New IRN Excited for things to come.

Let us know a little about yourself! Tell us about your birds and why you are here.

Moderator: Mods

Post Reply
Levi_M
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:22 pm

New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Levi_M »

Hi everyone my name is Levi and I'm from Maryland in the US. My wife acquired what was stated to be a Double factor Violet IRN a few months ago. We had her sexed and she is a female who is now about 5 months old. She is very lively and very smart. Her personality was a bit too bold for my wife and her flock which includes 2 quakers and 2 tiels so my wife traded my Cinnamon turquoise Green Cheek Conure.

My personal flock consist of 2 Quakers (one Turquoise blue and one green) a Sun Conure and now the IRN who's name is Lilly. Apparently she just wasn't too fond of my wife and her flock because I don't have the same problems with her. I have a lot more experience with birds than she does so it may just be she didn't know how to correct the problems she was having with her.

I'm looking forward to reading a lot more and hopefully getting to know some folks as I continue to educate myself on IRN's.

Here's a picture of Lilly.
Image
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by MissK »

Welcome!

What did Lily do that was so bad she had to be traded! And was that *really* a trade, 'cuz I suspect you're all in the same house, anyway...... :lol:
-MissK
Levi_M
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Levi_M »

Not a true trade being she has access to all of my birds and I have access to hers! And yeah your suspicions are right, we are in the same house :lol: She was aggressive with all my wife's birds and had a one track mind all day... must seek out and destroy the competition! :lol: My wife got bit repeatedly trying to prevent fights with the tiels and break up fights with the quakers. Wife just had enough.

as I said, I don't have the same problem. She was testy the first couple days but nothing since then. I love her to bits.. Shes very playful, likes to flip my cell phone over and over, drag it around, find stuff I've hidden in the covers with me (I'm a quadriplegic and mostly bed bound). She seems a tad jealous of the other birds time with me but nothing problematic... All is well!
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by MissK »

Wow. I'd love to know if the gender of your wife's flock is different from that of your's.
-MissK
Levi_M
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Levi_M »

She has A tiel and 2 Quakers confirmed female (GCC not sexed yet) and then the one male tiel. ( 5 birds total )
My flock has 1 DNA sexed male sun conure, 1 DNA sexed male Quaker and one Quaker that has not been sexed yet and then Her.
Last edited by Levi_M on Sun Sep 06, 2015 6:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

Levi,

Maybe the difference in her behavior when she's with you compared to with your wife can be down to something as simple as the way you approach and handle her. I am confined to a wheelchair too so I know the challenges of keeping and handling birds from that perspective. My guess is that your movements are slower and more deliberate and therefor appear less erratic to the bird and that helps to settle her down.

By the way: my flock consists of surgically sexed female 1 African Grey with a deformed foot of about a year and a flock of 5 IRN's (2 males and 3 females...all adults).

Wessel
Levi_M
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Levi_M »

Wessel, That's another good point. You're right I am very slow and intentional with my movements, my wife on the other hand is very erratic, all over the place, fast and unpredictable.
Maybe the way she was being handled left her cranky looking for someone to take it out on and that's why she targeted the rest of my wife's flock so hard? Another possible scenario thanks for pointing it out.

Your flock sounds like one I could very much have a lot of fun with! You having 5 IRN's confirms what I already have come to know; IRN's are great birds. I'm looking to add one more bird to my flock next Spring and that's a Hahns Mccaw. After that My flock will be complete!

Nice to "meet" you Wessel and MissK
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

Levi,

I do have a lot of fun with my zoo (besides the birds we have 4 dogs and 2 cats). The dogs are a mix of breeds from a Miniature Pinscher, Miniature Pinscher-Chihuahua crossbreed that's my official shadow and wheelchair guard, a Maltese mutt and a Alsation/Rough Collie mix (think Rin Tin Tin and Lassie rolled into one).

The reason I pointed out the slow movement is only partly due to my disability. I have full use of my arms but have to be careful not to fall over. Having had IRN's for about 10 years they quickly taught me that any sudden movement they didn't like would result in either a warning lunge or a bite.

