Sailor the B&G

[Copper]

Things are getting better for Sailor the nekked little B&G that came 2 1/2 months ago.
Her diet has improved, although she still isn't real happy about fresh veggies. She does like Harrison's though, so she gets that along with the rest of the birds. She also likes pasta and baked potatoes, lol. She is moulting, more than the rest of the flock, but I've been told that will happen with Harrison's when a bird has been switched over to them. Just don't recall it with the others as much, but then none of them pluck. The new feathers are coming in without stress bars, and some of them aren't deformed as will happen when a bird has been plucking for a long time. She's even gotten some feathers in spots that there were none. The vet doesn't think that she will totally fill out, but that's still ok.
At 16 the only way her previous owners were able to handle her was towelling. She still freaks a bit about that, but she has learned that the towel itself isn't going to hurt her, and chewed up hers nicely .... Each bird here has an 'assigned' color that is close to their cage at all times. A dowel was used to herd her from one spot to another, in and out of her cage. I wrapped a dowel with twine, and she has no fear of that now.
She still won't step up, but in her time here has learned the words, and is now saying them as of yesterday. Thought I had heard it the day before, but she definitely did say it yesterday. She even raised her foot as though she was going to, but as I got my arm closer, she backed down and backed away. She has lost the fear of talking while I am right there. Before it was only when I was in another room, or outside. Guess I've become her security, so needs to know where I am.

It's little steps that make the difference.... and she is a different bird since she came.

[Ginich]

You seem to be making good and steady progress. Love the part about her chewing up her towel, lol. Sometimes little steps forward give you a big thrill!

[Sashagirl]

Copper

Glad to hear Sailor is making such progress.I love your stories.

[Machelle]

Sounds to me that Sailor is doing great and wil eventually trust you alot more. You are doing a great job and she is very lucky to have you in her life. Thank you for giving her your time, patience, and love.

[Copper]

I know that I'm lucky to have her as a part of my life and family.
She got to meet with the youngest of my grandkids yesterday. She was very gentle and very interactive with her, although she still didn't allow for touches. She shared her toys with her, and took a nut here and there from her.
She did though, when she had enough of socialising, go into her cage on her own and shut the door, then turned her back on everyone.
We don't know what the first 13 years of her life were. We can only speculate.... The last year before she came here though, was in a shelter, and for another two prior to that it was with a woman that had age against her, and people dumping their birds off on her. When she surrendered them all, Sailor was one of 75 birds that had been pushed off on this poor woman.
I think she needs the quiet of here, just as much as she needs to be loved.

[Bonesy]

I've always found allowing a bird to "attack" a towel after it's use really helps them not fear it. I always gave my birds the towels afterwards and hung them near the cage so they could play with it if they wanted.

Try getting her to come copper, I've found with alot of my clients larger birds, they will often come to a larger surface like an arm rather than step up. Tempt her with something she likes, a slice of banana or a hazlenut seems to tempt most of my macaw charges into flying over to you.

I think as a larger bird they prefer to land & judge for themselves than try to un-naturally "step" onto something. In a wild situation birds tend to hop or jump-flap somewhere.

It also works mentally. By THEM flying to YOU it's almost like they have the control, which when you're trying to encourage a Step Up can be reversed in their mind, as you're close enough for them to feel it's a little forced.

Just a thought, it may work. Great work so far! Pass her a half-cracked hazlenut from me

[Copper]

Being allowed to attack the towel is part of the reason each of the 6 here have their own color. The cockatiel and the conure each have a tea towel, they don't need the large bath sheets for their little bodies to be engulfed with either. The greys... they have their own, although I can do about anything with them without a towel, they have theirs more for security if someone like the vet needs to handle. They've never tried biting other than beaking in play, but we're talking birds, so you never know.
Angel-Rose has been here 8 months, and she has a large towel, but has never attacked it... I know most of her previous owners histories, so know there hasn't been a lot of abuse, but more neglect. She's come a long way too... she just turned 5.

Sailor was allowed to attack her towel like the others have been, but she's the only one that has chewed holes in hers. She is working on her second towel, the first having been not even enough left to clean windows with. The second is the same color as the first, but the second just has some beak grinding on the corners, so those aggressions are slowly going.
She is also on her second perch stick wrapped with twine, and it isn't getting chewed up as quickly either. I've found that when they have a bit more control over things in their lives... especially the things that they have previously feared... they develop more confidence in themselves, and more security in their new enviorment.
Basically what you said.

Just from the towel/dowel and not knowing the step up command. From what was said about the plucking beginning when her bonded buddy died... It's possible she was stuck in a breeding situation, and the bonded buddy was her mate, so training was just not part of her life. It didn't help either that the owners prior to the old lady didn't know that they were handing over the female of the pair... the old lady always said 'he' because that was what she was told. The rescue never had DNA testing done because the health othewise was more of a concern than the extra money for DNA.
I haven't forced the step up, she does have the choice. It's when she is ready... I don't doubt that it will happen, but since she isn't going anywhere (at least as long as I'm alive ) she has the time. Her two biggest hurdles in as far as things were the towel and the dowel.
I didn't have her wings clipped because I didn't want to encourage the plucking... she is the first that I haven't had that done with..... and she has done some flying inside. She does now want to be nearer to me, even though she hasn't allowed touching yet. She has also started mumbling/jabbering when I'm in the room looking at her, and not just when I am out of her sight. It's progress.

