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Well, after being so excited to introduce my lovely GracyLou to you all last night, and being so proud that she's out on her own and thinking she's so clever, I came home tonight to find that things aren't quite as rosy as I thought.

 

My "mature mumma" Charlie is now hellbent on world domination and has ditched her offspring in an attempt to make some more. I'm not interested in that, but in the meantime, look what she's done to her baby! She's got blood on her wing and has a chunk of feathers missing from above her eye.

PoorGracyLou.jpg

 

Charlie has always been an aggressive bird (the only one I've met that can draw blood!), but she'd softened when little GracyLou came along. Until Gracy started showing some independence, so now she's out.

Whatdoyoumeanmyparrotsbeenreplaced.jpg

 

My question is, if I decide to remove Gracy from her parent's cage because of the violence towards her, how do I go about making sure she's well fed and watered? She hatched on February 13th, so is only just over a month old. She's still being fed by Dad, but Mum's lost interest and I'm worried if I take the nesting box off (because I don't want her to lay again) she'll be even more aggressive towards the little one.

 

Any ideas? I'll be happy to hand feed her, but I've never had to before so I'm really not sure on what to feed her or how often, or if she's okay to start to learn on her own.

 

Looking forward to any helpful suggestions :D

 

FridayarvodrinkieswithGracyLou.jpg

 

thanks!

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Hi Leanne,

 

take mum out and leave Daddy to look after her... Poor Gracy-Lou

 

 

Feathers.

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Guest throwback

You could see if she is eating seed on her own. She should be old enough to take care of herself. If you have another little cage you could try that.

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Yep, agree with Feathers. If Dad is already looking after her, I'd remove mum and give dad the sole parenting duties. I'm sure she'll settle down once the nest box is gone and little Gracy Lou has grown up a little and isn't dependant on her.

 

Just read Throwbacks post. You could try that also! ;) Good Luck and keep us updated on them all.

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Will do. I have to admit, I didn't consider removing the trouble-maker, I was just trying to make sure I could care for the baby properly.

 

So, as much as it will pain me to disappoint her, Charlie will be evicted tomorrow morning (band-aids and dettol on stand-by!).

 

Does anyone have any advice for a fretting (human) mother? ;)

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Will do. I have to admit, I didn't consider removing the trouble-maker, I was just trying to make sure I could care for the baby properly.

 

So, as much as it will pain me to disappoint her, Charlie will be evicted tomorrow morning (band-aids and dettol on stand-by!).

 

Does anyone have any advice for a fretting (human) mother? :)

 

 

:) Relax! (Laughing out loud)... They'll all be fine. Charlie will prob have her knickers in a knot when you take her out, esp as her hubby wont be going with her. Try putting seed on the bottom of the breeding cage, as well as some millet and finely chopped veggies. This will hopefully encourage Gracy Lou to eat on her own. The quicker this happens, the quicker you can get dad back with mum, and hopefully things will begin to settle down. When Gracy Lou gets older, will she be housed with her parents? If so, it will be interesting to see how that goes... Good Luck, have yourself a drink or two... and relax... (((hugs))) for the fretting mother ;)

Edited by maesie
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How lovely, thank you! That's so sweet ;)

 

I have a good sized cage spare so Gracy will have a home of her own, or very possibly, share with either her half-brother or half-sister, depending on who behaves the best! Given Petey's "amorous" behaviour towards anyone or anything that will let him, I'm thinking it'll be best to keep the girls in one or perhaps leave Petey and Cinnamon Princess together and leave Gracy-Lou "untouched"! DSCN3335Custom.jpg

 

I like to let them all out and decide for themselves who sleeps where, but this hasn't always ended well - at one point I had 5 budgies in a cage designed to fit 2, and they don't like it when I decide to break up the little slumber party!

 

I'll let you all know how I go with Miss Cranky Pants (Charlie) tomorrow

 

cheers

Edited by Leanne
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I'll let you all know how I go with Microsoft Corporation ® Cranky Pants (Charlie) tomorrowcheers
;) Good Luck Edited by maesie
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Hi Leanne,

 

GracyLou will be okay with Charlie when she is older. The main reason a hen starts to attack a chick like that is because she wants the chick out of the nest so she can start laying again. Not a good idea because of her age. I think she has done really well to have one. She deserves the rest. Dad will be just fine looking after GracyLou until she has fledged and can eat on her own.

 

 

Feathers.

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Hi everyone

 

Just thought I'd let you know how I went with my cranky Charlie-girl yesterday. First of all I took the nesting box off the cage, and as we expected, Charlie was very distressed. BUT, I distracted her by taking the cage downstairs into the garden and giving them a much needed spray.

AfterGracysfirstbathCustom.jpg

 

They all loved it, and since I had some work to do in the yard and was around to keep an eye on things I decided to give Charlie "supervised visitation rights" before I put her in solitary. She was such a good girl, and even nibbled my fingers gently for the first time ever (instead of trying to tear the flesh from my bones!). Here she is, my soggy Charlie:

CharlieafterbathCustom.jpg

 

So all 3 were happily in the cage together all day, and the only time there was even a hint of aggression was if Gracy dared to nibble on the grass seeds I'd put in the cage for them, but she does that to Flash all the time and it wasn't more than a quick peck so I wasn't overly concerned. Gracy was eating seed on her own, and Flash would feed her as well.

 

Here's the happy family (yesterday)

HappyfamilyCustom.jpg

Gracy-Lou, Charlie, Flash

 

I naively thought that in her new surroundings and outlook on life (they've now moved in to the loungeroom with us) Charlie might've forgotten about her urge to hurt the baby. I can see you all shaking your heads at me in disbelief, but I really thought she might be okay!

 

All it took was Gracy showing how clever she was this morning by climbing and flying to the top perch, and Charlie was there, leaning down trying to push her off the cage wall or off the perch when she finally made it all the way up. I watched them for a few minutes and Charlie was being truly evil. Poor GracyLou looked like such a gumby, still figuring out how her wings worked, and there was Mum, ready to make sure she fell at every opportunity.

 

So I braced myself, found a pillowcase for protection, and went in. I came out with only a minor bite, and now Poor Charlie is looking all forlorn in the cage next to Flash and Gracy-Lou. I guess I'll leave it for a few weeks then reunite Flash and Charlie and fitout Gracy-Lou in her new cage.

 

Here's something else though ... yesterday Flash tried to mount Gracy-Lou a few times - ewww - is that normal?!! I shoo'd him away from her so he started on Charlie instead. Geez, its bad enough she's got a psycho mum but it turns out she's got a desperately h*rny dad as well!

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Here's something else though ... yesterday Flash tried to mount Gracy-Lou a few times - ewww - is that normal?!! I shoo'd him away from her so he started on Charlie instead. Geez, its bad enough she's got a psycho mum but it turns out she's got a desperately h*rny dad as well!

 

:rip: very normal budgie behaviour unfortunately... I'm sorry that Charlie couldn't stay with Gracy-Lou and Flash. Hopefully over time that may change, or just keeping Gracy-Lou in her own cage might be just as good... and allow them to play together. It's great she's eating her own seed (just watch her to make sure she actually is and just not playing in it). I love the picture of the three of them in the cage... very cute! :)

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