Okay, so how do I know
that my baby cinnamon is a girl - Genetics?
Daddy is what is called
a "Split Australian Cinnamon" In his case it means that while he shows none of the physical aspects of a cinnamon, he
can pass on these genetic traits. Because mamma does not also share this cinnamon trait, Daddy can only pass it onto
the girls.
So, what to do when you
don't have the genetics to rely on?
DNA testing. Yep,
that is it.
Prior to DNA testing you
had two choices. Wait until you saw eggs or babies (not all eggs bear chicks) or you had a very expensive and dangerous
surgery performed on the little buddies.
Today it’s much easier.
There are two means of DNA testing - breast or blood feathers and a blood sample from toe nail trimming.
There are several labs
out there to perform the service. The service is fairly inexpensive at about $25 a test.
The difficult part is wanting a
specific sex. I had to pay for three different DNA tests to get my little Creamino girl.
There are no refunds if
the little lovies is not of the correct gender - the test is the test.
Hey a little knowledge
in advance helps keep the sticker shock down.
Have a good one.
I had a customer ask if
I would take back an aggressive bird. This took me back a bit and I had to think before I answered the question.
What I thought about was
- what makes a bird aggressive?
1. The bird was never
hand-raised. This is a big deal. Lovebirds are not domesticated animals like cats, dogs and horses. It will be
some time yet before they will be so don't hold your breath.
2. It is a nesting
female. Those natural instincts cannot be taken away. Danube is a really sweet bird and I love her. But put her on the nest and your hand gets too close - OUCH! The mothers
are seriously protective of the babies. Ironically, once you take the babies out - Momma doesn't care anymore - well
until they are put back in the nest.
3. The bird is ignored
in the cage. It doesn't matter if the bird is hand-raised if you ignore it. It will revert back to its wild nature.
You have to play with your birds daily - I can't repeat this enough!
4. The bird has been
mistreated. This is obvious.
5. The bird has been
trained to behave this way by your reactions - What you say, not by me. . .
All of the above aggressive
conditions can be changed with patience and effort. All of that Patience and effort will have to come from you.
Both to avoid the above
problems and to modify the bird’s behavior you need to train your buddy!
The best way to train is
with treats in a neutral area (one they do not claim as their territory) be careful with the treats. I recommend
safflower seeds rather than millet or sunflower seeds.
To make this work, be sure
that you are not overfeeding your birds. Remember that they eat about 1/5 their body weight daily. Not bad, right,
well they average 55 grams! Yep that is right, feed your buddy only about 5 to 6 grams of food a day - and don't include
the treat food in the mix!
At a regular time, take
your buddy out to the neutral room. Make sure you have your treat ready to go too!
You want to start with
simple commands such as "Step Up." Put them on the neutral stand, give them the command and reward the correct response.
In the case of "step up" you can greatly help your buddy achieve success by using your "perch" to push gently up on the belly
above the legs. This will put him off balance a bit and make him want to use the "Perch." When he does perform,
tell him he is such a good bird and give him one seed to enjoy.
LISTEN TO THIS!!! Do not
scold, hit, complain or otherwise "REWARD" the wrong response. If your buddy does not step up, don't react at all and
don't give her the treat. Try again, until you get the correct response. If you yell or demonstrate in any way
your buddy will pick up on it and treat it the same as you telling her that she's great.
Finally, be patient.
Seriously, let the bird enjoy the treat while you sing his praises for being such a good bird.
If the bird you are dealing
with threatens to bite you and you pull back. You've just let him know how to win. Granted, it hurts when they
bite, but they will do it more often if you let them know it scares you. If you have to, get a towel and wrap them up
to get them out of the cage and into neutral territory. Then you can work on the training. Don't ever stop what
you want to do with the bird because it threatens you. You will never break it of the aggressive behavior if you do.
I hope this helps - Oh
yeah, I won't take back a bird because it has become aggressive. I will provide some help and resources to help
you modify the behavior though - the bird's and yours.
All the best!
It seems that keeping up
with a blog is not easy, especially with 1 computer shared among many.
OK, how about disciplining
your buddy.
They are going to do something
they shouldn't, so what do you do?
Here's the gist, if you
react you have just reinforced the action and they will do it again.
If the buddy steals your
cheerio out of your bowl you should pick him up (don't say a word, don't react!) take away the cheerio and place buddy back
in his cage.
If buddy bites you, as
much as it hurts, don't pull away - don't react. Quietly put buddy in his cage, turn your back and leave.
Ultimately you need to
reward your bird frequently and loudly when he does things well and be very quiet when disciplining him.
Birds want the activity
and reactions - good or bad makes him equally excited - so stick to the good.
Until next time. . .
