Baby Bird PLEASE Help!!

[midlandhippy]

Hello all, my name is Brody and I live in the UK. In a weeks time I will be getting my first bird. He will be a 28day old Blue Quaker. (Un-weaned) To put your minds at rest I have been working with the breeder for 3months on handrearing a baby quaker and the agreement was that only when 'he' was comfortable I was able to do this unsupervised he would sell me a baby. That time has now come and i'm very excited

Although my breeder 'Steve' has 15 years breeding experience he does only breed the birds and does not keep them as pets so my many questions to him on training/taming etc have been left unanswered. This is where I'm hoping you guys will help )

As i've said he will be 28days old when I have him and so not fully weaned until 10 - 12 weeks (on all food including pellets)
So my question is, at what age should I begin target training? (should I do it while still syringe feeding him, getting him to touch the stick before I give the feed, even if it means me putting the stick to his beak)
If the answer to the above is yes, should I also start using the clicker when he is eating the food I supply?

I know some people disagree with handrearing a baby bird and I respect your opinion but please also respect mine. I am doing this to ensure a bond with myself. If all goes to plan my little bird will be extremely loved and have an amazing life as I work from home so can give him lots of attention. My father also owns a gym so I will be able to free fly him regularly in a safe environment.

Any help would be extremely appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

xxxx

[Lokums]

Don't stress the hand rearing. Seems you are getting training and care enough to learn all you can. Its not like hand-feeding is rocket science or like hitting a baseball.

Anyway, opinions also vary on the target training. I feel that the they should be completely weaned, and able to move around well on a perch/T-stand. Just don't push them past their desire to accept training. I can say first hand they do not like that.

Mike

[midlandhippy]

Thanks Mike. I take it you hand rear also? I'm hoping it gives me a heads start with the bird and the trust and taming issue fingers crossed!

In regards to your post, I wouldn't start a 'training session' until he was fully weaned because of attention span etc. It was more just everything i have to do anyway, like feeding etc. Would the bird remember the target stick and what the click noise meant?

What age would you start to introduce a flight suit?

xx

[Lokums]

I hand-fed my B&G, but not my senegal. She was weaned when I got her.

Yes she will remember what the target stick is, and she will remember the click if you continue to work with her regularly. The flight suit, I introduced a harness to my B&G pretty early, like around 6 or 8 months or so. He took to it at first but as he got older he hated it.

I think because we took him on a road trip with us and left it on him so we could put the leash on and off when we needed to. In hindsight, not the best choice. You can insert the flight suit wearing as part of her training sessions too if you were so inclined. Just don't rush anything, be patient and things will work out.

Mike