Multiple Bird Owners

[sootykitty]

I am a multiple bird owner. I have 6 Senegals and 1 Congo African Grey. I am curious about how other multiple bird owners find the right balance of time to spend with each individual bird. Please fill us in on the following:

How many birds?

How much out of cage time?

Do your birds spend time out of their cages together on separate play stands?

How do you spend individual time with each bird and what do you spend your time doing together?

Do you have a bird room devoted to your birds, or are they out in the open space of your home, like the living room, kitchen, family room, etc?

Let us know. Thanks.

[BirdMommaAK]

I have 4 birds, 3 Green Cheek Conures and 1 Jenday Conure.

My birds get about 2-3 hours of out of cage time per day.

2 of my green cheeks are caged together, so they are out together. The other 2 don't get along with any other birds so they are let out seperately.

Sometimes they are on their treestand, sometimes they are just let out to crawl around the outside of the cage. Usually they all get time to travel around the house with me as I do chores. I also usually have one with me when I'm watching TV.

I don't have an exact schedule with them right now, some of them I've only had a few weeks or months so I'm still trying to figure it all out!

[LovelySydney]

I have 2 birds - one parrotlet & one painted conure. Both are in quarantine at the moment. The new baby is in the living room and gets out of cage time as long as we are there. The parrotlet would prefer to be in the cage although I don't know how he will react to another bird, he might make a new friend!!


I too am curious to see how other people handle the time with more than one bird!

[MammaKim]

I have 3 birds - a green cheek, a cockatiel and a double yellow head.

The GCC is out probably the most as all the kids take him out and all over the house. Lucy is out quite often, but if she is out and another bird is out then they do not get close to one another. The cockatiel does not like coming out so much. He is a grump to get him to come out of the cage, but when he is out, he plays with the kids or me.

Lucy and Dancer spend quite alot of time out of the cage. Lucy (DYH) must be in her cage from 1 to about 4 in the afternoon for naptime. She LOVES being out in the early mornings, hanging out with me in the kitchen on her stand, talking to me while I do dishes, etc. Then we will either go down and do laundry together, or hang out watching soaps. LOL! Dancer is generally on a kid or playing with a kid all day, with my having to tell them to put him somewhere where he can eat! I do not let them take him out until after 7 so that he gets some time to eat before his day starts. Oscar (tiel) comes out various times, but I am the only one who can get him out of his cage, so that means he has no schedule. He will hang out in the kitchen on the perch when Lucy is sleeping, or hang out on the table during lunch time.

The birds are always separate. Lucy because she is so much bigger than the others and hormonal...I do not want to take the chance. (But she has never shown agression when anyone walks by with another bird, but still, too big a risk). Oscar does not like other birds, so we dont give him the opportunity to hang out with anyone else. Dancer loves anything that moves....He would play with anything or anyone! He is sometimes on his playperch, but more often than not he is with a human playperch. He loves to play on the bottom of the top bunk, hang upside down and make the girls laugh at him!

My birds will help me pay bills, type on the computer, listen to music, watch tv, do laundry, etc. I just kinda take them with me wherever or whatever I am doing. We also just hangout on the couch and bond.

Oscar is in the dining room. Lucy and Dancer are side by side in the living room.

[Poicephalus girl]

How many birds? I have 5 birds; a lovebird, a Senegal, a Red-bellied parrot and two Meyer's.

How much out of cage time? They get between 3 and 5 hours out of cage time during the week and between 4 and 8 hours out of cage time on the week-end.

Do your birds spend time out of their cages together on separate play stands? They all come out at the same time; they have different play stands to choose from so they aren't necessarily "together". They choose where they go and my SO and myself intervene if they squabble too much. The only one we tend to keep on a separate play gym altogether is Petey as she's not so friendly with the others (but is getting more tolerant).

How do you spend individual time with each bird and what do you spend your time doing together? This depends...on the birds. Most of the time, Piper (lovebird) is on me and Petey (Meyer's) is on my SO. The birds are free to come see us or to play. Shade, Zuri and Joey will come and see us if they want attention or just want to snuggle. They get their heads scratched and we'll play with them with foot toys. Or sometimes, they are just content with sitting on our shoulder/head (Piper)/leg.

Do you have a bird room devoted to your birds, or are they out in the open space of your home, like the living room, kitchen, family room, etc?
I do hope that one day I'll have a room devoted to birds and with some play gyms throughout the rest of the appartment/house. But for now, they are located in the family room.

[Emmilyy]

[QUOTE=Poicephalus girl;1479801]How many birds? 2 (although Toc is really my sisters..) a GCC and a Pacific Parrotlet.
How much out of cage time?

