Those w/ Multi Birds...

[SweetPea]

How do you do it?!

I would love to own a bigger bird one day...

As of right now, I "only" have two lovebirds.

But between cleaning their cage, cleaning after them, making their toys, spending time w/ them, watching them... well...

I applaud those that are able to do it.

I would be afraid if I got any more birds, my birds would just be that, just "birds."

I have my hands full w/ these two individuals and am still in awe, and still learning about their different personalities.

So how do you juggle your time taking care of them and well... I would love to get a TAG one day... but I want to know your SECRETS of being able to give your multiple pets the care, TLC, and attention they are entitled to?!!!!

[Monica]

My smaller bird's are 'aviary' birds so they don't care for human interaction. That's fine by me as bird's don't always NEED human interaction. Their flight cages may be hard to move around or even get clean while destroying scrub sponges, it's worth it.

Casey is my only real demanding bird. She likes to have her headscratches and to hang with humans. She enjoys hanging out with me, maybe another human, and the smaller birds entertain her. Noel is only demanding when it comes to food, though still enjoys the occasional headscritch and multiple kisses. They both enjoy fresh branches (as do the smaller birds), love going outside, even when it's raining, and aren't too much trouble.

Some birds are aviary birds, and others just don't crave human attention. Some people are able to split their time up to 15-30 mins with each bird at a time before switching to another bird, and the birds get out of cage time as well. It may be harder work, but still well worth it.

[danforth3]

You learn to budget your time and that interacting with them does not require them to be on you, but out and about with you. My fids get tons of attention, head scratching, etc., but not all of it is while on me--some of it is on play gyms, window perches and while everyone is out at one time, while I am cleaning the living room, their cages, etc.

I have a lot of cages and frankly, with the steamer it does not take that long for cage cleaning, feeding, watering, etc. We do all the feeding and watering daily and check for major poops on perches, grates, etc., which we clean daily and change the liner paper daily. All that takes about 30 minutes in the evening right after dinner.

[kp_in_scott]

I must admit that at my house it is a team effort. Hubby is home all day, so he is able to interact with the birds much more than I, but even so, he only individualizes with each one a few minutes at the time. Because he is home, they are allowed much more out of cage time. I also "layer" the cage grates with newspaper and just remove the top layer each day. Once a week, everybody's cage gets a good wipe down. Each cage has 2 sets of food dishes, so they get swapped daily and just popped in the dishwasher. I do my very best to cuddle with Angel, just before bed. Seymour can not tolerated much touching, but enjoys for me to sit next to his cage and talk to him. I do this at night while we are watching a little TV. Gabe and Phoebe could care less, if I ever spoke to them, but will allow me to interact with them if I really push it. D has in the past been an aviary bird, and does not seem to need the individual attention that the macaws crave from Ricky. She is happy just hanging out on top of her cage,or on a perch near the computer, or in the living room. My featherless children(18 & 22) have pretty much left the nest, rarely showing up for a quick visit(even though they both technically still live at home). The time and energy that was previously used on raising them has now been redirected to our fids. I guess you could say that they are our 2nd family. If it were not for these birds, our lives would be quite empty and too quiet.

[The Outlaw]

In my case, my birds also have each other for company and I think that's why they are so happy. They aren't expected to be my "children" or my best friends. Nope, they are supposed to be birds and then companions to me. They need not feel the pressure to always have to be with me.

However, that having been said, I don't have any parrot in my home that isn't well-cared for, handled and groomed properly. All get out of cage time and the macaws are pretty much their own flock. That is one of the reasons I can do it. By having same species birds, they can physically interact with each other a lot. I try to give everyone equal time, but when you have days that one birds needs more, you accomodate them. Just letting them know that you ARE paying attention usually takes care of the problems.

I couldn't hold down a full time job and have 10 larger parrot. It would be out of the question, for you are correct in the labor, expense and time that it takes. Human relationships have certainly suffered. Old friends just don't understand and I'm tired of trying to tell them. Frankly, I'm always happy for them when they have passion in their lives and all that I ask is tolerance.