At the moment my one pair of IRN's is busy incubating a clutch of eggs. Yesterday when I went to check on them I thought I heard the sounds of a chick in the nest with lots of scratching and soft calling while the hen was out for a break and when she spied me spying on her she made it clear I'm too close to her territory. When I went out this morning to change the food and water I couldn't hear the chick/s but there was a lot of movement in the nest. Unfortunately due to the cage-structure and the height of the nest I'm unable to go in and check to see what's going on so I'll just keep an ear on things.

I also noticed a flock of small finches with red bills in the trees close to where I discard the parrots old food and I have never noticed them before so I suspect they either escaped somehow or someone mistakenly left a cage door open. They didn't bother flying off when I approached so they're obviously used to being close to humans.
Levi_M
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Levi_M »

Concerning the slow movement statement. Yes I too have a hard time with falling over and know what you're talking about with the warning lunges/bites. I have weak strength in my arms and weak uncoordinated use of two fingers on each hand but very little sensation in my hands, fingers and arms over all. The lack of sensation works to my advantage some times!! :lol: . I've had a spinal cord injury from a car wreck and also have been diagnosed with progressive relapsing MS which has taken most of the arm strength and sensation loss in my arms and hands, as well as the ability to swallow any liquids or solids. Lots of tubes to keep clear from our Fids but definitely worth it as they are just as much of a significant source of enrichment in my life just as I am theirs.

I am grateful my wife shares my love for birds and animals in general. We also have 3 dogs. A 14 month old Saint Bernard purchased off Craigslist :? , 5 year old golden retriever who came from a friend who couldn't keep him anymore, and 16 year old shepherd/lab mix that she got from a local shelter back when she was in high school. We also have a 7 year old Tabby who came from the local shelter and a single ferret who was in bad shape due his owner not knowing how to properly care for him who came off Craigslist. We also have an 8 year old daughter who loves our zoo and loves learning how to take care of and handle them (under supervision) :D


That's sad about the finches! I hope they are able to adapt to the temperatures and make it or the previous owners are able to find them and catch them again! They seem to have found a source of food at least!
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

I was at the outside aviary earlier that houses the IRN pair that's on a clutch of eggs. There's definitely something going on in the nest but it took me keeping completely quiet for about 5 minutes before I picked up the sounds of at least one chick in the nest...just to make sure I moved to the side and listened again and heard the sound from the nest again. Luckily the male is used to me being around the aviary so he doesn't usually make a noise when I'm around...makes it a lot easier to try and pinpoint fainter sounds.

When I was outside I didn't spot the finches again but we're heading into spring here so temperatures are rising. With adequate water and a constant food supply I reckon most of them should be able to survive for awhile.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by MissK »

Gee, MY flock's been completed *several* times.......
-MissK
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

MissK

I've said that myself several times as well but somehow I find one I can't resist or it finds me.
Levi_M
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Levi_M »

LOL I too completed my flock at 2 then 3 and then 4 birds.. I hope 5 is really it!! between the wife and I we have 9 birds right now! I'm going to add a few more pictures or lil Lilly.




Image

Image

Image
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

Lily looks very comfortable using you as a perch.

The only bird in my flock that will get out and sit on my lap is my African Grey and only if I take hold of her over her wings and take her out. Because of her deformed right foot her balance is compromised so she prefers to sit on my lap that's a lot more stable than a shoulder.

I handreared my oldest IRN (a hen of about 10 years) but when she hit her ''terrible twos'' I didn't know how to cope with the moody/aggressive behavior so she ended up being cage-bound. Of my flock of 5 IRN's only she and her male and very occasionally another female will take treat from my hand. The female that only does it occasionally does a quick ''grab and run'' to the furthers point possible while the other two will settle down close to me to eat the treat. The remaining male and female never take treats from me and I can't recall if I ever touched them if I didn't have to catch them.

The 10 year old hen is sitting on a clutch of 3 eggs but she's always laid infertile eggs or she accidently breaks them so I'm going to leave them with her for awhile to see what happens. She's always out of her nest in a flash to see who's close to her cage and so not properly incubating this clutch. The hen that have at least one chick in the nest never leaves the nest except to stretch her legs and wings and to take a quick bite to eat so the past few weeks I've only seen her about once or twice a week.
Levi_M
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Levi_M »

Wessel, I'm sorry to hear about your Grey's deformed foot. My wife has a cockatiel that has for the most part just a nub and no toes at all on one foot and the other foot most toes are bit off at the half way point and half of one of her wings appears to have been bitten off. She was that way when we bought her. We have a soft spot for the challenged so we couldn't walk away knowing most people would pass her by. It worked to my wife's advantage when taming her cause she couldn't move really fast so she would just sit there and eat millet off her lap or shoulder. Now she is the most cuddly Tiel I've ever seen.

