Bird Junky 0 Posted February 25, 2012 Member ID: 7,065 Group: Site Members Followers: 0 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 391 Content Per Day: 0.09 Reputation: 0 Achievement Points: 2,185 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/01/12 Status: Offline Last Seen: March 13, 2013 Birthday: 02/05/1936 Share Posted February 25, 2012 B.J's Bird Training. The method of training birds I have practised over the past 50yrs is to teach without fear or conflict. I found it no more difficult to train, from one to six birds at the same time. Some of these well tried methods used by many professional's, are not very popular with the general public. Who sometimes have a tendency to put human feelings, needs & wants onto their pet birds. My one & only golden rule is to invite, not demand or command a bird to do anything without offering a small reward. This includes putting my hand into their cage or personal space. If any bird shows a dislike of being, picked up, stroked, or squeezed, I don't do it, humans forget, in the birds eyes you are a slightly better looking equivalent of King Kong. With my own bred birds, as they already know & trust me as their favourite uncle, are quite happy to eat from my hands. I always clip their wings as soon as they leave the nest, if I'm selling them as pre trained birds. You can charge a far higher price for trained birds. Have I already mentioned that??? I have also trained birds of all ages belonging to various clients, friends etc. & I treat them the same as the birds in stage one. PREPARATION for stage 1. Shop, breeder bought & older birds. I get the cage ready for the new arrivals. When training more than one bird. I move one of the upper perches much closer to the bars so that all the birds can reach any food I'm offering them through the bars at the same time. Bought & older birds, are without a known history, I ignore what I'm told about them being friendly etc. It's probably not true. When buying a bird I spend as long as I can watching the birds. Most birds are chosen for their colour. The ones I would be looking for are the inquisitive ones who are interested in what's going on around them. Never take pity on the shy one sitting all alone. He could be sick. Having made your choice, ask is there anyone available to clip their wings. If not & you don't know a friend who can, have a trip to the local avian vet. Buy several Millet sprays, as well as all the usual stuff you need. Wing clipping is highly recommended for training purposes. It makes things far easier for the trainer, novice or old hand. STAGE 1, Getting to know me. I put the new arrivals in their cage with, seed, grit, water,iodine block & cuttle bone on a table, leave them to settle down. Before I cover them for the night, I remove all food from the cage. I soak a millet spray or two overnight in water, enough for a days feed. It's more enjoyable if only marginally more nutritious. From now on I only feed by hand through the bars. Early next morning, I offer the millet spray from outside the cage through the bars. With several birds in one cage, I hold the spray horizontal to the bars so all the birds can eat at the same time. Reluctant birds will follow the example of the brave. I hold food up to the bars every time I think the birds might be hungry. I include fruit/veg, & soaked millet spray, but no loose seed, as yet. If I were working or otherwise engaged during the day. I would feed by hand before going out & leave the birds with enough food in their cage till I returned. On my return I remove all the food from the cage & continue the hand feed training during the evening. Once all the birds are happily feeding from my fingers, I continue this feeding for the rest of the day. I'm now ready to go to stage two. PREPARATION for stage 2. When working inside the cage I use a hanky fixed to the bar above the door with clothes pegs to act as a safety curtain to prevent escapes. To feed the birds I hold a spoonful of loose seed flat on the palm of my hand & a small piece of millet spray held by the thumb so I don't drop it. STAGE 2 feeding by hand & step up. Opening the curtained cage door I put my food filled hand inside. Talking softly, if no bird approaches & eats after a few minutes, I withdraw & try again 30min later. I repeat every 30min until they eat. Hunger will make them brave eventually. I keep filling my hand until they've all been fed. If for any reason you feel, this is not working. Return to feeding through the bars for another day or two. When I have them happily feeding from my hand I offer them all kinds of food. Seed, soaked & sprouted, fruit/veg, eggfood etc. Between meals I offer small titbits to individual birds. This will help me sort out the birds, the fearless & quick to learn from the slower ones, if any. I would hide a small treat under my thumb that I could reveal to show them, that a hand that looks empty is still worth investigating. When they perch on my fingers I would take this opportunity to gently stroke their toes with my thumb, occasionally pressing lightly so they get used to it. This will come in handy at a later date, to keep a bird on my finger should it try to fly off at an inappropriate moment. When I'm 100% happy, they have completed step 2 to my satisfaction. I return any moved perches back in their original position, & go to stage 3. Take your time it may take a week to get to this stage. PREPARATION for stage 3 out time. As yet no bird has left the cage. I prepare by bird proofing the room, I dispensed with the hanky & I've knocked together a perch on wood blocks, raised a few inches off the table top. I use it for, "Out Time". As I long ago found that birds should be discouraged from perching anywhere except on the cloth covered table or your hands. So every, stranger, friend, family members or pets don't have to worry about where the birds are. This is also to prevent damage/soiling of property & any danger to the birds themselves. Before the birds are hand fed either their morning or if I'm busy, their evening meal. STAGE 3 Out time. I sit at their table with a little seed or millet in my hand & open the cage door, I put my hand in & allow them to step on & eat, slowly I take my hand out of the cage, letting them stay on my hand until they realise they're out & can walk off. I let them explore & feed from a plate of treats while I enjoy a cup of tea. If you have a bird gym I would encourage them to play on it. When I've had enough I go to stage 4. PREPARATION for stage 4, the return. I fix the cage door open & fill the cage seed pots & add a fruit/veg treat. STAGE 4 the return. I hold a treat & as each bird comes over for a taste I either, put them away or teach them to run around the table, luring them with the treat. A short distance the first time, gradually increase this to right round the table. onto my home made perch where I give them the treat. I try never to chase & catch a bird its better to let him go than ruin the trust already built up. I don't let a mishap turn into a catastrophe. I would encourage the bird to step onto my hand with the aid of a treat & put him away with it. When I'm satisfied with the birds progress, I feed all foods in the cage as normal. but save a couple of treats as special, only to be fed by hand as a reward treats. One of my favourite was Sponge Cake. I would cut a slice for myself & cut some into beak size pieces. I eat mine with a cup of tea as I put the birds through their paces. Teaching them tricks, games, etc. Remember an unclipped bird flying off in a blind panic is an accident waiting to happen. Well that's about it, all you have to do is to persuade your birds you are the most interesting thing in the world. You will be teaching your birds to play the piano in no time. Yours B.J. Link to comment
Finnie 0 Posted February 27, 2012 Member ID: 5,135 Group: Global Moderators Followers: 0 Topic Count: 69 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 2,545 Content Per Day: 0.48 Reputation: 0 Achievement Points: 14,055 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/03/09 Status: Offline Last Seen: March 18, 2020 Birthday: 06/08/1965 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Thanks for taking the time to write this up, BJ. It will be very helpful for people who want help with taming their birds. And it illustrates why it is so important to have lots of patience. Link to comment
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