Lullu and Ackes first egg

SilleIN · Dec 27, 2018

Hi,

I know I haven't been the most loyal parront in here, but I am SO happy and I am too afraid to share something like this in my own country, as there has been a lot of thefts of parrot the last few years (especially breeding pairs).

I just got the most awesome Christmas present yesterday.

I went on my daily food routine and this is what I found in my mollucan cockatoos aviary:

sillein-albums-birds-picture20947-acke-lullu-their-first-egg.jpg

Lullu is from a German zoo and she was really plucked and had 3 self-inflicted wounds on her chest when she came. She also had a severely malformed toe as a result of an attack from her previous partner. Lullu has now had her toe amputated (she kept getting it stuck in the aviary) and is now almost completely feathered.

Acke is from Sweden from a horrible case of animal neglect, where 30 of the 70 birds had to be put down immediately. Acke is a really scared bird and any changes to his routine upsets him greatly (new toys makes him scream for 2 days).

These 2 damaged birds has found each other and has now laid an egg :smile015:

I didn't have any hopes (ok sure, I had hopes, but no expectations) of them ever producing anything due to their past. I just wanted them to find happiness in each other.

Words cannot explain how happy I am. Not just that they might produce offspring, but what that egg represents- that they are happy enough and feel their surroundings are safe enough to have an egg. None of them has ever had a chick before.

ChristaNL · Dec 27, 2018

Hi Sille,

wow... thats is wonderfull.
A few toos that are actually happy being toos - is a miracle of course

Laurasea · Dec 27, 2018

I'm so thrilled they were rescued and are now cared for with companionship. Cockatoos are the most rehome parrot. I'm thrilled too with everything this moment representats too. I just hope you aren't going to be breeding more into the world ( selfish of me I know) . They look do pretty has the feather picking stopped, what great foods are you feeding? Thank you for sharing this happy moments!

ChristaNL · Dec 27, 2018

LOL, you do realise you parrotlist needs updating right? These two are not even on them!

Scott · Dec 27, 2018

A pair of laying cockatoos is a supreme gift! Hope it is productive; if not at least you have a positive trend.

Siobhan · Dec 27, 2018

Congrats on the grand-egg!

SilleIN · Dec 27, 2018

Laurasea said:
I'm so thrilled they were rescued and are now cared for with companionship. Cockatoos are the most rehome parrot. I'm thrilled too with everything this moment representats too. I just hope you aren't going to be breeding more into the world ( selfish of me I know) . They look do pretty has the feather picking stopped, what great foods are you feeding? Thank you for sharing this happy moments!

As a general pellet I use Nutribird P15, but the pluckers get extra sepia shells, hemp seeds and a oat flake covered in beta-keratin. They also get different fruits and veg, but is not on an ordered list. They get what I have and find at the stores.

Depending on how bad the plucking habit is, some of them gets a protective sock on for anywhere between 3-12 months. Lullu only had hers on for about 3-4 months. This lets them do the motions of plucking/picking, but does not get the reward of endorphins, they usually get. Once that habit is broken, the protector comes off again.

I do have to stress, that all pluckers are individuals and one cannot just do a list of things and all is well. The success with pluckers is to find the right things to do, to heal their broken bodies and souls. As of yet I have a pretty good success rate with pluckers, but the process from start to finish is usually 1-2 years, so there are no quick fixes with pluckers.

I would love to share some more about plucking and the things tried and what has worked for me. I think it's better to make a new thread instead of it being hidden in a thread about cockatoos.

SilleIN · Dec 27, 2018

Laurasea said:
I'm so thrilled they were rescued and are now cared for with companionship. Cockatoos are the most rehome parrot. I'm thrilled too with everything this moment representats too. I just hope you aren't going to be breeding more into the world ( selfish of me I know) . They look do pretty has the feather picking stopped, what great foods are you feeding? Thank you for sharing this happy moments!

Well the success rate for first time parents is very low, so I don't want to think that far ahead. At any rate, if they end up one day with live chicks, I will not let them go to homes as pets. These birds are amazing, but not very "user friendly". They make a LOT of noise and once they are no longer "the cute baby" parrot, they end up being rehomed again and again.

In Europe there is quite a large market for aviary birds, where the buyer WANTS the mature birds (with all their faults/hormones/noise) and there are not many mollucans. This should make parent reared chicks easy to find forever homes (or where they will get a mate and live with them til death does them part) for.

Scott · Dec 28, 2018

SilleIN said:
Well the success rate for first time parents is very low, so I don't want to think that far ahead.