I'm sure your Grey will come around with time if you continue to work with her! Hearing about your IRN's breeding behavior is intriguing to me. I've never been around breeders so I find all the little details about their behavior interesting in comparison to non breeders. Hopefully the one chick that's there so far fares out well. What do you plan to do with it? Pull it and hand feed it or let someone else do it? Let the parents raise it? Just curious.

I have nothing but time so I spend most of the days, when not dealing with medical routines, hanging out with the birds. Unless I'm in the hospital or a medical appointment I'm always within their site. If anything I tend to have more of a problem with over bonding. I realize that's not a great thing either but I just haven't figured out a way to prevent it considering my circumstances. Oh well they tolerate others when they need to so I guess there's worse problems they could have!!
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by MissK »

I'm keeping my pair of Ringnecks, a pair of Lineolateds, five Budgies, and an antique Canary. They're all boys, except two of the Budgies. Now, I've noticed neither of you guys have any Budgies...... Why could that BE?? :D

My birds are in varying stages of tame, but my prize is Rocky, the green Ringneck. He has come so far, and I'm so proud of him! I do have a couple of ancient mutts as well, and hoping to keep them happy as long as they last, which can't be long.

Levi, are you anywhere near Towson? The Baltimore Bird Fanciers club meets in the Towson Library once a month. You should check them out!
-MissK
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

Levi

Me and the Grey's breeder have known each other for about 10 years. He normally exports his chicks but for obvious reasons he wouldn't get a good price for ''damaged goods'' so to speak so he offered her to me for free. What seems to have happened is that either of her parents accidently sat on her too long or in awkward position while she was very young and that led to her deformed foot. The disability doesn't seem to hold her back too much except for balance issues and her having to use her beak a lot more than other birds to keep her balance. She is my first Grey and she has a very sweet personality 99% of the time.

The single chick I can barely hear seems to do well so far. I can hear the hen feeding it if I spend a few quiet minutes around the cage. What has me worried is that she hatched two chicks last year only to stop feeding them after about 10 days. Unfortunately I noticed it too late and they died before I could intervene. I did plan on removing this clutch after a few days to handrear since I have done it before. The problem is we have a family wedding in another town in three weeks so I'm torn between removing them and taking them with me even if it means missing part of the reception or taking a gamble and leaving them with Mom to take care of. If I leave them in the nest I'm hoping last year's dead chicks was only due to the hen's inexperience and things will turn out better this year.

MissK, I did have two budgies a few years ago but my sister started breeding Budgies so I gave them to her. Personally I like my birds like I like my dogs: something bigger than a mosquito.
Levi_M
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Levi_M »

MissK, that's quite the flock you have! The Lineolateds I admit, I hadn't heard of before so I had to look them up. They are gorgeous little birds in a very nice variation of colors too! From the pictures they look to be close to the size of a GCC. How are their personalities? As far as budgies go I love them to bits, they mostly always sound so happy with their little noises! The thing I am not fond of about budgies is that they are so small!! It makes handling them really scary! Do you handle yours or are they left to their own devices in a flight cage? Now you've got me wanting to go on you tube and listen to budgie sounds!

As far as Towson goes, I am 2 and a half hours away. (I live on the eastern shore in Salisbury) I don't get out too well and for too long due to all the medical luggage I'd have to take with me so that might be an activity that is a bit of a stretch but I'm going to at least look into it farther. I'd love to attend something like that closer to home for sure!

