New Hen To Frisky Cock, Hen In Distress. Advice?

[Erin 0]

Hi all:

 

I brought home a new baby hen named Kazoo about 3 weeks ago after my budgie Georgie and I lost our dear friend Joey to old age (he was 16). Now this new bird is female whereas before it was 2 males in the cage together. In a nutshell, the days are getting longer here, and Georgie is frisky enough to try and mate with my fingernail, and has been chasing Kazoo around the cage. :fear Kazoo is bleating like a dolphin quite frequently as she tries to get away from him - that high pitched monosyllabic distress signal. This is not consistent, in fact at other times she seeks his company and they are grooming one another and touching beaks, etc., however it happens about 3 times a day.

 

Any advice as to how to handle this? How much of this is sex-related, and how much of it is "I don't know you that well yet?" Currently, I have an opaque dark cage cover I am putting over them if it gets too intense. It seems to generate relief. I am spending extra time supervising, I have observed no viciousness or anything dangerous. I do not have another cage. I am also keeping them covered for an hour extra in the a.m.

 

Thanks in advance

[Elly 0]

I didn't see that you quarantined your new addition? Quarantine provides time for the new bird to settle in along with watching for any illness that the new bird can have or any stress induced illness.

 

My advice is this because this did happen to Merlin who was a mere baby and Pretty was older (both males - so I don't think this just occurs between different sexes) is to separate them and start over. The same thing happened to you is what happened to me. Pretty kept trying to step up on Merlin and being it dominance or mating you would hear the angry dolphin noise so this is what I did and it worked perfectly.

 

Here is the infomation straight from the FAQ that I wrote up to introduce my 2nd bird to my 1st.

 

Quarantine Program is the first thing you will need to do before your introduce any new birds to your existing birds (flock).

 

Here is a method that I have used and found to be useful when introducing a new bird to the existing flock. This method is primary to be used if you are introducing in a small setting (such a inside cage or a small aviary). Those who have large aviaries may have different methods since the situation is different.

 

When I introduce Pretty to Merlin it was a gradual process. When quarantine was over these are the steps I took.

 

1. I first let them out together on top of the cage with complete supervision

2. I kept their cages side by side but not where they could beak fight or pick at each others toes. So about 2 inches apart

3. I then let Merlin go in Pretty's cage during the day supervised only

4. I then let Merlin go in Pretty's cage during the day unsupervised only after I knew that everyone body was settled.

5. After I knew the daytime unsupervised time was okay, I then housed them together.

 

Now not everyone may do what I did but this is why I did this.

 

When I first introduced them Pretty thought Merlin was a girl (he was a boy) and kept trying to jump on his back plus he was very hyper flirting like mad. Merlin kept refusing his actions of love :fear and would do a lot of dolphin noises.

 

I moved on to the next step when Merlin was doing so much dolphin "mad" like budgie noises and Pretty settled down.

 

For me it took just a little under 2 weeks. Everyone is different some members can put their budgies in straight away (after quarantine is over) but I could not.

 

 

Last update: 2007-05-06 15:31

Author: Elly

Edited March 24, 2008 by Elly

[**KAZ** 0]

QUARANTINE is hugely important and only those who have lost birds in the past due to no quarantine will appreciate this in all its importance.

Advice ??

Seperate them for awhile.

Stress equals illness...stress from being caught , moved, sold, new home, new seed, meeting new flock members, breeding, fending off frsky males.

I have had hens die from the stress of trying to fend off the advances of a far too forceful male.

Your male thinks you bought him a present for him to use. She will get sick from all this, so seperate them and give her a place she feels safe to acclimatise in a slower and easier way.

Edited March 25, 2008 by KAZ

[Neat 0]

If possible try and seperate them for a while But have them where they can still see each other( even though you didn't quarrentine * Quarrentine also means seperate rooms ) This will give Kazoo time to adjust and still see her friend with out constantly being hit on .... and she won't have to stress out

[Erin 0]

Thanks for your responses Elly, Kaz and Neat. Looks like I'd better get my hands on another cage and give Kazoo a break/let them get to know eachother in a slower way.

[Erin 0]

Good news:

 

Took your advice and birds are now in separate cages.

No more stressed out dolphin bleats from hen Kazoo.

 

She is definitely giving Cock Georgie 'the bum's rush,' literally, sitting with her back to him and looking, for all intents and purposes, much less stressed.

 

They can see eachother and have exchanged friendly chirps/song.

 

I am also very relieved. Thanks for the advice.

 

Question: How long should this separation stage last?

[birdluv 0]

glad to hear that they have calmed down.

 

it is hard to tell how long the separation might be, it could be long term, or they might stop fighting and can be in one cage. it all depends on how the budgies feel.

[Erin 0]

If it was a mating season behaviour, wouldn't it eventually calm down? They aren't actually fighting. Georgie is bothering/stressing her because of his affections, not aggressions. I bought her as a companion for him, after losing a bird. So you're saying they might never work it out? Doesn't this issue come up fairly often with a male and female pairing?

[**KAZ** 0]

There's not really a "mating season" as such with budgies at home...in the wild they have a breeding season, but in reality....

anytime the food and conditions are good is a time for home budgies to mate.

Your boy just got excited as you gave him a present in the form of a girl budgie.

 

Once she settles in and quantines.... and seems less inclined to stress and get ill from stress...try again. But do it slower and with advice regarding proper introduction techniques.

[Erin 0]

There's not really a "mating season" as such with budgies at home...in the wild they have a breeding season, but in reality....

anytime the food and conditions are good is a time for home budgies to mate.

 

 

Georgie *definitely* gets friskier around this time. I'm not sure why, perhaps it's because there are drastic differences in the light/seasons up here in Canada.. Regardless, he definitely has his 'seasons'. Last year around this time he wrapped his wings around my hand, and hooked his beak over my fingernail....

Still...appreciate the advice.

Edited March 27, 2008 by Erin