Help! My bird's on speed.

[DCbeachboy]

Well, after waiting since February, yesterday we finally welcomed into our home the Gouldians pair we had on reserve. And whew, it's been a whirlwind of a day -- the lil' critters' first full day here.

We're enjoying them immensely -- they're an endless source of amusement and entertainment, and they SEEM to be as happy with the new arrangement as we are.

Let's cut to the chase -- anybody know how to calm-down a VERY hyperactive Gouldian hen? She's been a blur of motion all day long...fluttering endlessly around, even escaping from the cage the second I opened it to insert food, landing on the male's head the 1st time he tried to drink (almost drowning him and scaring him witless in the process), and oddly enough -- chirping non-stop the whole day through.

Seriously -- whoever claims that Gouldian hens are quiet needs to meet this one! She emits 3-5 chirps about every 20 seconds on average (sometimes sooner), and I wouldn't say they're particularly quiet at all -- they're easily overheard on phone calls as we found today during a conference call while working from home. But never more than a minute of silence goes by -- at most -- unless she's eating, bathing or sleeping.

At first it was cute, totally charming. But after about 8 hours it was beginning to lose its charm. With my home office near the cage, I feel as if my desk is in a forest.

The male, meanwhile, is the polar opposite -- calm, far more reserved, and rarely chirps at all, though he did chirp/sing a bit this morning. His chirps are much softer, however.

I'm hoping this is only due to the relocation, and that she'll settle down in short time. Or maybe I'm the one who will need to adjust, and learn to accept this new "white noise"!

Getting back to the escape issue -- it was quite a harrowing experience, for us, though she actually seemed to relish every second! I swear I thought I saw her smiling (laughing at us?) as we were frantically chasing after her. All I can say is, thank God for window blinds (she finally managed to become trapped behind some upstairs), and for my foresight in getting a birdnet. Within 5 seconds of being returned to her cage, she was chirping and eating again. Of course.

How in the heck does a person clean the cage of such a bird? I'm afraid to even try opening the door again now, knowing how she can soar in a split-second through even a small gap before you know what's happening -- reacting in time to stop her is simply impossible.

Ideas, anyone?

P.S. -- OK, here are the obligatory show-n-tell photos.

[JRs Gouldians]

Hmm, sounds rather interesting. Most gouldians that I have had and see are usually calm birds, that are only active in the morning, mid afternoon, and in the early evening. Although I have had a few bids that have had similar actions to yours and what I deducted from all of those birds is that when asking the breeders that I bought them from what they fed them all of the active birds had "bee pollen" in common. I'm not a scientist, or a nutritionist, but *in my opinion* I would say maybe the breeder you got them from used bee pollen which "in my experience" has produced more active birds. When I have had birds like this usually after a few weeks of "detox" (being just giving them regular water seeds and greens no special supplements) as I call it they calm down. I think it as a bird on crack. But this is all speculation the breeder you got them from may not have used that, and she may just be getting used to her new surroundings. Hope this or someone else helps.

[sierranomad]

Ha-Ha. Thanks for the laugh! You're a good story teller.

Sorry, no ideas

[CandoAviary]

Funny Story...I guess it is a congrats on the new birds even though she is driving you crazy
My guess is the hen was bonded to a different male. Hens will make a call of 2 to 3 tweeps and act agitated. It sounds like she is trying to reconnect with her mate. I am sure she will give up soon and hopefully have eyes for the handsome fellow in her new cage. Best wishes.

[Domenic]

EDIT: Had to remove article due to copyright issues!

Knowing that Tiffany is the breeder though, it is definitely not a health issue like blood mites.

[nixity]

I am the breeder - I don't feed Bee Pollen and my sexes are kept separate unless breeding.

She will calm down - she's just getting used to her new surroundings. She's calling for her friends
Just out of curiosity where is the cage located? Is it near a window? You might try moving it to a corner of the room to where two sides of the cage are covered and this might help her chill out a bit.

If the bottom of the cage doesn't slide out to where you have to reach in to clean, I'd suggest draping a towel or some other cover over the front while cleaning so she can't escape

[DCbeachboy]

Thanks for the insight, everyone.

But yes, I believe Tiffany's explanation makes perfect sense -- this hen's been housed with a cage of gal pals her entire life, and now suddenly finds herself not only with a boy, but also in a new cage, with new surroundings and new owners. She's not sure yet about this guy, and misses her familiar friends -- so calls out to them (and yesterday apparently decided to go try finding them herself the 1st chance she got! lol). She seemed maybe slightly less hyper today, though not significantly. I'm praying the trend continues.

Just out of curiosity where is the cage located? Is it near a window? You might try moving it to a corner of the room to where two sides of the cage are covered and this might help her chill out a bit.