Wessel, Thats very nice of your friend to offer they grey to you for free and very nice of you to take on that challenge! I would totally do it too! It sounds like my wife's tiel has a much harder time than your grey does. We have to keep her in an aquarium with perches barley off the ground as she can climb but can get back down so she bails off and breaks blood feathers over and over.
We use flat perches for her so shes fine until she wants to come down. She is still pretty young so once all her tail feathers grow back in we might try again with closer supervision. Sounds like a difficult decision to make concerning the chick/s best of luck in whichever you decide :)
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

Levi

When I was offered the Grey I thought about it for a day or two and discussed it with my mom whom I live with first. I wasn't sure if I would be ideal for a parrot of that size but things have turned out relatively smoothly except for an occasional annoying screaming habit on her part. The screaming is usually triggered if I'm having a meal sitting right next to her cage (my usual eating spot) and I do not offer Her Majesty her due portion. We had an Indian Ringneck that my mom fed whatever she was eating while she was eating and he turned into a terrible screamer during meals...that's something I want to avoid with the Grey so if I share with her she gets her share after we're done eating.

One of the reasons I took up the challenge of taking on a ''handicapped'' bird is that I have the time to devote to it and I wasn't sure where it might end up if I didn't take it.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by MissK »

It's true most of my birds are tiny, but, on the other hand, it makes it much easier to provide them spacious cages. I was pretty interested in getting an Alexandrine, but I had trouble locating the right one for me. I wanted second hand, but I didn't want to bring any known issues, like plucking, into the house. I get overly upset when animals are hurt. As it turned out, I found a second IRN before I found the right Alex, so that made the choice for me. I do still consider the IRN to be a pretty small bird.

Linnies, at least mine, are fascinating. I named them Lynnie (so creative, me) and Wally. I think of the GCC as being bigger than Linnies, thought I haven't cozied up to a GCC to know it. I think if you glued two English Budgies together and discarded most of the tails and one of the heads you might get something like the size of a Linnie. Maybe. They're careful and slow, unless they're scuttling out of the way to flee some scary new toy I insist on giving them. I've never lived with an Amazon, but I have persuaded myself they are in some regards like the Amazon. Maybe that's because the species is from Central America. They scrutinize everything. For personality they are cautious, and they look very sweet, but when they don't like something they actually make a noise like an angry snort. It is the FUNNIEST. They holler when their breakfast is late (so, every day, almost.......) They now eat pellets, but I don't think they consider them to really be food. Fresh foods are what they holler for. They put everything in their water. They are calm and one might mistake them for being quite tame. They aren't tame. They're just calm. And they are watching you. With incentive (millet spray) they will sit on the hand, or eat from the hand. For nail trimming they struggle with all their mini might, but don't tend to bite unless you hold them like that too long. I try not to. They have surprisingly big feet, and you know what they say - surprisingly big feet, surprisingly big poop! Actually, nobody says that, but both are true for Linnies. :lol: They are rather the opposite of Ringnecks in many ways, though they DO love to eat. They fly like toy airplanes that unexpectedly run out of battery power in the air. I absolutely love my Linnies. Secretly, if I had to give up my birds, I would save the Linnies for last. (Don't tell the others!)

Budgies, what can I say? I also love them, and the activity, chatter, and moving colour they bring to the house. I never handle them, so even though I worked with all of them but one when they first came here, their comfort with me is never much. The exceptions are RiffRaff, who I trained to step up pretty well when she was a baby, and Janet, who came in with a really bad attitude and has relaxed over time. I don't know what happened to Janet before she came, but she was vicious to everybody. I never touched her, just gave her the support second hand animals seem to need to get themselves over their emotional issues. I got Janet to be a companion to RiffRaff when it turned out she was the only girl and I separated her from the boys (you know why!)..... It would have been easier to rehome little Riff, but she and her boyfriend Magenta are my favourite Budgies. They are currently in Rocky's old cage, a five foot flight with a divider in the middle. They are all named out of Rocky Horror since my IRN Rocky came in with that name.

Rocky and Sinbad (the IRNs) live together in the other flight, no divider, since this past Spring. I hope to increase their cage, as I consider it the minimum size to support life for them in there together. They both came in pretty untame, though Rocky has made enough progress to eat from the hand, step up, fly to me, push past my hand for food in a jar. He will, of course, follow a lure, and just recently has started showing gentleness for my fingers on the bars of the cage (he licks me now, half the time, instead of nibbling my fingers off the bars) and he let me touch his foot a couple of times, as limbs the cage wall. These last two are a big deal, as were all those preceding. He has gone from being a bird who only knows how to sit on a perch and climb the wall to being nearly fully competent in ways of parrot locomotion. He was 10 when I got him. Helping Rocky develop has been one of the great rewarding experiences in my life.

