by Wolf » Fri Sep 02, 2016 11:10 pm
Actually with what you listed as feeding your birds the only change that I would recommend is reducing the amount of the pellets and increasing the fresh raw fruits and vegetables. While I am not a fan of pellets, I tend to leave that up to the individual or at least I try to at this time, the only seeds that my birds receive are for their dinner. I give them as much as they want from just before dusk until they go to roost at dark and then I remove the seeds, they don't eat while sleeping anyway.
All of our birds need fat, protein and carbohydrates in their diet just as we do, but they have developed in different areas of the world and because of this the different species require differing amounts of these nutrients from one another. This is where researching the individual species native diets can be a big help. One of the things that I have noted with my birds is that Old World parrots seem to use a higher level of protein than the New World parrots. This my not hold true all across the board but it does hold for the birds that I have.
If the behavior that you are describing is caused by the trauma of the dog, and then by your subsequent actions, and given that you had a good relationship with your birds then the poor behavior should have come to an end, I think. I know that some birds seem to hold a grudge, but mostly they seem to be forgiving most of the time.
My birds have been around when my dogs were excited and jumping and barking and even fighting among themselves with no lasting issues. I got the two larger dogs about a year before my last one which is a hyperactive boxer so none of these dogs are over 3 years of age, the two larger ones weigh in at about 100 pounds with the boxer weighing in around 60 pounds, so none of them are small dogs.
So I am sure that I am going partly by how my birds react to such disturbances as well as by what you are saying. Although the only children we have in our home are the cats, dogs and the birds, I can't say that I have a quiet home, but it is not normally unruly or loud very often. Your birds may be accustomed to a much quieter environment than mine and that would affect their responses, but I can't help but to think that there is something other than the dog incident at work with your birds responses. I am just trying to figure out what it might be.
Other than a higher level of protein than I would feed, your birds diet seems ok. And if the light schedule is close to that which they would receive naturally, then the bird is probably not hormonal. So perhaps just reinforcing the early training to regain the birds trust is the best way to proceed, at least it could not hurt. At present I can't think of anything else.