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Food and flight

Talk about bird illnesses and other bird health related issues. Seeds, pellets, fruits, vegetables and more. Discuss what to feed your birds and in what quantity. Share your recipe ideas.

Food and flight

Postby Krevh » Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:58 pm

Hello parrot community!

Frist off, i would like to say that i'm new to the forum, and i hope this topic is in the right thread.
This is the first bird i own, and i might just be worried for no reason, but i would still like to hear some feedback from this community.

About a week ago, i got an 8 month old barraband parakeet.
As far as training goes i think we're getting along fine. in a week he learned to step up/down, turn around, fly from my hand to the top of his cage on command - to keep it short i think he's cooperating nicely.

Every day since i got him we have 1 hour reserved for trick and flight training. Today i noticed a problem during flight training. I started a repetition excercise for him to fly from my hand to the top of his cage, while increasing the distance from the hand to the cage. I started at 3m, and gradualy moved up to about 8 meters. now after 10 or so repetitions, he didn't want to fly anymore. I assumed he was tired and put him in his cage, the second he was in the cage he went straight for his food and kept eating for over 15 mins. keep in mind that everytime he flew from my hand to the cage he got a treat. before i got the bird i did some research on parrots in general and read that young birds eat about 10% of their weight in a meal. after this session he ate that amount of seeds alone, nevermind the chopped apples, carrots and oranges he gets with his seeds.

So my question here is a two parter:
1. is the flight training intensity just too much for a bird his age?
2. should i mesure the ammount of food i'm giving him, or just let him eat as much as he wants, since he's still growing?

i would really like to train this bird into a good flyer, not a chubby, lazy parrot :)
Krevh
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Barraband
Flight: Yes

Re: Food and flight

Postby ParrotsForLife » Thu Feb 02, 2017 7:38 pm

At 8 months I would be focusing on building a bond with him especially since you don't have him very long and I would get him on a good diet too and introduce him to as many new foods as possible and as a baby he should be learning how he should behave just like you would have learned from your parents and then later in life you learned to ride a bike etc its kinda the same as teaching tricks to a bird.
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ParrotsForLife
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1725
Location: Ireland,Dublin
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Rocko and Loki, Cockatiels
Mango, Plum headed parakeet
Tiko, African grey, Oscar, BFA
Flight: Yes

Re: Food and flight

Postby Krevh » Thu Feb 02, 2017 7:55 pm

well, i am trying to build a bond between us (playing with him, talking to him with a calm voice, giving gim treats and toys from my hand etc.), that's not the training time, i try to bond woth him over the course of the entire day. But my original question remains unanswered (or you answered it in a subtle way :lol: )
that is: am i overworking/overfeeding the bird?

PS: a good diet? i feed him a seed mix for medium parrots (provided by the breeder, so i assume it's good food) and i'm trying to get him to eat other fruits and veggies, but so far, the only things he likes are apples, oranges and carrots.
Krevh
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Barraband
Flight: Yes

Re: Food and flight

Postby liz » Fri Feb 03, 2017 7:34 am

He is so young and you have not had him long enough for him to accept your home. How is he with your hands? Do you let him out to fly? I would wait until he comes to me before I made a start in any training. (I do not train mine. They learn instead.)

Flocking birds learn from their parents and from flock mates what is good to eat. You are a poor substitute but the only flock he has. Eat with him. Give him safe foods from your plate while he is watching. Make it emotional and not physical contact. Even at this age he will probably understand "mmmmm". Eating together forms a strong bond like in the old days when the family sat around the dinner table and communicated with out technology.

I have resently noticed that when I am eating a snack (about every hour of the day) my Amazons will go back to their morning meal and eat a little as if we are snacking together. That is if they cannot convince me to share mine.

My cockatiels are in their own room and in a flock. If one tries a new food and eats it then the others will try it.

With the little time you have had him and he is still a baby this and being visible for him to watch you is all you should be working on.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Food and flight

Postby ParrotsForLife » Fri Feb 03, 2017 11:07 am

When I'm having dinner Oscar will sit on the table and eat with us
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ParrotsForLife
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1725
Location: Ireland,Dublin
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Rocko and Loki, Cockatiels
Mango, Plum headed parakeet
Tiko, African grey, Oscar, BFA
Flight: Yes