You're not kidding! My pair of wild-caught goffins were excellent incubators but horrible parents post-hatch for three clutches. They abandoned each chick after 3 to 5 days. In each case the babies were removed from the nest and hand-fed every 2 hours initially, gradually reducing the interval. All survived and are wonderfully tame adults.

sunshine.within · Dec 28, 2018

Oh my goodness how amazing! Those two look so sweet and beautiful with their first egg!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

EllenD · Jan 1, 2019

Wow, as many adult Moluccans that I've seen being re-homed (we're talking probably in the 50-100 count just at the Rescue alone in the past 8 years, and even more Umbrella's), I've not ever seen a pair lay a fertile egg...Actually, now that I think about it, it's really very sad because over here in the US, there are quite literally THOUSANDS of Moluccan and Umbrella Too's that are in Rescues/Shelters and on Craigslist and other websites being re-homed, and the reason I've never seen a successful breeding-pair is because they are never in one place/home long enough to even have a chance...The situation with the large Cockatoos over here is just disgusting...At least I don't see many breeders of them advertising babies for sale, I can't imagine actually purposely breeding Umbrella or Moluccan Too's over here. If you want one, all you have to do is go to ANY parrot Rescue or jump onto Craigslist or Kijiji and you can very easily find a young adult for free I'm sure...that's how bad it is here, people who are re-homing them don't even bother asking a "re-homing" fee because they know that there are so many of them up for adoption/re-homing everywhere that they'd never get any large amount of money for one...It's awful. It makes me so sad every time we get one surrendered at the Rescue...and I'd guess that probably 90% or more of them are badly plucked...They are such gentle, loving birds too, so smart and so human-like, all they want is someone to include them into their lives and to spend time with them every day...People actually think they'll adopt a Moluccan or Umbrella Too and just keep them locked inside a cage all day long, every day while they're at work, with one or two toys and that they'll be okay with that...I had a young guy in his 20's surrender one to the Rescue a few years ago, he had actually paid $2,000 for a hand-fed baby Moluccan who had just finished weaning when he bought him. He actually drove the entire way from Altoona, PA to Fort Myers, FL and back to pick the baby up...He had the best of intentions, had done "research", purchased a huge, free-standing indoor-aviary for him to live in (which he disassembled, brought to the Rescue, re-assembled, and donated to us for free, it must have cost at least $1,000, probably more, we use it to house larger Macaws, he was a good guy)...He kept this Moluccan from the time he picked him up as a baby until he was 6 years old...He had made it through puberty with him, and you could tell that this Too was every bit his child and he loved him more than anything or anyone else in the world. And the bird was in perfect health, perfect feather...He had made the decision to give him up, which ripped him apart, you could see he was physically in pain, but he told me "I just can't do this for the rest of my life. I want kids, or at least one kid, but kids eventually grow-up. They don't stay 5 years-old for their entire lives. And I just can't have a 5 year-old for the rest of my life"...I didn't know whether to be angry at him for taking-on this Moluccan voluntarily, knowing what he was in for and then bailing on the poor guy, or to hug him for being so honest and wanting what was best for his bird...It broke my heart. That was a long day at the Rescue for all of us. He actually came a visited him every single day for at least an hour a day, usually more. He'd stop every day on his way home from work, and then every Saturday and Sunday morning first thing (one of us would let him in on Sunday mornings since we aren't open on Sundays but someone is always there)...That Moluccan was there for a good year, many wanted him but very few owned a house, had a job, had the space, and rarely did people have the time...poor birds.

SilleIN · Jan 1, 2019

EllenD said:
Wow, as many adult Moluccans that I've seen being re-homed (we're talking probably in the 50-100 count just at the Rescue alone in the past 8 years, and even more Umbrella's), I've not ever seen a pair lay a fertile egg...Actually, now that I think about it, it's really very sad because over here in the US, there are quite literally THOUSANDS of Moluccan and Umbrella Too's that are in Rescues/Shelters and on Craigslist and other websites being re-homed, and the reason I've never seen a successful breeding-pair is because they are never in one place/home long enough to even have a chance...The situation with the large Cockatoos over here is just disgusting...At least I don't see many breeders of them advertising babies for sale, I can't imagine actually purposely breeding Umbrella or Moluccan Too's over here. If you want one, all you have to do is go to ANY parrot Rescue or jump onto Craigslist or Kijiji and you can very easily find a young adult for free I'm sure...that's how bad it is here, people who are re-homing them don't even bother asking a "re-homing" fee because they know that there are so many of them up for adoption/re-homing everywhere that they'd never get any large amount of money for one...It's awful. It makes me so sad every time we get one surrendered at the Rescue...and I'd guess that probably 90% or more of them are badly plucked...They are such gentle, loving birds too, so smart and so human-like, all they want is someone to include them into their lives and to spend time with them every day...People actually think they'll adopt a Moluccan or Umbrella Too and just keep them locked inside a cage all day long, every day while they're at work, with one or two toys and that they'll be okay with that...I had a young guy in his 20's surrender one to the Rescue a few years ago, he had actually paid $2,000 for a hand-fed baby Moluccan who had just finished weaning when he bought him. He actually drove the entire way from Altoona, PA to Fort Myers, FL and back to pick the baby up...He had the best of intentions, had done "research", purchased a huge, free-standing indoor-aviary for him to live in (which he disassembled, brought to the Rescue, re-assembled, and donated to us for free, it must have cost at least $1,000, probably more, we use it to house larger Macaws, he was a good guy)...He kept this Moluccan from the time he picked him up as a baby until he was 6 years old...He had made it through puberty with him, and you could tell that this Too was every bit his child and he loved him more than anything or anyone else in the world. And the bird was in perfect health, perfect feather...He had made the decision to give him up, which ripped him apart, you could see he was physically in pain, but he told me "I just can't do this for the rest of my life. I want kids, or at least one kid, but kids eventually grow-up. They don't stay 5 years-old for their entire lives. And I just can't have a 5 year-old for the rest of my life"...I didn't know whether to be angry at him for taking-on this Moluccan voluntarily, knowing what he was in for and then bailing on the poor guy, or to hug him for being so honest and wanting what was best for his bird...It broke my heart. That was a long day at the Rescue for all of us. He actually came a visited him every single day for at least an hour a day, usually more. He'd stop every day on his way home from work, and then every Saturday and Sunday morning first thing (one of us would let him in on Sunday mornings since we aren't open on Sundays but someone is always there)...That Moluccan was there for a good year, many wanted him but very few owned a house, had a job, had the space, and rarely did people have the time...poor birds.

