head through where we've boarded it up. :)
Skyes_crew wrote:Here is the video I watched. Not sure if it would help janey, but maybe it's worth a shot

http://youtu.be/Pokpp7HznQM
I watched the video. I'm not sure if I'll try it or not, will definitely give it some thought. I know one year Charlie's parents were given an icecream container with nesting material in it placed at the bottom of the cage. Their owner was hoping she'd play around in it for a bit and then give up. However, she managed to lay and hatch several eggs this way. After that, the owner gave up trying to stop them from breeding and gave them a nest box again. That pair is more than 20 years old!

Ellie.
Skyes_crew
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by Skyes_crew »

I don't know how you do it Ellie. All of my birds are male for a reason :D well I hope as the years go by it gets better for her. If not, she'd probably make an awesome mom :wink:
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ellieelectrons
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Just thought I'd offer another 2013 update on Janey's nesting behaviour. After having no end of trouble with Janey trying to nest under our brand new leather sofa, in the dryer and washing machine, a cupboard in the bathroom (she learnt how to open it herself! - at least you can close the door the bathroom!) and boxes full of electronics gear in my husband's office, I moved them for about a week into my office so that I could let them out of the cage and shut the door and not be too concerned about anything they were wrecking. It is a small space, but at least it's better than not getting out at all. She is showing an inclination to chewing skirting boards and window shutters in there though. She has become near impossible to get to go back to the cage - her desire to find a nesting place is so strong.

Yesterday I decided to see how they go out in the main house again. Big mistake! I'd put pillows, blankets and a yoga mat to try to prevent her from getting under the really small gap under the new sofa (it's only a few centimetres off the ground, she can't even fit under there on her legs, she has to get down on her stomach and commando-style her way underneath). She started tearing chunks off the yoga mat in an effort to work her way in. Worried that she might ingest bits of the yoga mat, I walked into the room to try to lure her or the yoga mat away. When I got close she started running at my feet. I moved shuffled back a bit by instinct, in hindsight, I probably should have stood my ground as it probably set the scene for the next bit of aggressive behaviour. I bent down onto my haunches and started looking at her and talking to her. She stopped and looked at me for a bit and then started running aggressively towards me and then took off to fly at me. I think she was going for my face, although I managed to put my arm in front of my face. She backed off and then did it two or three more times. She reminded me of something out of a ninja movie!

Anyway, that was rather distressing. I had to trick her back in her cage by getting her to latch on to a towel.

Today I bought a huge stainless steel container today and some nesting material. I'm thinking about trying an open nest.

I'm really unsure about the best way forward. She started looking for a nesting site in about March and I'm expecting it to last until Nov/Dec. I thought I was doing well, and wouldn't need to resort to a nestbox this year... but now I'm not so sure.

Ellie.
Skyes_crew
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by Skyes_crew »

Wow Ellie, I'm so sorry. I imagine ill be going though it shortly myself. You do what you have to do. Try the open nest. Maybe try those dummy eggs now. Anything is worth a shot once to see if it works. I hope she's back to sweet janey soon for you.
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MissK
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by MissK »

Good luck with this, you all.
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jmlw7
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by jmlw7 »

wow ellie - I just read about Janey's aggression! It probably doesnt matter at this point, but I am still curious to know how aggressive she would be if she didnt have a mate. I hear stories about females who lay infertile eggs and act exactly the same with or without a male bird present. I'm cringing just thinking about Remy growing up. All of these struggles with our females - whether it be aggression because of nesting, or screaming, or whatever is really making me anxious if I can do this for a long period of time. I hate thinking there is someone else out there that could take care of a young female IRN better than me :( but if there is, I am torn between thinking I can take just as good care of her or if someone else can make her happier.

Janey must love having Charlie there though..... that's something Im starting to feel guilty about depriving Remy of, a male companion.