There is a season for everything. Getting birds too soon can cause all kinds of life problems and certainly waiting until you're too old is a burden on family members. Timing does matter.

In my humble opinion, managing 5 birds was very easy. Managing 10 can be very tiring. However, that having been said, I just can't part with any of mine, at least not yet. Frankly, the big macaws are more than twice as much work as the greys, ekkie and amazon, but they are more FUN than all of the others combined. That's the trade off I suppose.

THE OUTLAW

[Franciscus]

It's not easy to live with multiple birds. It's not always easy to live with one bird either. It all depends on what you want out of life and what you have to offer. Only two of my four birds are really demanding. Lee has never been tamed so he is not interested in interacting with me. Tota is flighted and wants short cuddles and loves ambiant attention (typical for a ringneck). Caillou loves LOTS of ambiant attention and loves to be talked to and enjoys the occasional headscratch along with an extended period of cuddling in the evening. Razz loves lots of attention and is very physically interactive, she is also quite active on her playgym and goes outside in her harness riding my shoulder going for walks. I beleive they also benifit from having each other around but they don't interact with each other on a physical level. Currently I have more hours at the store I work in so I do spend less time I do working at home on my art. I plan on switching that again in the not too distant future so the birds can all be out while I'm at home painting, getting ambiant attention and intermitted direct attention throughout the day.

[Vega]

Out of curiosity, how much "out of cage time" do your birds get? Right now I only have my 2, but I feel like they should get more time out (1.5-2 hours daily) of their cages than they do. But working full time and taking care of 3 dogs on top of the 2 birds makes the schedule a little tight...so I'm just curious to know if I'm on average with others or if I really need to start crunching my time.

[Franciscus]

Originally Posted by Vega

Out of curiosity, how much "out of cage time" do your birds get? Right now I only have my 2, but I feel like they should get more time out (1.5-2 hours daily) of their cages than they do. But working full time and taking care of 3 dogs on top of the 2 birds makes the schedule a little tight...so I'm just curious to know if I'm on average with others or if I really need to start crunching my time.

My birds are out of their cages for an hour in the morning and 2-2.5 hours in the evening on the days I work outside my home, about 5 hours on Thursday when I work in the evening and about 6-7 hours on Mondays and Fridays when I work at home. Ideally they should have about 4 hours out of the cage each day with one half to one hour of direct attention each,preferrably broken into segments.

[Winged_Victory]

Originally Posted by The Outlaw

I couldn't hold down a full time job and have 10 larger parrot. It would be out of the question, for you are correct in the labor, expense and time that it takes. Human relationships have certainly suffered. Old friends just don't understand and I'm tired of trying to tell them. Frankly, I'm always happy for them when they have passion in their lives and all that I ask is tolerance.
THE OUTLAW

Nancy as you know we have a few more than 10 large macaws and both of us have full time jobs. Our birds are part of our lives and we are happy with them and they are happy with us. We get up at 3AM and the birds get up with us, they go to bed the same time we do in the evening, about 8:30 PM. Ours are out of their cages 4-5 hours in the morning and 2-3 hours in the evening, other than that they have each other for company. When you have as many birds as we do, people seem to be afraid to come to the house.....LOL.

gary

http://public.fotki.com/WingedVictory/

[The Outlaw]

Gary:

Yes, I know you have lot more birds, but you also have LOT more help. Will doesn't help at all with mine other than to construct things and repair things occasionally. Its the day to day drudgery of cleaning so many areas that takes its toll. My birds are in two seperate areas daily. In other words, I clean 10 cages and then when I do return them, I have to clean where they've been. So, in essence, I'm cleaning 20 cages or play areas daily. I'm not complaining, for its no different from caring for little kids, but it does complicate things when you have arthritis as badly as I do.

Also, my birds are out more than in. I realize I could confine them more, but I choose to give them a lot of liberty. I want them to experience life and learn to think for themselves. This certainly creates many interesting scenarios, but that's exactly the point. I couldn't imagine not having lots of things to explore and interact with daily.

Your birds are obviously very well cared for and in beautiful condition, so you are absolutely on to something.

THE OUTLAW