stressed bird

[June]

About 4 months ago Pear came to live with me from a home where she has lived for 5 years. The last of 2 daughters had just gone off to college and Mom was moving to an apartment where she could not take birds. I used to own a conure and thought I could handle it.

I just noticed yesterday, while cleaning her cage, that her breast is bare. Inside the wooden nesting box is where I believe the feathers were. So, for the first time in my home she does not have this box, where she has been spending most of her time. Today she is verbally complaining and I don't know which is worse, robbing her of her hide out or letting her nest. I have had 3 eggs since she came to live with me, but none were laid in the cage.

Also, I no longer let her out of the cage. When the weather was cooler, I put on heavy fleece and gloves and let my hair down to cover my ears -- she's pretty agressive.

Any advice would be helpful. I am seriously thinking of trying to find someone who has another love bird to take her. She lost her mate about a year ago - he had a blood feather.

[thebubbleking]

Sounds like she is prepareing her brood patch hens will pluch chest feathers when laying to have better contact with the eggs and keep the eggs warmer.
The main owrry is EVERYBIRD should have flight and outside cage time if they are not in a very large aviary type setting, if you cant let the bird out to play exersize etc i would start looking for a home where she can.

just my 2 cents XD

[JohnUK]

June: Hello. Pear has lost her mate, been rehomed, has a new owner and her favourite resting place is gone. I think you should be patient and give her ample chance to let her settle in. If Pears cage is large then she will get some excercise but I would be working towards slowly gaining her trust with the aim of restoring her out of cage time.

[linda040899]

Love, kindness and lots of patience are the key ingredients to making Pear happy again. I agree. She's had some major changes in her life and she's probably feeling pretty insecure right about now. Hens can be aggressive but working around that is where the challenge lies. When she's with you, perhaps have some toys that will distract her attention. I've seen parrot owners wear birdie necklaces that their birds enjoy playing with. It may be hard with Pear, but keeping her off your shoulder for now will save any upper body bites.

The missing chest feathers were removed so that she could make better incubating contact with her eggs. Some broody hens do it, while others don't. :) Make no mistake about it. Pear could be a wonderful companion. It's just learning how to handle her and avoid her nippiness. Some of my favorite pets are aggressive lovie hens.