Sorry, no help here... just here for support... :(
Skyes_crew
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by Skyes_crew »

Josie you can do this. You've put so much work into her already. Don't give up now. The first 18 months of a females life are the hardest by far. They don't reach sexual maturity until between 15-18 months so that first year it feels like they are always in breeding season. I'm starting to think I lucked out by not having any preconceived notions in thinking that Skye was a male. Plus the shift in our seasons here is minimal. Technically we could probably breed IRN's year round if conditions were met. Anyway, after this breeding season, she should snap completely out of it until next year. It will become a once a year thing. Ellie would know better. I only have what I've read to go off of. The other female IRN's in my life are outside breeding birds and are not tame. Skye is my first pet female. So I'm in the learning phase like you. But please don't give up. Remy needs you. :D
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Jen&Bug
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by Jen&Bug »

I've just read through this thread...wow Ellie. I was wondering how you were going with spring arriving here in Oz, and it sounds like it's even harder in your house than it is in ours (see my "Spring is here" post).

Josie, I believe that for just about all of us, there's someone in the world who could do a better job of caring for our birds. That doesn't mean that we don't do a good job, and it definitely doesn't mean we should stop trying! After all, if you didn't do things because someone else can do them better, you'd have a pretty boring life, right? Hang in there and keep learning :)
ellieelectrons
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Josie - I'm not sure about how bad her aggression would be without having a mate. If we hadn't got Charlie I would have been concerned that she would have thought my husband was her mate and the behaviour could have been just as bad, if not worse... But my understanding is that three things affect nesting behaviour: 1) having a mate (and it doesn't matter if it's a human, there just needs to be a pair bond), 2) access to a plentiful diet and 3) having access to a nesting cavity. Interestingly, our aggression has been to do with looking for a nesting cavity - once she gets a secure one, her aggression is all but gone.

I'm sure that not all female IRNs cause as many troubles as Janey has done for us - and part of our problem is to do with the layout of our house. We have no doors that we can close between the dining room, kitchen, laundry, lounge room and the big office area downstairs.

One of the problems with IRNs is that conventional wisdom is that you cannot house two female IRNs together, so if you already have a female and want to get a companion for her, you need to get a male. I'd be interested to hear from people who have had success with housing two females together.

On the idea that someone else could look after Remy better than you could. I feel that way a lot with Janey... I especially wonder if someone more assertive would do better with her. But then there are those rewarding moments - when she learns a new trick, when she likes getting pats, when she's enthusiastic about getting a bath, when she talks to you or cranes her neck to "give you a kiss", when she says "beautiful, beautiful!" when we walk through the front door after a trip away. The way I see it is we all have strengths and weaknesses and we just need to make the best of what we have and what we can offer. Regardless of what she does, there is no getting away from how much I love her. So,we just keep thinking about what we are doing and try to do better. Josie, you are doing a great job with Remy - sometimes it just gets hard.

Ellie.
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Thought I'd give an update on the open nest situation. We've had it in for a few days. I started giving her hay for nesting material but removed it the same day as I found out they can inhale some toxins that like to live in hay (they live naturally in the air too, but are in higher concentrations in hay). I used hay on the recommendation of the pet shop attendant. So then I went and got some wood shavings - the type you use for guinea pig bedding. Interestingly, she gets in there and scratches like a chicken and kicks just about all of them overboard. So I fill it up every day... and she puts them on the ground. She is definitely showing interest in it but I think it may be too small and/or not offer enough privacy. She still shows interest in finding other nesting places when I let her out but, at least for the moment, she seems more manageable. She thankfully hasn't climbed under the couch yet, but that could also be because of some new barricades I've put up. Once she's not scared of them any more, that may not work. She is still not interested in training or treats - I think she's relying on Charlie to feed her. This means it's quite hard to lure her back to her cage when its time and sometimes to get her to step up. I've moved the back to their normal spot - I had temporarily moved them into a back room but they didn't seem to like it in there and I didn't like it for them either as there wasn't much light and it was a bit small and uninteresting for them.

Melissa - I haven't tried the eggs mostly because I'm not sure how to get them here in Australia quickly... but it seems that they use them to replace eggs that are laid rather than to provide a ready made clutch... however, if I can source them quickly, I would consider trying it.

Ellie.
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Oh, and I meant to say thanks for everyone for your support. It's really lovely to read your ideas and encouragement.