Do your birds spend time out of their cages together on separate play stands? They can't be together unless supervised VERY carefully as the Parrotlet plucks the GCC... So usually they spend their time alone on separate play stands in their own rooms.

How do you spend individual time with each bird and what do you spend your time doing together? I spend almost all of my time with Cookie. she's with me wherever i go, but thats because she likes to be, unlike Toc who is more independant. I have him out with me for a few hours a day if he wants - and so does my sister. He lets us know if he wants to be back in his cage. When i have him out i just continue doing whatever i was doing before, because he just likes to ride around on shoulders... With Cookie i spend time doing whatever, too, but i spend lots of time cuddling her and giving her scritches... They're happy being with us whatever we do.

Do you have a bird room devoted to your birds, or are they out in the open space of your home, like the living room, kitchen, family room, etc?
Well, we don't have a "bird room." its more like a Cookie/emily room and a Toc/sister's room.. but they've pretty much taken over both rooms.. :P

[Astrid660]

How many birds?

9 birds

How much out of cage time?

Anywhere from 3-8 hours every day.

Do your birds spend time out of their cages together on separate play stands?

They spend hours every day out of the cage on a playstand, the floor, their cages, wherever they fancy hanging out.

How do you spend individual time with each bird and what do you spend your time doing together?

-I usually walk around throughout the day, take breaks from what I'm doing and talk to my Cockatoo and cuddle with her, then go over and speak with the greys, give Ellie a headscratch.. If I'm on the computer my two female Cockatiels like to come over and chill with me. Only 3 of my birds are fairly tame, my Too, one of the tiels, and Ellie (CAG) ... The rest just prefer me talking to them and not being handled. This makes it easier for me to interact with them all without feeling overwhelmed, as only a couple are birds I would consider 'demanding'.

Do you have a bird room devoted to your birds, or are they out in the open space of your home, like the living room, kitchen, family room, etc?

- They are open in the living room and my Cockatoo is in the kitchen. I would say it's a bird room but it isn't specifically built to accommodate them. I would like to build a real bird room for them all in the future.

[birdiemommy]

How many birds?
I have two budgies that are not hand tame. I also have a hand tame cockatiel, an african grey and a amazon

How much out of cage time?
A minumum of 2 hours a day, up to 6-8 hours.

Do your birds spend time out of their cages together on separate play stands?
They are on separate stands, although the grey and amazon are on side by side stands that they can cross over

How do you spend individual time with each bird and what do you spend your time doing together?
We go outside on the patio when there is no wind, they are clipped. They also walk to the mailbox with me, and hang out on th eback of the couch

Do you have a bird room devoted to your birds, or are they out in the open space of your home, like the living room, kitchen, family room, etc?
We do have the playstands in the livingroom, but the cages are kept in the sun room, this allows my 10 year old to take naps without a chorus of talking birds!

[donnakris]

Since we are a rescue/sanctuary, we have multiple birds,

How many birds? We have our personal birds--an Umbrella, a Moluccan and 2 African Greys. Then we have permanent residents--2 Moluccans, 2 Sulfur Crested, 1 African Grey, 1 Goffin, 1 Senegal. Then we have the adoptable ones--1 Bare Eyed Cockatoo, 1 Blue & Gold Macaw, 1 White Front Amazon, 1 Goffin and 1 CGC Conure.

How much out of cage time? Most are out of the cage 6-8 hours a day.

Do your birds spend time out of their cages together on separate play stands? They are out at the same time but always on their own cages or playstands.

How do you spend individual time with each bird and what do you spend your time doing together? We make time for each bird. Some require more time than others. For example the Blue & Gold doesn't really want to be with us much--he's still adjusting. The Umbrella needs tons of time. We spend a few minutes with each before breakfast and throughout the day. At night they all, the ones that want it, get cuddle time. We spend time cuddling, playing, preening or just sitting and talking.

Do you have a bird room devoted to your birds, or are they out in the open space of your home, like the living room, kitchen, family room, etc? 4 of the Cockatoos--retired breeders have thier own room. The Blue & Gold is in quarantine still. The Amazon and Conure are in a room together. The rest are in the living room and dining room.

[hollyhawkz]

How many birds?
Two conures.

How much out of cage time?
Usually 10 to 12 hours.

Do your birds spend time out of their cages together on separate play stands?
Usually on their separate cages or on one of us. Sometimes one on each shoulder.

How do you spend individual time with each bird and what do you spend your time doing together?
Finger and beak wrestling, many rubs and scritches, watching tv, on the computer, doing housework... My hubby and I trade birds several times through the day.

Do you have a bird room devoted to your birds, or are they out in the open space of your home, like the living room, kitchen, family room, etc?
Out in open space - Living room.