posible new forum section?

[ruler]

just a thought, would be nice to have a section devoted to training, not been easy looking for such topics

[PrettyBird]

What do you mean by training?

[ruler]

as in training birds to do things or how to tame them or teaching them new songs etc. personally i think the idea is relevent since this topic has popped up on many occasions durring conversations ive had with various people. although 'you' may know how to do it there will always be others who dont and wish to have access to a good source of information, help and support for this topic including myself thats why i suggested it.

[DanteD716]

ruler, do you mean as in hand taming finches?

[ruler]

i explained in the last post lol hand taming and teaching them to do things.

[DanteD716]

Sorry, I always miss posts! I think you would have to handfeed to do any of those things. I did handtame a zevra before, took ALOT of time just to get her on my finger

[ruler]

some finches will learn some things and others wont. some can mimic and some wont thats why a new section on training would be good. it does cover a wide veriety of things which would be nice to have in one section. ive been teaching my little hand reared birdy to do things and to sing different songs and he is learning fast. i'd love to read other peoples posts on how they managed to tame, train and teach their birds to do things, would be interesting

[DanteD716]

yes, let's see what the mods say

[ruler]

will probably fall on deaf ears or will be invaded by critics lol usually the case with forum suggestions

[DanteD716]

will probably fall on deaf ears or will be invaded by critics lol usually the case with forum suggestions

[L in Ontario]

will probably fall on deaf ears or will be invaded by critics lol usually the case with forum suggestions

Thanks Ruler (assuming you are aiming that at any/all Mods). We moderators are not exactly deaf and we do pay attention to the wants and desires of the members but I will say I am not in favour of a section devoted to something as extremely difficult to achieve and maintain. There is only one person I know who has accomplished this successfully, and although she is a member of this forum, I don't think she's on here as much as she used to be - party for being put down for training her finches.

I don't think there are enough dedicated people on this forum who would want to or have the persistance, drive, knowledge or experience to teach or learn this.

You may ask all the questions you want and get them answered in the current forums.

[Martie]

Hand taming finches is one part that would be interesting to discuss. Also - people have taught finches to say words. Sally Huntington hand raised a red headed finch that said his name, "Turkey", and was presented at an AFA Convention some years ago.

Learning to interact with our finches and canaries (and teaching them to interact with us) on a closer level would be wonderful for them and us. How nice it would be to be able to calm some of our flightier species - alleviating the stress they experience every time we go to clean their flights or feed them.

Maybe not practical everywhere - but zoos are training all kinds of animals to interact and help ease stress around medical exams, etc. Someone here shared a great video from an Australian? Vet talking about calming birds for exams and nail trims.

It's not something we talk a lot about - but that doesn't mean we shouldn't explore it. I think we might be very well served to add such a forum section. JMHO - and hopefully could be discussed in any event - section or not.

[ruler]

ive seen a red head gouldian talk, ive seen a greenfinch talk too. they ddnt say many words but they were clear enough to know what words they were saying but that was many years ago when i was a kid. from tomorrow im going to try and teach my young hand reared shaft tail to speak since every morning he sits on my cheast and listens to me whistle at him then when i stop he flys into my kitchen and trys to copy what i whistled. he is 'very' attentive as are many birds. maybe not many people are that devoted to their birds in that fasion but there 'will' be those who are from time to time such as myself. i swear one day i will post a video here of my little bird talking, he mimics me all the time.
i still think it is a good idea but i knew the answer before i posted hence my last comment ;)

[kheather]

you know in a different way it does relate to what I try to do, such as I always say the same things before I open the cage to do anything that requires me to put my hand in cage. I continue to do this because I find my birds dont act crazy when I am working in cage...they will come up to the bars if I make certain whistles or sounds. Lets them know I wont be doing anything to them personally. I also have certain ways I free fly some of my canaries in room and they very willingly go right to thier cage when I herd them that way...they always have whatever their favorite treat is waiting! May not be teaching tricks but a conditioning, I do think it benefits in the health and happiness of captive birds.

[DanteD716]

Here is what I can donate to this thread: took 3 months to get my ebra hen to step up, if I went a day without training you would have to start over

2. My bird know when bed time is because I flicker the light: off, on, off, on, off, at bedtime so by the last flick they know they must be in the nest!

I must agree, I do not think many of the breeders would want to dedicate time trying to train finches, many have hard enough time breeding, and trying to train would just interrupt the breeding cycle.