A new behaviour has developed. It seems to happen when I'm standing at the kitchen bench. Janey will start flying for my face. When it happened for the first time two days ago, I'd avoid it by ducking down, and she'd fly to her swing. She tried it at least three times. She did it again today, but this time I wasn't looking. She collided with my face and then flew away. It didn't hurt me or anything, I'm not sure what she was trying to do. I don't know if the fact that my head was down preparing her food for the day saved me from getting any damage. It's a little disconcerting but maybe if she didn't have success today, she might stop?

Ellie.
MissK
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by MissK »

How would it go if you put up a finger for her to land on?
-MissK
InTheAir
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by InTheAir »

Reading this makes me so glad Nila is a boy!
If diving you is an instinctual behavior, I very much doubt it will immediately cease after a failed attempt :(
It might be worth having a plan in place, or a face shield :wink: , just incase. Having an arm offered, missk suggested, may make her think of her pre learned tricks like recall and avert the dive.... I'd try that first, but I'd try to have a plan b ready for safety, as Janey is quite a determined little thing.

Good luck!
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by Melika »

When we used shavings in nests, we would compress them down very tightly. The hen will still kick some out and rearrange it all, but it would leave some in that way. Perhaps that would help?

It's great how far you're willing to go for Janey. They're wild animals, after all. :)
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ellieelectrons
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Melika wrote:When we used shavings in nests, we would compress them down very tightly. The hen will still kick some out and rearrange it all, but it would leave some in that way. Perhaps that would help?
Thanks Melika. After reading your post I thought - Hmmm... I should have figured that out for myself... but I didn't! She still kicks a lot out. I replenish it most days.
ellieelectrons
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Thought it was time for an update on how we are progressing.

I've been really surprised by the results of the open nest. As far as I can tell it has taken the edge off her nest-seeking/protecting aggressiveness. However, this could also be due to other factors: the breeding season progressing and the new measures I've taken to protect the lounge suite.

She still nest-seeks but rarely attacks me when I approach her... and even if she does, the ferocity just isn't there now. She spends some of her day hanging out in the open nest in her cage. She struts around like a chook, throwing the nesting material on the floor and sits down flat as if she's sitting on eggs... but doesn't spend all day in there. She has never seemed concerned when I pull the nest box out to put more nesting material into it, although I've never attempted this whilst she is in the cage.

There are no eggs yet, and I'm hoping we might be able to avoid that this year... time will tell.

She still shows no interest in training and very little interest in getting treats from me. I think she's relying on Charlie to feed her. He is always in the mood for food - and possibly more food motivated than normal.

She is still difficult to get back to her cage and I'm working on getting her to step up more reliably. It's really hard to get her to step up when she's found a spot she thinks might be suitable for nesting.

So, for me, the open nest experiment this year, appears to be successful. I'm slowly getting my girl back. Occasionally she'll give me a kiss, she's started talking occasionally and sometimes she'll give me a kiss too.

Ellie.
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by Melika »

Thanks for the update. I'm feeling fortunate in having a male, but only slightly, because Hane has taken to screaming at my husband again this summer (only when I'm not home). I welcome the coming winter where he will hopefully settle down. And then my husband will threaten Hane's life much less often.
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jmlw7
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by jmlw7 »

ellieelectrons wrote:Oh, and I meant to say thanks for everyone for your support. It's really lovely to read your ideas and encouragement.

A new behaviour has developed. It seems to happen when I'm standing at the kitchen bench. Janey will start flying for my face. When it happened for the first time two days ago, I'd avoid it by ducking down, and she'd fly to her swing. She tried it at least three times. She did it again today, but this time I wasn't looking. She collided with my face and then flew away. It didn't hurt me or anything, I'm not sure what she was trying to do. I don't know if the fact that my head was down preparing her food for the day saved me from getting any damage. It's a little disconcerting but maybe if she didn't have success today, she might stop?

Ellie.
Ellie - Remy does this too now. She flies at our faces if we are touching it. She crashed into my face the other day while I was itching my nose and she flew right at me while she was growling in mid air and then flew away, but it wasnt anything other than weird - it just felt like feathers on my face for a second. She also flies toward our hands with a little growl when we wipe our hands on our bathroom towel, or fiddle with a sweatshirt or shirt for a longer time. Its really weird, we really have no idea what she is trying to do? Have you figured this out? If we catch it in time and put a finger up, she will land on it.. but if she comes at us from a weird angle and we dont see her, we try to dodge out of the way and look at her like she is nuts, but then she whines.

