Something in the air maybe?

[Mandolin]

Well well well.... little miss nesty has moved in :( . My sweet Kameko bird is turning into quite the nesty little hen. She is like a 1 year old... everything goes in her mouth. She chews and chomps on everything to see if she can find nesting material. She will dive bomb you from across the room if you have any paper. She scales my book cases to get at the paper, and has discovered that my fish tanks have a picture on the back that she can bite holes in. She is a little more cranky than she used to be, but still a sweetie (when she wants to be). The only problem i have is that every 3 seconds Ia m jumping up and taking something out of her beak, moving books away, taking her out of situations, the list goes on. Makes our time together me just running after her then putting her away when i am too frustrated. Also the walking from across the bed or desk (where ever we are) and just biting me for the fun of it. Nesty hens are funny to watch, but not so fun when you are on the other end of the beak. I know there are many others going through the same thing so i wanted to share and hope that i am invited into the nesty hen mommy support group.

[bellarains]

Mandy,

Yep, those of us that have hens know where you are coming from. When they get that determined it seems best to just go ahead and give them the paper to strip.

I take a section of the newspaper and fold it to make a little tent like structure, they love to crawl inside the tunnel and strip paper. I do give Lacey the paper out of the cage until I see if she is really going to lay eggs or not. Sometimes she just wants to strip paper, other times she a wee bit more serious about it all;)

[butterfly1061]

I feel for you. My Olivia is only 9 months old and shreds like a pro. Every and anything she can get that little shredder beak on is hers and don't try to take it away. I gave in after talking to my breeder friend who sold her to me and have decided if Olivia finds anything to shred, she can have it. Althought I "try" not leave anything out in view, but you know how hard that is :rolleyes: Ohhhh, those nesty little hens - you gotta love em' :p

[Mandolin]

Its true, you gotta love 'em :D . I thought that giving her paper to chew would just make her more and more hormonal and since i don't really want her to lay eggs yet i have been avoiding it. I didn't know it was different if she is given paper out of the cage than inside it. I have never given her anything inside her cage to stip and possibly make a nest with , i honestly don't think she knows what to do with the paper yet. She just strips and stores the paper in her feathers then leaves it or they fall out when she flies. My boyfriend, Sean, actually checks her feathers for paper before he puts her away so there will be no nest building. Well since she just loves to chew paper so much, i will give her some to chew... but still just outside the cage. People laugh at me at school because i have little chew marks in all my books :lol , the nesty hen syndrome is hard to explain to a non birdie owner.

[BarbieH]

Chasing them is very frustrating, and they will find things to chew in the most unlikely places. I went through the same frustration with Gracie early on, and then Linda or Robin suggested the obvious: wing clip! It won't stop the chewing, but it limits what they can get into ... and makes them easier to catch.

Good luck. :)

[Luckys mom]

Lucky is having a gay ol' time with my plant. I stuck a branch off of a safe tree in the pot and now she is chewing it (as well as the plant). She is quite a little chewer, that one!

[Mandolin]

A wing clip would stop her from being able to get into some of the areas that she finds things to chew, but right now she only has 3 flight feathers and i am waiting for a few more to come in before i put her through a wing clip, other wise i will just have to do it again when the other ones come in. I guess it will just be me chasing and taking things away, again and again until the day comes where she can have her wings clipped. Never a dull day when there is a nesty hen in the house.