My little girl is growing up!

[LoveBugs]

I don't know if this is a good thing or not!!!!

Suddenly my little baby has grown up!!! :cry:

It just seem like yesterday she was seeking out the comfort of my armpits as a safe haven for sleeping, napping, and just for safety!

Now she's seeking out other dark little nooks and crannies and dragging in various so called "nesting" material and chasing out evil "invaders"!

Today suddenly she has been interested in the bottom of her cage where previously she would NEVER be caught there! Now? It's like the only thing running through her little head is..."I see paper! Paper! Must try and get that PAPER!"

It's kind of weird because it seemed to happen over night!

Which brings me to ask the board:

If later I decide to give her a mate, what are the chances of a hen accepting a younger male? She's still under a year old, and usually lovies around my part are sold at around 2-5 months old... So IF and WHEN I do decided to get her a mate, her mate would be about a year or two younger than her...

Would it be best to just keep her a spinister? She already has a birdie... a younger hen she likes to beat up on occassion! lol.

[Buy A Paper Doll]

what are the chances of a hen accepting a younger male?
From what I understand, an adult hen will reject a younger male, especially a baby as you're describing. There are always exceptions to the rule, though ...

[Joanie Noel]

I think it might depend on the temperaments of the male and female themselves. My 16-month-old male was a feather picker of companion birds, so I had a hard time with younger birds for him. He was pretty aggressive towards them, although very sweet to me, so I figured I'd try an older hen for him, and it turns out that they have fallen in love! Kirby doesn't pluck Maple, which is a big accomplishment. They didn't seem to get along at first, but now they have their first clutch of eggs! :D The 2-1/2 year old hen surely put Kirby in his place. ;)

You have to weigh the options and be prepared to keep them in separate cages in case the pairing doesn't work out. I had to keep mine in separate cages for over a month, then in a divided cage for a few weeks, then in the same cage. It is quite a process! And it can be very frustrating at times.

I would be very cautious about putting an adult hen with a youngster, though, like Jennifer mentioned. My male was over a year old, so he was fine.

- Joanie

[BarbieH]

You also need to keep an eye on your little paper-holic and that other hen. Be prepared to separate them if the fighting gets too rough. Nesty hens can be deadly.

As far as her accepting another male, a lot of it depends on whether he is visually mature. If they both have full adult feather and beak coloring, she may accept him as a potential mate, when she herself is old enough. Even with birds the same age, there is no guarantee that they will take to each other.

Best wishes,

[LauraO]

I just wanted to add you may want to keep an eye on your little baby as she might try and lay some eggs without a mate and she is still rather young. To deter any egg laying I would limit the amount of paper she has, including keeping all of it out of the cage, and I would move her toys and perches around in her cage. The best thing to do is to put a perch or something in the corner she's favoring because that's where she'll want to lay an egg.

btw, it is so sad when our cuddly little baby lovies grow up to be big birdies :( .

[LoveBugs]

And VERY nippy to boot!!

Ahhh! Don't worry about seperating the two! Little Lily now has her own little birdie mansion complete with brand new perches, swings, toys, and boing!

And I'm in the hole by another 150$ because PP decided to "grow" up!!!! As soon as I showed them the new cage, guess who was the first in there running from perch to perch and toy to toy?! Yes... PP!!!

Guess who, when I said bed time, was the first one in the new cage, grinding her beak? Yes... PP!!!

They're such little characters!!!!

Okay! I'm going to keep PP a spinister!!! (And boy have she been trying to solicitate to poor Little Lily who has NO IDEA what is going on! lol :rofl: )

Okay, time to replace toys and switch out perches to clean in PP's cage while she's sitting on her cage instead of in it! Then maybe I won't get any new battle wounds! lol

[LoveBugs]

Ahh...Forgot to remove the tags off of one of her new toys... and the little lovie went from making spit balls as previously...to actually little strips! How DO they know how to and when to do all this?! It's kind of weird because it sure isn't learned behavior!