Speaking of which, does anyone's bird whine????????? She WHINES! Like a dog who doesnt want to go swimming! She whines when we stare at her or when we ask her to step up and she doesnt want to, she whines when she is tired. It is TOTALLY her way of complaining. Sometimes a little short whine, sometimes a reaaaaally long dramatic whine that goes high and low and high again. They she squawks and seems fine again. If this isnt normal, let me know and I'll try and record her one day.. but it really happens out of nowhere. She is like a little dog who whines and growls and follows us around?
ellieelectrons
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

I never figured out the flying at the face. I think she's stopped doing it now. Having said that she did crash into my face yesterday but I think she was aiming at my shoulder and missed. When she's at home with me at the moment I'm finding her pretty good to get along with now. After 3 months of pretty horrid behaviour, she's like an angel now.

Regarding the towels, Janey has a fascination for all linen and materials. I think it is something to do with nesting. When she was young, I would have problems getting her to step up to leave the bathroom after she'd had a shower.... but 90% of the time she'd step up if I had a towel over my arm.

When I was at my wits end once during the 3 month period of aggression, I had decided to towel her to get her away from our new lounge chair. But I found that just placing the towel near her was good enough. She stepped on it and then I picked it up and put her in her cage on the towel. That worked better than me using force to restrain her. So it seems Janey isn't the only bird with a linen fetish. Interestingly it seems to last all year round but is stronger in nesting season. I NEVER open the linen cupboard when she is out of the cage - she just goes crazy.

Ellie.
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by AJPeter »

Hallo Ellie

I have just read though "What to do with Janey" and want to ask you about this open nest idea, did it work? You mentioned Janey whined like a dog, Billie does that she used to sing very nicely but since all this hormal thing she just whines especially in the morning when l wake her up,

Billie does not fly much and as my place is a bit small there is not the room for her to do a lot of flying.

Has Janey laid any eggs this year, and what happened last year when she had finished laying did she go straight into a moult

Did you try any dummy eggs? The eggs she laid last year did she sit on any?

Peter
ellieelectrons
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Hi Peter

My guys are due for their annual avian vet check so I thought I'd discuss the open nest idea with him then. Not sure if I'll do it again this breeding season. Playing around in it seemed to take the edge off her aggressiveness although it could have been the seasonal timing that did it. I noticed the Alexandrines I see once a week curbed their nesting behaviours at about the same time.

Janey didn't lay eggs in the breeding season just gone but she did the one before that. I didn't use dummy eggs. The previous year she did sit on the eggs but they didn't hatch. She had a proper breeding nest box that year.

I think someone else said their bird whined like a dog, not me.

I'm not sure exactly when the moult kicks in. Last year my birds started nesting behaviours in March and it lasted about 3 months. Then for whatever reason it stopped. They're having their full moult now but it may have started gradually after they decided to stop nesting. Charlie's parents sometimes would have a double clutch in a year and I'm told they would go into moult after the second bunch of chicks would leave the nest, which made it quite a late moult eg. January, well into Summer.

Ellie.
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by AJPeter »

Hi Ellie,

Thank you for your response l have written a report in AJPeter and Billie's hormonal response

Peter
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by AJPeter »

Hi Ellie,

Two weeks have gone by, is Janey any better? When l read through your thread l could so much of Billie there, but Billie does not bite of fly at my face, she laid 7 eggs she stopped after l moved tha cage and is still looking for a nest site. Billie suffers from hormonal attacks, did Janey have hormonal problems?
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

I thought it was time for a 2014 update. So far this breeding season I've had two bites which is a huge improvement on previous seasons. One was a misunderstanding (she thought I was shoving my thumb in her face when I was actually offering her a treat) and the other involved me trying to help my husband whilst she was defending prime nesting territory in the bathroom.

