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Dr Hook

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Dr Hook

Postby freespirits » Mon Dec 18, 2017 10:31 am

A few weeks, I stepped outside into the beautiful summer morning to be greeted by "hello Cocky" from high up in a tree on my small wooded property in the Perth Hills. We have planted a wildlife corridor over the past 5 years and it is just starting to bring in all this wildlife. We have many birds around here but none that talk. SO this bird greeted me, then came down and walked into my life. I have tried to find his (or her) home but have not been able to and it is not microchipped. So with us the parrot stays for now. His wing has been clipped so I can not let him fly free outside yet (plus the owner still might come forward). He lives with my chooks in the chook house when we are at work or out but come insides and roams around when we can keep a eye on him. (He is a rapscallion and is capable of expensive damage). He loves me dearly and is affectionate and gentle but tries to attack my 13 year old daughter and bites her. This will not do. So we googled ways to help him to stop and lo and behold, here we are.
freespirits
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Western Corella
Flight: No

Re: Dr Hook

Postby Pajarita » Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:25 pm

Welcome to the forum and thank you so much for taking the poor lost baby in!

Now, before we go into the subject of your inquiry, I would like to make a couple of comments. If he is clipped in only one wing, I suggest you do the other one, too. The unilateral clip is something nobody does any longer as it's unnecessarily dangerous to birds. A bilateral clip prevents them from flying just as much and it doesn't present the danger of the bird hitting things and hurting himself from not being able to glide in a straight line. Also [and it's not that I don't realize the reason why you are doing because I would imagine that you don't want to invest in the kind of expensive cage a cockatoo needs if he/she is going to go back to his/her owner] I would not recommend you keep him with chickens. For one thing, chickens have parasites that pet parrots don't have. For another [and, please, correct me if I am wrong] chicken coops are usually made out of treated wood and galvanized wire mesh and this presents a problem with parrots because treated wood is poisonous to them, same as the galvanized wire. Chickens don't chew while cockatoos are, pretty much, a one bird demolition crew :lol:

As to his loving you and being always gentle but attacking and biting your daughter... well, I am afraid that this is their normal behavior! Parrots are all one-person pets but cockatoos are the worst when it comes to this. It's completely instinctual to them because of the deep bond they form with humans after imprinting on them and the fact that these are animals that are monogamous. They love only one person BUT they can have a relationship with others as long as they don't perceive them as competition for their chosen one. So the thing to do is to show him that your daughter is not a threat to the relationship he/she has with you and this is done by refraining from any physical interaction between you two when he is in the room. She should also never try to interact with him/her when you are in the room and to only do it when you are not around. BUT this interaction needs to be only verbal, never really physical until he/she takes the first step to a more involved friendship.

People will tell you that she should be the one feeding him, giving him treats, etc. but the truth of the matter is that parrots are not grateful for the care we give them - as far as they are concerned, food is not something that needs to be worked for the way that predators do, it's something to enjoy as they go along... People talk about foraging being work for them but I doubt these people have ever observed a flock of parrots foraging because, if they had, they would see very clearly that, to them, it's a social occasion and not really work at all.

Once she/he stops attacking her [and that does not mean biting the hand that is put out for him/her to step up - that is NOT an attack, it's just a rejection of an overture, an attack is when the parrot goes after the person by either flying to it, walking straight toward it or leaning all the way out with the sole purpose of biting him or her], she should start having very short daily target training sessions [always without you in the room, mind you!]. But even if the parrot is not doing this right now, she should wait a couple of weeks without having any physical interaction with him/her and eliminating all 'loving' gestures when you are both in the same room with him/her to allow his/her dislike of her to cool off. Cockatoos are great for target training but in order for it to work, you have to make sure that the bird is not being free-fed high protein food because the only thing that actually works well as a reward is what we call a high-value item which is ALWAYS a high protein food item.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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