My Boy Buds Update

[ariella]

Two and a half weeks left of quarantine and all the boys have settled in beautifully and are eating their veggies, as can be seen by Ivo’s beak area. 




Henry tucking into spinach and carrot




As you can see I have one vision perch in the quarantine cage but I find it serves a purpose and is great for holding cuttlefish and greens. 

Otis and Ivo have really bonded but thankfully not to the detriment of Henry who seems to just join in and shares kisses with Ivo too.

Otis




They’re totally unbothered by my hand now and I’ve had all three eating millet from my hand at the same time. 

Luca and Louie are really fun to watch though Luca has been using the bowl of oystershell as a dust bath. 🙄
They chatter away all day but don’t really groom one another or kiss much, unlike Otis and Ivo. It’s been wonderful watching them perfect their flying and landing skills.




I’m really looking forward to them meeting one another. Louie and Luca are in the Hamberley and the plan is for the other three to join them. I purposely haven’t added all the perches, swings and toys so have a lovely box of goodies from the Natural Bird Co plus others. I wanted it to seem a bit new to Louie and Luca by adding the new perches and toys when I’m ready for the others to move in so they also will have lots to explore and to make the cage a little less familiar so they don’t have an advantage, for want of a better word, over the other three, when they’re free to share it. 
My plan is to bring all cages into the same room for a couple of days prior to introductions once the quarantine period is over. They call to one another a lot throughout the day so it’ll be lovely to see if they sit in shy silence and eye each other up or chatter non-stop when the day comes. 

Any advice for how best to transfer Ivo, Otis and Henry into the Hamberley with as least stress as possible for them, Luca and Louie, would be appreciated. I know how quickly the 2.5 weeks will pass. 

[tweetiepiesmom]

I did the same thing that you doing when I introduced Buddy to Tweetie Pie. At the end of the quarantine, I put the two cages near-by (about 2 ft) for 4-5 days. Then I just opened the cage doors and let them do their own meet and greet. Tweetie Pie was the first out but his aim for Buddy's cage missed and he flew around the room for a while. Buddy came out and also flew around. Tweetie Pie finally went back in his cage (the big cage) and Buddy flew over to it. They started kissing between the bars and then Buddy found his way in. They've been inseparable ever since. Keeping an eye out on two when they first came out was difficult, so 'm not sure how that might go with five but it will be fun. Enjoy!

[Hezz]

Make sure they are all getting along well, with no squabbling at all, before moving them all into the same cage, and make sure they all have plenty of out-of-cage time afterwards. Rather than hustle them into the larger cage, while they are free roaming allow them to go back and forth to either cage as they feel like it.

[ariella]

Thanks Hezz, I was intending to just let them come and go and see how they settle. What’s the betting they want to squish in the Vision rather than the Hamberley? 😄

[skysmum]

Beautiful boys

I just put the cages in the same room for a couple of days then let them out when i can sit and watch what unfolds, these are young enough to all fit in rather well i think, the more you have the easier it is by far. You will be lead by what they decide cage wise but i have a feeling these little chaps will be happy to be a flock together in one cage quite soon.
Your problem could come when with your little girl, hens are very territorial and the boys may well fall out over her, so that will have to be done quite carefully. Exciting times

[ariella]

Perfect skysmum.
Jasper will be left to cast an eye over them for a good couple of days before any supervised out of cage time. It took her a few days but she shouts to them as much as they do to each other now. It will be interesting and I’ll be keeping a very close eye on things. They only have supervised free flight time with the door closed anyway, so it’ll be done slowly and at their pace.
I’m hoping the boys will all get all well. It is exciting. 😀😀

[Hezz]

Agree with skysmum - being young they will most likely be all happy together. Your hen is definitely the one to watch. Hopefully she will of the stand-off sort, happy to have the boys fawn all over her but not be bothered to give any special attention. My Smudge was like that and we never had a problem. She was the Queen of the budgie realm and all the boys were her serfs, there only to serve her graciously.