She's still cavity seeking but thankfully seems to have lost interest in under the couch. She's still interested in the laundry. The streamers in the door ways to the laundry slightly delay her entry into there... but it's not that uncommon for me to retrieve her from there more than 10 times in the morning whilst I do their food. The strategies I have employed so far are:
1) shutting the door to the bathrooms when she is out (these are prime nesting territory for her)
2) giving her an open nest and putting nesting material in it
3) retrieving her from the laundry or any other potential nesting place as soon as I can after she goes in there
4) I'm working on variable reinforcement for training and trying not to show the treat / lure her with a treat when I ask her to do something
5) encouraging her to do more training
6) trying to strictly manage time out of the cage when my husband is present as his presence seems to stimulate her
7) less time out of the cage (sadly) but I'm still letting them out twice a day.

On the whole, I've found that she will come to me reasonably quickly when I go to retrieve her from the laundry. It may take two or three times sometimes but that's way better than it used to be with any attempt to remove her from there attracting a bite.

I don't know if the open nest is having an affect. I don't think she sees it as a viable nest but she does spend some time playing in it. When I put nesting material in there she loves kicking it all out. So much so that our house has begun to resemble the floor of a barn or carpenter's workshop. I keep jamming up the vacuum cleaner when I try to clean the floor!

I realised that one of my flaws in my training methods has been that I tend to show the treat to them before they do the trick. I wasn't always aware that I was doing it, I just wasn't thinking about it. The problem with doing this was that they could size up the treat and then decide if they thought the trick was "worth doing" for that amount. By varying the treat and hiding it from them before you give it to them, this can produce more consistent training results. I've also started having 3 levels of treats. The highest level might be a very small bit of fruit, the second highest might be a sunflower seed and the lowest might be an oat groat. If they do something exceptional / really good, then I'll give them the highest value treat. If they did it but not in the best way I'll give them the middle treat and if they did it but rather sloppily I'll give them the lowest value treat. I've found this is making them a little better when it comes to flight recalls. Charlie usually comes immediately and Janey's response times are definitely getting better.

I've been surprised that she does a little bit of training most days. She may not do it for very long but she still shows some interest in it. Previous breeding seasons she didn't show any interest at all.

I should probably talk about diet too. I did try reducing their diet. I removed all high sugar and high fat foods (other than treats) and was sticking to pellets and low sugar veges. When it was clear that she was still engaging in cavity seeking and I gave her the open nest, I decided to go back to normal diet because I wanted to make sure that if she did lay an egg she had all of the necessary nutrients in her body. I don't know if that was the right decision, but it seems to working okay so far.

The cavity seeking ramped up a little bit today and her and Charlie have started mating... so it will be interesting to see if the aggression increases.

In the mornings I do their food. Normally I'd have them out of the cage the whole time I do it. I converted as many of their food containers to the swivel ones that I can get to from the outside and I now pull those out and refill them whilst they are in the cage. Before I did that, it was bedlam with them out of the cage whilst I was distracted trying to get their food ready. I still do the bulk of their foraging toys whilst they are out of the cage because I have to open the cage to get them in and out. They don't approve of me doing their food whilst they are in the cage - I presume it's mostly because they think they should be out of the cage not in the cage at that time, so I am getting a bit of aggression from Janey when I go to pull the food in and put it back. So, I'm working on trying to get the to learn to station - they sit on a particular perch whilst I'm doing their food. It's slowly starting to work.

Any way, I think that's all for now. I hope you are all doing well.

Ellie.
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by AJPeter »

It is good to hear form you again Ellie, tell me did you get a break in mating behaviour between last year and this, or has the behaviour been conitinual? Last Year Janey got very hormonal, how is she this year?

I have a bit of a hormonal problem with Billie, but you can read all about that in Billie the wonder parrot thread.
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by InTheAir »

I'm glad to hear things are getting easier every year. You are becoming an authority on feisty hormonal girls!
ellieelectrons
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Hi AJ

Yes, I get a break in hormonal behaviour every year. The behaviour only lasts during the breeding season (about 3 months). If you are not getting that break it could mean that your bird isn't getting the seasonal signals. You can help her with this by letting her go to sleep at sundown and rise at sun up. You'll need to let her sleep in a room where there aren't lights on.

I outlined how Janey is exhibiting her hormonal behaviour in my previous post.