Sinbad is significantly less tame, though he has also made a lot of progress. When I got him I had to hide under a sheet just to be in the same room. Now he will sometimes snatch a treat from the hand and run. I'm no less proud of Sinbad. In truth, he earns his keep just by being here and providing companionship for Rocky, which is what I got him for. It worked out very well so far. If he never develops any further human relation skills that will be fine, but I do think he will accomplish more in time. He was 16 when I got him.

No run-down of the flock would be complete without Remendado. He is an absolutely elderly Canary, who was well mature and not totally healthy when I got him. But he was very placid and wonderful. He is the last of three Canaries and I daily expect to find him on the floor. He has not sung for several years, but he's bright, and he hops and eats and bathes almost as well as ever, though he doesn't seem to preen his tail any more. He totally surprised me this past week by eating soaked pellet mash. He seems to love it!

I think it's very interesting to see the choices of which birds people have brought into their homes and how they've chosen to accommodate those birds.
-MissK
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

Sounds like quite a flock, MissK. I figure I better introduce you properly to my zoo.

Jorsie is my oldest IRN (originally blue if she didn't choose to remove all reachable feathers) of about 10 years old. ''Jorsie'' is a corruption of the Afrikaans word ''morsjors'' that translates loosely to someone who's a messy eater or have untidy habits. My mom gave her that name because has the habit of diving beak first into her food. Her devoted companion for the past 8 year or so is a silver male called Silver for lack of a more appropriate name. Living with them is a lutino lacewing female that recently lost her other half...as yet she's still unnamed.

My pair of IRN breeders is Ringkop/Induna, the male that's a dark grey in color. The word ''Induna'' is a Zulu word that means ''elder'' or ''wise man''. I picked that name for him because he always looks at you as if he has all the wisdom in the world figured out in his head. He's a very laid-back fellow although I had to separate him and Silver a few years ago. Both wanted the only available female at that time and Silver being the chosen one was intent on killing Induna. Induna's female is also grey but of a lighter shade with spots of green on her wings...she too is as yet nameless.

Finally there is Banana, the African Grey...the biggest joy and biggest headache at the same time. Her breeder called her Banana because she absolutely adores bananas and due to her deformed foot it looks like she can do a banana split. At home she's commonly referred to as ''Bokka'', an Afrikaans endearment that means ''darling''. It was the first word she ever said to me at around 5 months of age and since then she's learned to say it in an exact copy of my voice and tone of voice. Having said that she's also capable of making it sound like a question is in ''Bokka, where are you?''.

All my birds with the exception of Banana/Bokka are housed outside the house since things would get very noisy (and dirty) with 6 birds in the house.
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

I forgot to add this part:

My relationship with IRN's started when my mom bought me Jorsie as a young chick during a long illness I had to keep my spirits up and since then various birds (mostly IRN's) came into my life, sometimes for a few months before finding a more suitable home or in most cases a forever home.
Levi_M
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:22 pm

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Levi_M »

Thank both of you for the warm welcome, allowing me to introduce my flock, introducing yourselves and your flocks! MissK I agree with you, I find it fascinating to learn how and why people end up with their feathered, furry and otherwise kids! It's nice to hear what other peoples normal is compared to my own as well.

I look forward to learning even more about you two as well as any others who show any interest!

Take care!
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

The decision of needing to intervene with the chicks was taken for me. My mom went into the aviary to check the nest. We found one dead chick, one barely alive and two unhatched eggs. Long story short: I'm sitting with a IRN chick of barely a few days old on my lap with a warm water bottle between me and it. Luckily I still have formula left but it's battle stations in the entire house now.

Wish me luck with pulling this helpless little thing through.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by MissK »

Good luck, Wessel!
-MissK
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Re: New IRN Excited for things to come.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

Thanks, MissK

There's still two unhatched eggs in the nest so we're going to check the nest again in a few days. If I can keep this one alive for about the next 48 hours I reckon I have much higher odds of successfully weaning it.
Post Reply