Anxiety of Shipping Part Two

[Finnie]

I thought I would copy Brian's title, because now I'm in the position he was in a couple of weeks ago.

I've been so excited to be getting some birds from Su Yin in Texas. It started out small, because I was looking for a mate for my fawn owl hen. But to help spread out the shipping cost, I asked her about a couple other types of birds I've been wanting. So then I was going to get an Owl, a male Gouldian (like in Brian's avatar) and a couple of self colored society finch hens.

Well one thing led to another, and my order went from four to six, and then to EIGHT! I've been so excited, and spending a lot of time learning society genetics, and planning out how I'm going to pair up my new birds, and what I can make from their children in the future. Lots of fun!

But oh, man, as soon as I got the email from Su yesterday saying they were on their way, suddenly I got knots in my stomach!!

USPS is very stingy with their tracking info!!

I know when Su dropped them off, and I know that three hours later they entered a sorting facility in Texas. Then at some unposted time, they left the facility, and now I just have to wait cluelessly until the powers that be decide to post where they arrive next.

Expected arrival time says noon today, but my mailman told me that everything only comes in during the night, so if they aren't there this morning, they won't get there until the middle of the night tonight. (I have a very nice carrier. He offered to bring them to me in his truck, but I said I'd rather go pick them up myself, which he thought was the better idea too.)

Well, since they aren't here yet, I have more time to play around with the plants and things in the cage. Maybe I'll post photos of the empty cage while I'm waiting, lol! Pins and needles, pins and needles!

[debbie276]

Good luck, hope they arrive sooner then later for you

[Ginene]

Good luck, Finnie. I hope they arrive safe and sound.

[mayble]

I just went through this a couple weeks ago myself, so I can totally relate!
I was a nervous wreck waiting, but the birds were none the worse for wear. I got the call from the post office at just after seven in the morning, and got to go around to the back door and be buzzed in to collect them before the post office even opened. It's nice to know that most people are genuinely interested and concerned for the birds.
Enjoy them!

[Finnie]

So I spent a bunch of time putting more plants in the quarantine cage, and then I took some photos of it.

Here you can see I put a divider in, so that four will have the top half and four will have the bottom half:

Since it just has one big door, I made sheer curtains to help them avoid flying out when I open it. I made a seed skirt for the bottom, too, because the metal kind that came with this cage is useless. The husks on the top half will be a problem, though

In the next photos you can see how they are going to be right in the middle of everything. Fortunately, there is no TV in this room, so everyone is usually in the living room, and only come in here to eat. This room is usually just me and the dogs, and the fish, and the birds.





I tried to get photos of what the birds' view will be like from inside the cage, to see if the plants give them any privacy. I think they will like it.

This is looking towards the front door. Rarely does anybody knock there.


This will be their view of me working in the kitchen. From the top level:


And from the bottom level:

I think they will be able to see out better than the camera does.

The birds didn't come today, but I did get this package in the mail from Lady Gouldian Finch.com. It was really nice of them to fill it full of free nesting materials!

[debbie276]

Looks great!! Only thing I would be careful about is the curtain being inside the cage at the door, be careful toenails don't get stuck in the material.
Best of luck, lucky birds ;)

[Nerien]

For seed hulls, Petco sells a clear plastic strip that you wrap around the cage, for something like $2.99. You would need at least two to go around that cage, and it comes with velcro dots to secure it, which everyone says don't stay stuck, but with a paper punch and a couple of twist ties, you could secure it quite nicely. It won't stop the hulls from dropping straight down the sides, but it will keep them from flying out sideways, so that they will only drop straight down. I cut one of these to fit and wove it in and out of the cage bars (five inside, one outside, five inside, one outside) and it really does a great job of reducing the scatter.

Love your cage, and the room, too. Nice house!

[Finnie]

Thank you Debbie, I will keep a watch on that fabric. It had already crossed my mind that they might try to pull strings off it for nesting material, so now I will have to watch for nail snaggability. If it turns out to be a problem, I will figure out how to rig something up on the outside, or maybe to just hang it only when I am going to open the door.

Nerien, that is a great idea- I even have some of that downstairs, and had forgotten about it! Thanks!

Still have time tonight to tweak it some more. My husband said maybe it was a good thing I had an extra day, since I was racing around frantic last night trying to get the cage ready.

[Finnie]

Well they finally arrived! I must say, USPS tracking gives out very little information. No updates for over 24 hours. But I did wake up at 2:30 am, so I checked my phone and was able to find out that they made it in and out of the Indianapolis sorting facility before midnight. Then my post office called at 6am to tell me they were there, and that I could come get them when they opened at 8:30.

I got them out of their box and into their cages without incident. They had a water container with a wet sponge in it (and NV powder in the water), a piece of celery, and lots of millet in the box with them. So they were well supplied. I did notice that most of them went straight to the water almost immediately upon entering the cage, so they seemed thirsty.

I have pedialyte water in their drinkers and baths, and a heat emitter going in case they feel chilly here in the cooler climate. Most of them appear quite chipper and happy. The two owls have me slightly worried, but I think they just need to rest and settle in. It's been about two and a half hours now, and I do see them getting a little more active.

I've only named three of them so far, thanks to my 27 year old daughter, who has always been crazy about Halloween. It's her favorite holiday, even above Christmas and birthdays!

So, meet the two owls, Spooky and Owloween:



And the male YH.WB.YB Gouldian, Candy Corn:




I think I divided the society finches between females in one cage and males in the other, based on their colors. Except for the two Pearl Greys, which I won't know which one is the male until he starts to sing. So here are (I think) all the hens:



Front to back, they are Pearl grey chocolate, fawn (maybe dilute fawn?) and creamino.

Here is the fawn in the front:


And the Pearl grey is the middle one here:


Those are the top cage. I'll add the bottom cage in a minute.

[Finnie]

Here is Spooky again


And Owloween


The other Pearl grey chocolate society, hopefully the male, but I guess they won't care if I divided them up wrong!


And this last one was kind of a pity purchase. I didn't really need more males, but Su had a couple boys that had been overpreened by their cage mates, and she was selling them at a lowered price. I'm hoping his neck feathers will grow back once he's housed with fewer birds or just a mate. He has nice markings on his belly, so I think he will help me get nicely marked chocolate self chicks. (Aka Black Browns)

[birdclaws]

Congrats! Glad it all worked out.

[Finnie]

Thanks, Brian!

[Ginene]

Yay!!! So happy everyone arrived safely! Enjoy...

[debbie276]

Wonderful news!
Congratulations and best of luck

[lyzzyjayne]

Ahhh! Great news!! They are gorgeous! and Candy Corn is amazing!!