Ellie.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

AJPeter wrote:It is good to hear form you again Ellie
Thanks AJPeter. I am always around although I don't always have time to read and reply to posts. What I am doing is coming on the board at least five times a day and deleting spam. It's actually a pretty annoying, thankless task that one cannot seem to keep up with!
InTheAir wrote:I'm glad to hear things are getting easier every year. You are becoming an authority on feisty hormonal girls!
I'm glad it's getting easier too but whilst it is probably in part due to what I'm doing, I think a lot of it is to do with the positive relationship Janey and I have worked to develop which I'm sure is part of the reason it seems to be getting better as our relationship grows each year.

Ellie.
ellieelectrons
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Ooooh, I thought I'd also add that Janey seems more likely to step up for me from the laundry when Charlie is already on my hand. Not sure why... but my Charles is very helpful that way. He doesn't like her being in there either.

Ellie.
AJPeter
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by AJPeter »

At least l do not have a laundry room problem with Billie alhtough l do leave her to shower on her own but August is not the breeding season, well l hope not l think l was making the same old mistakes and the drastic action l took has nipped the problem in the bud, for the time being. She got rather attached to a cat box and wanted to go in it more often, even atacked me when l bought it into the room, so l have weaned her off that, partly because she has bitten through the plastic slats and it is no longer safe to hold her when l sit out in the garden. I am looking for a wire cage cage with handle.
She started to suffer hormal attacks again so l changed the cage around and these have stopped. She sleeps in the dark from 7 pm until 9 am although l cover her at 5.30 pm.

She wants to sit on my shoulder more often and have a neck scratch in my lap both l try and discourage, also l had to stop her butting me in the ear this could be a prelude to masturbating on me so she gets thrown off when she tries that. Recently she has joined me at meal time sitting on the table eating off my plate.

She weghed in today at 241 grams, the same for the last six months. She was very interested when l cut my nails with clippers l even put the clippers on one her talons but chickened out at cutting her nails, she showed no fear.

BTW Ellie well done on the spam clean up, it has been a lot better recently.
InTheAir
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by InTheAir »

I'm birdy sitting for Ellie atm.
Janey has been a little angel for the last week at our place. The training must have paid off! She has a nest box in her cage, as she wanted to nest in my oven ( and I don't eat chickens). She takes treats nicely from me and Dave now and lets us change her food dishes. She has been really good with Sapphire, even when Sapph went into her cage to do the foraging that was left there and clean the dishes (pellets out of someone elses dish always tastes better). I can't say Janey looks happy staying with us, but she is tolerating it. She has also cottoned on to the fact that birds that come to the front of the cage when we walk by get treats.
Charlie seems to having a great time. Since Janey is busy he comes and joins training with our 2, tries to talk like them, flies to me when asked and seems pretty well adjusted already.

Sapphire is obsessed with them and their cage. She has totally ruined their sex life by landing on their cage and staring creepily. I can guarantee there will be no fertile eggs!
AJPeter
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by AJPeter »

First well done on the spam cleam up. Can anyone delete spam?

Second what you experience with Janey is what l have to look forward to with Billie. So please continue to share as l have a lot to learn.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

We picked Janey and Charlie up from Claire and Dave's today. Thank you to them both for looking after them. I believe they both managed to get a Janey bite during the visit unfortunately. She's a bit hard to deal with at this time of year. Her greeting to me was to fly to my hand and bite into it too. Thankfully, no blood was drawn. We found the best way to transfer her was in the nestbox. We covered the hole with something and transported her home with the nestbox in a cage. She climbed out of the box and sat on top of it whilst in the cage. Charlie came home on his own in the normal travel cage. No eggs yet, so we'll see what happens. Janey seemed especially happy to see Mr Ellie. She kept saying "beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Wotchadoin'" to him when she saw him.

Ellie.
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Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by AJPeter »

How lovely, is Janey biting on purpose to draw blood or is her biting more informal? How long ago did you put her nesting box in, and that was a good idea for moving her in it. Billie has not got to the Janey stage yet, is not interested in the nesting box either.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: What to do with Janey?

Post by ellieelectrons »

I couldn't tell you what's going through her head when she bites but I can tell you she was riled up and I believe the behaviour is instinctual based on her need to protect her nest. She bites hard!

I didn't put the nest box in. I left it with Claire and Dave in case they wanted / needed to do it to manage her behaviour whilst we were away. They put it in several days ago.

Ellie.
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