The cage is about 6 feet from a north-facing window -- so no direct sunlight, although plenty of light. Unfortunately in this small condo there's nowhere else I can really move such a large cage -- but I'll do my best, give it a try.

If the bottom of the cage doesn't slide out to where you have to reach in to clean, I'd suggest draping a towel or some other cover over the front while cleaning so she can't escape

Hmmm....cleaning the cage is going to be tough. I'll need a Valium myself for that, just thinking of her escaping again. Yes, the cage bottom does slide out, and has a protective grate above the pan to prevent escapes. That's how I managed to clean the grate today without risking another episode. But I'm not following you on how this would help me clean the rest of the cage. (See photo here: http://www.birdscomfort.com/cage_loro_flight.html)

The cage interior is 30" long by 24" wide by 36" high, and has a built-in shelf beneath the cage. From the bottom, I'd only be able to reach a few inches inside. All the perches, food stations, etc. are well out of my reach unless I use the large 11" x 17" front door. I had only opened the door just a crack to replace a plate that wouldn't fit through the feeding station doors -- leaving only a tiny gap that she didn't hesitate one second to soar through. I haven't had the front door open since -- I'm ONLY using the feeding stations now, and only dishes that will fit through those doors. Lesson learned.

I really need to clean the perches after 2 days of droppings, but had thought maybe it's more important to give them 2-3 days to settle-in better before I begin invading their home to clean. Not to mention my wariness over another possible escape!

I'll try the towel method. Seems to be still a bit risky, though. If there's enough of a gap for me to reach in, she'll find it! As soon as I go anywhere near the cage, she immediately flies to greet me. If I even touch one of the doors, she pounces on it (or very nearby) and watches my every move -- chirping of course as if to ask, "Can I come out to play now?" (tweep-tweep-tweep).

I'd planned to do a brief wipe-down of perches & feeding stations every day, and a more detailed cleaning every weekend. But I can see now that may not be possible....at least not at first. Would waiting 2-3 days between cleanings be too risky? If not, I was just thinking I could transfer them to my small travel cage twice a week or so to allow me to clean -- unless that would be too stressful. What do you think?

[B CAMP]

I think your worrying to much about cleaning every two or three days let them get used to the cage and there new home
As for them escaping thru the big door take a piece of clear vinyl cut about 2 or 3 inchs larger than door opening hang on the inside of door so when your hand goes into cage it will just move vinyl over no escapes,the vinyl gets dirty but easier cleaning than catching
After a while they will get used to you cleaning i wouldn't move to smaller cage at this time
Good looking pair

[nixity]

I really need to clean the perches after 2 days of droppings, but had thought maybe it's more important to give them 2-3 days to settle-in better before I begin invading their home to clean.

You might be able to avoid having to clean the perches so often if you can figure a way to arrange them in the cage so they can't be pooped on.
(E.g., don't place perches underneath each other, or under food dishes, etc.)

I'd planned to do a brief wipe-down of perches & feeding stations every day, and a more detailed cleaning every weekend. But I can see now that may not be possible....at least not at first. Would waiting 2-3 days between cleanings be too risky? If not, I was just thinking I could transfer them to my small travel cage twice a week or so to allow me to clean -- unless that would be too stressful. What do you think?

I don't think wiping them down daily is necessary unless they're getting truly filthy, and if they're getting that filthy, it may help like I said to rework the lay out of the cage so stuff can't get pooped on as much

[DCbeachboy]

You might be able to avoid having to clean the perches so often if you can figure a way to arrange them in the cage so they can't be pooped on. (E.g., don't place perches underneath each other, or under food dishes, etc.).

Yes, I was careful to do exactly that. No perch or feeding station is directly above another. But I've found that the perches adjoining their feeding dishes get nasty pretty quickly -- the birds sit there for hours a day, and it shows. The other items in need of cleaning are the perches themselves -- not from the birds sitting above them, but simply ON them. I can pretty easily clean the bottom grate by reaching in from below, but anything above that is off-limits unless I want to open the large front door -- and that's something I'm trying to avoid for now until things settle down a bit.

Hyperactivity update: Today's their 3rd day with us, and she seems to be VERY, VERY gradually winding down just a bit -- but she's got LONG way to go before she's anywhere near the calm demeanor of her male cagemate. I was able to move the cage somewhat so that a portion of a 2nd side of the cage is also against a wall (a short indention in a wall actually). She began her non-stop fluttering around and chirping later in the morning today, so it hasn't been sun-up to sun-down today as it was for the past 2 days. Maybe it was the slight cage adjustment -- either that or the crack, speed, or whatever she was on is finally wearing off!