Re: Food and flight

Postby Pajarita » Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:14 pm

Welcome to the forum! Now, I am going to tell you something that you will not want to hear but, please, keep on reading so you can understand why I say this as I don't want to alienate you but help your bird and you: stop the training immediately! Let me explain. Superbs (aka barrabands) are an aviary species, not a companion one. This makes it difficult for the owners to keep them bonded to them once they reach an age of sexual activity so the very first thing you need to do is make this bird love you to pieces because, if you don't (and even if you do and do not have the expertise, persistence and time to handle him correctly) he will become aloof as he grows up. Superbs do great in aviaries with a mate or a couple of pairs but not so good as companions... That's the way aviary species are and there is nothing anybody can do to change this because it's the way nature made them. Even companion species should never be trained before they bond and, at one week, this bird is still in its very early honeymoon stage and there should never be any formal training until the honeymoon stage is over. Furthermore, training sessions should never be more than 5 minutes at a time -never ever an entire hour! The only reason why he is responding is either hunger or flooding and, if you continue, it will, most likely, backfire on you. Parrots are not like dogs and juveniles (what you have) are not puppies that love their human from day one. They are not human-oriented, they are not grateful to us for shelter and food, and don't understand the concept of obedience, submission or discipline (they did not evolve to live in hierarchical social groups) so training requires the bird to want to please us (out of love) as well as the actual high value item we use as reward (I don't even use anything but my praise as reward). I highly suggest you forget about the training and concentrate on bonding with the bird. Allow it hours of flight by opening his cage door and stepping away so he can choose whether to come out or not, spend as much time as you can with him talking, singing, whistling, offering a treat every now and then (not a reward, a treat given to him as a token of friendship and not as payment for a job well done). Wait two or three months before you start the formal training sessions and do just two or three a day of only 5 minutes each (longer sessions will burn him out and decrease his desire for the high value item to the point that he will refuse to perform).

As to its diet, these birds are partial ground foragers so, although they do eat seeds, it's grass seeds which are low in protein and fat so free-feeding it a diet of seeds or pellets is not healthy for them. You need to offer cooked whole grains mixed with very finely chopped veggies accompanied by fresh fruit and leafy greens for breakfast and a low protein/low fat mix of seeds for dinner. There is something not right going on with your bird because birds never eat for 15 minutes non-stop. Are you, by any chance, feeding him only after training so his hunger will make him perform? Because, if you are, I might as well tell you that this is not going to work out for you or the bird in the long term. Birds have a very fast metabolism with juveniles requiring more sources of food than adults (they usually get two kinds of soft food daily) - they also have very set daily biorhythms and need to eat breakfast at dawn or they develop eating disorders.

One more comment. If you are trying to teach your bird flight recall from afar thinking that you will be able to free-fly the bird outside, I suggest you do some more research about this because it won't work for an aviary species without a mate waiting for it.

Rereading my post, it seems as I am knocking down everything you are doing and, in a way, I am but not because I think you don't love your bird or that you will be a bad owner. It's only that parrots require husbandry and training in very specific ways for the whole human/bird relationship to work out long term and the first couple of months are the foundation where this relationship will be built. Use a weak or inadequate foundation and, as you start building up on it, the whole thing will come tumbling down - and this is usually the reason why you see so many adult birds rehomed: because the owners did not know how to create a permanent bond with them and I would not want that to happen to you or your bird.
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

Re: Food and flight

Postby ParrotsForLife » Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:54 pm

Oscar is here almost 2 months now and I haven't started any training yet except for the basic step up command and he learned a lot of words himself, What I consider bonding with Oscar is showers, playtime together, eating dinner as a flock and talking to him.You can try doing these things with your Barraband, I have 4 Aviary species 2 are Cockatiels and the others are Plum headed parakeet and a baby Kakariki and they are so different compared to my Amazon that loves to be around people.
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ParrotsForLife
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1725
Location: Ireland,Dublin
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Rocko and Loki, Cockatiels
Mango, Plum headed parakeet
Tiko, African grey, Oscar, BFA
Flight: Yes

Re: Food and flight

Postby dragonlady2 » Fri Feb 03, 2017 5:23 pm

I have 2 male Barrabands. Yes, they are considered aviary birds. Mine are quite flighty. However, they are a very friendly species. Mine don't step up, but I don't force the issue. They will sit in my shoulder and watch me play games on my iPad all day if they could. They don' t bite. They will go back into their cage when asked. I kiss them on their beaks all the time and my one male will rest his head on my cheek when on my shoulder.
They have an amazing vocabulary. I feed them sprouts, fresh greens, veggies and fruit. They also get cooked sweet potato with red rice and quinoa. They do have a dish of seeds as well.
I believe that excessive training is not good for them. They are free flying and happy when they are allowed that freedom to come and go, jmo. They are awesome companion birds if you don't have too many expectations.
dragonlady2
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 34
Location: canada
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: Alexandrine, conures, senegal, australian king, plum head, eclectus,Barrabands, parrotlets, canaries
Flight: Yes

Re: Food and flight

Postby liz » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:17 am

Each bird has it's own personality. If given respect and love even an aviary bird can become a joy.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Food and flight

Postby ParrotsForLife » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:39 am

A hand reared Aviary bird is definitely gonna become a companion bird
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ParrotsForLife
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1725
Location: Ireland,Dublin
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Rocko and Loki, Cockatiels
Mango, Plum headed parakeet
Tiko, African grey, Oscar, BFA
Flight: Yes

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