[Bonesy]

It's nice seeing such immense progress!

Do you take in alot of neglect or problem birds or is this your first?

I do alot of training & rehoming.

I know I'll never get tired of having a case come in that the owners love classifying as "hopeless" and seeing their faces when simple actions they overlooked previously change a seemingly impossible bird.

A good chewing exercise I do with all my larger clients birds is kitchen rolls or loo rolls threaded on some sisal rope on or in the cage. I even hide treats in the tubing, or smear peanut butter on the outside & roll it in their seed mix. Keeps the little rascals busy :D

This one stopped a plucking grey that a client brought in. The owner wouldn't believe me when I said she was bored out of her skull. (Average clueless bird owner that thought sitting in a cage all day with a ladder is riveting stuff..) So I gave her a shower (which she was scared witless of a first but once she braved it loved every minute!) and offered her a "Nut-butter-tube" or two & she didn't pluck once the whole day. She was booked for 2 weeks & started growing alot of her plumes back in that little time.

I almost didn't want to give her back, she was a sweetie! Thankfully the owner heeded what he'd been told & kept everything up, he then brought her back for a repeat session after 2 months just to thank me for what a different bird I'd made her. I taught him some training & more tips & both went away happier than ever.

As sad as it is that these birds get into these situations, it's always nice to know you've helped one soul overcome a serious hurdle in their life & made things better for them.

Keep up your good work!

[Copper]

She is I think somewhere near the 20th I've brought home, but only the 4th that this will be her permanent one. My first was a little cockatiel that had been abused for 10 years. He lived 8 more years with me and found what it was like to be a real bird and a companion. Sadly, he passed away last year, but he died knowing that he was loved. A couple other cockatiels came and found new homes after only a bit of work. A Sun conure became a permanent addition... he was so cage bound and aggressive... Now he's a total suck up, and loves to cuddle... although I become chopped liver when hubby is around... that's ok, every one needs a buddy.
An amazon came for a few months off and on, she made some remarkable progress. The little cockatiel that passed came with her. She was wild caught, and it was suspected that she was about 30 when she passed.
A Green wing became part of the flock last fall. She was more neglected than abused, because I'm such a stickler at vetting, not only is she healthy today, but several others are alive.... She had psittacosis, and I was able to get hold of her previous owner so he could get his remaining birds on antibiotic, and clean up the living conditions. Her last WBC came in at 10, hopefully it will continue to go down to between 5 and 7, which is good.
Sailor is my first plucker. She (I more than suspect) lived on seed and nuts. She still isn't reall happy with her veggies, but does love the Harrisons pellets, so most seed has been illiminated in her time here. She has left most of the new feathers alone that have come in, but like I said before, we don't know how long she plucked, and the previous owners didn't know how to help her greive over her lost buddy, so think she turned that on herself.
I haven't been able to get any of the flock to play with the tubes from paper towels or bath tissue... but they will play with the colored tissue paper, and shred news papers. I'm always looking for things that will keep them busy and happy. The hardware stores are now saving their bits of scrap pine for me. I go through an 8 foot section of 2x4 each month, as well as an 8 foot section of 2x2, another of 1x4 and another of 2x6.... all cut, dyed, drilled and strung up into toys.
Something that has worked for me since the first rescue, is keeping them in the living room where I spend most of my time. This way too, the 'problem' bird can see the interaction with other birds. I believe that they gain confidence in themselves faster, even as we work individually.
I don't think that Sailor even knew really what playing was, she is still hesitant with new things, but that is changing too. The more she finds to do with her non-working times, the less likely she is to damage herself.
She's my miracle in prrogress.

[Bonesy]

You sound much like me! I can't resist a bird in need.

I haven't kept an awful lot of my cases that get brought in but I'd love to. However I live in a one bedroom flat & it's just not practical. SO I take one bird at a time, re-condition them and give them to people on my waiting list for a bird in need of a loving home.

People on my list have to prove to me they know what they're doing, can provide for the bird permanently, and I keep in touch with them even years after the bird has gone. Once I get my own house I hope to set up a small sanctuary specifically for birds. Have a nice big aviary out back & have a fosterhome list of people I trust to help with the birds.

Britain lacks majorly in bird sanctuaries. I'd like to change that one day if i can.

I would agree also with them all being in the same room. It helps the flock feeling.

Another good one for destructive birds is soft wood plaits & balls. I trim back the willow trees in our garden frequently & make plaits for the smaller birds to pull apart & chew, they love it. Larger birds get balls of bound willow. I hide whole nuts in the middle so as they break off bits the nuts fall out & they have a crunchy treat in surprise

Have you any pics up on here of your birds copper?