[FinchNerd]

I really enjoyed reading this! Glad to hear she is calming down though. Hope all goes well!

[DCbeachboy]

Wow. What a difference a day makes! This evening the female went to roost about an hour and a half before the male, who then took-up the hen's daytime routine of flying endlessly around from spot to spot -- something he hadn't really done for a prolonged period until tonight. Not sure what that was about. For the first time, I had added a small amount of granulated kelp to their food late this afternoon, so maybe that had something to do with it?

But what was really odd this evening was an entirely new bedtime routine. For the first 2 nights they were in their new home, they each had began swiftly winding-down their day at the earliest hint of sundown -- all chirping and eating stopped, along with most movement. They perched in the very same spots both nights -- about 8" away from each other, on different branches -- and were still in those same spots the next morning.

Tonight I noticed them on the same perch -- edged up together against the side of the cage, preening and poking each other with their beaks, and seeming to be in a very playful mood -- aggressively playful, I would say. I hadn't thought that Gouldians are known for being preeners, so this surprised me. After a half-hour or so they finally stopped preening and began what I would call a polite shoving match -- each gently pushing the other to move to the side a bit. This continued for a short while, back and forth, until they finally settled with the female sandwiched between the male and the cage bars.

She tucked her head inside her wing, and there they apparently will remain for the night -- sitting facing opposite directions on the perch, but as cuddled together as tightly as they could be. It's just about the cutest thing I think I've ever seen.

Then I started thinking....what if they're trying to NEST??!!!!! Please tell me they're just innocently bonding, and not taking part in some avian version of foreplay. They're both much too young for that (aren't they)? The male is 6 months old, and the female is 5 months. They don't have a nest, and I haven't seen the mating dance -- so that's a good sign.....right?

We've only had 3 days to begin adjusting to our new birdkeeping responsibilities -- we're not ready to even think of adding to the family at this point (if ever)! We haven't provided them a nest, and have no plans to do so anytime in the next year (if ever). But is there anything we can do to discourage these adolescents from abandoning abstinence at this point in their very young lives?

[Rhonda]

Oh my gosh! What a story teller you are. Your posts are ever so entertaining! I have to tell you I didn't have the nerve to write about my orange cheeked waxbills when I first got them. She was a kamakazee pilot! Give her an inch of open door and she was out. Thankfully I had a bird net, but I almost destroyed the room having to catch her over and over and over again! I was terrified she'd break her neck hitting the window and like you the easiest way to catch her was between the window and a shade. After about a week she seemed to calm and call a truce and now I can open the doors, clean the cage, etc. and though she flies around she stays inside the cage!

As for the bonding/breeding? I have no clue what to tell you. I got a lovely pair of Gouldians at a bird show a month ago. Her beak was already black. The nest now has 5 eggs and Dad is diligently sitting. I'm a total newbie and have no idea what I'm doing. But I am seriously thinking I need to research birdie saltpeter particularly with respect to the zebras!

[DCbeachboy]

Oh my gosh! What a story teller you are. Your posts are ever so entertaining!

Thanks Rhonda, Candace, Sierranomad and others who are enjoying my travails as a new birdkeeper. Though that's not my aim, it's nonetheless more reassuring than you even know, as I'm currently nearing completion of my first novel. Even though I have 25 years of experience as a professional writer, this is my first attempt at fiction -- and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have occasional doubts as to my storytelling abilities...as I presume most new novelists do. So, thanks for the encouragement....I only hope my future readers appreciate my stories as much.

As they say, true life is always much stranger than fiction....and now on my 4th day as a bird owner, I've found that to be as valid as ever. I had tried to thoroughly research the responsibilities before picking up the birds, but no matter how well-prepared you THINK you are.....the real-life experience of actually doing it seems to promise that a few curveballs will be thrown in. OK, several curveballs, at least to start.

Good luck with the eggs, Rhonda. Wow -- I can't even imagine having to adjust so quickly to raising Gouldians, so soon after adjusting to the idea of even HAVING them. I've found this forum to be an outstanding resource for guidance, which when combined with our own research can wisely steer us through whatever comes our way. I'm sure you'll be fine. With this forum, you are not alone in your journey.

After reading your reply, I just took a close look at my birds' beaks. The hen's definitely isn't black (is that even possible at just 4 months of age?), so if that's an absolute prerequisite for becoming fertile, maybe what I'm seeing is just a case of bonding rather than mating. However, the beak is definitely darker than the male's. Hers is a much darker reddish-brown, while his is more true red.

[ac12]

I have a housekeeping tip.
Put a sheet of translucent plastic around 3 sides of the cage.
That will give them a secure feeling, and also keep the bird poop and seeds from going on the walls and floors. I only have the front of the cage exposed.