There's lots of umbrellas, but very few moluccans in Europe. The 3 I have are from 3 different countries and none of them is from my country. Acke is from Sweden, Lullu is from Germany and Mulle is from England and I live in Denmark.

I got Lullu from a Berlin zoo as I have had very good results with plucked birds and she was at the point, where she had started to self mutilate her skin. She had had a mate, who attacked her and she was very stressed. She has completely stopped plucking. She was 21 and is 23 now.

Mulle is an old rescue bird, but he kept attacking every body and they could not keep him. They loved him and have had him for 7 years, but the screaming and biting just got too much for them. It's was a typical catch 22 situation, where he started biting, they then cut his wing and put him in a cage, which made him scream and bite even more. Here he's never in a cage. He lives free in the house and he is an absolute sweetheart and EVERYBODY loves Mulle. He's found out, that he gets sooo many cuddles and scratches if he behaves. When someone comes to visit, Mulle (or Sofus an eckie) is the first bird to greet them with a "hellooo" and stick his foot in the air to let them pick him up. He was 28 and he is now 30.

Acke is from a horrible case of animal neclect, where birds the size of Acke was kept in parakeet cages stacked on top of each other. Acke was born there and he had never known anything else. None of the birds had wood in their cages, as they would just bite it, so they sat perched on metal bars. 30 of 70 birds had to be put down immediately and a few of them had to be shot in their cages as it would be animal cruelty to even touch them (had necrotic tissue all over their bodies- I don't even know how they could even be alive). I still have nightmares about them. I took Acke and Sofia (an eckie close to death and with 5-8 fits a day- I didn't think she would survive, but she could breathe and besides being really thin, did not have any other visible injuries) and a friend of mine took 2 goffins toos (one of them died within a week, but the other survived). Acke is really scared of everything and I am the only one, who can touch him and come close to the cage without him going into full on panick. We believe Acke is about 19-20, but don't know for sure.

As for the egg, the egg cracked after 2 days, so I don't know if it was fertile. I have given them a fake egg, as I don't want Lullu to lay a lot of eggs. To begin with they seemed to play football with the egg, as I found it everywhere- floor, food bowl, back in the nestbox. Now they seem to take turns incubating it. A bit of a shame it's not a real egg. Would have been nice to know, if it was fertile.

And as for my birds- they are going to stay with me until I am too old to care for them. Once I die/get too old, the Copenhagen Zoo has accepted to take all my birds, so none of them will ever be sold again. Only thing that could happen is, they might be sent to another zoo.

SilleIN · Jan 1, 2019

EllenD said:
Wow, as many adult Moluccans that I've seen being re-homed (we're talking probably in the 50-100 count just at the Rescue alone in the past 8 years, and even more Umbrella's), I've not ever seen a pair lay a fertile egg...Actually, now that I think about it, it's really very sad because over here in the US, there are quite literally THOUSANDS of Moluccan and Umbrella Too's that are in Rescues/Shelters and on Craigslist and other websites being re-homed, and the reason I've never seen a successful breeding-pair is because they are never in one place/home long enough to even have a chance...The situation with the large Cockatoos over here is just disgusting...At least I don't see many breeders of them advertising babies for sale, I can't imagine actually purposely breeding Umbrella or Moluccan Too's over here. If you want one, all you have to do is go to ANY parrot Rescue or jump onto Craigslist or Kijiji and you can very easily find a young adult for free I'm sure...that's how bad it is here, people who are re-homing them don't even bother asking a "re-homing" fee because they know that there are so many of them up for adoption/re-homing everywhere that they'd never get any large amount of money for one...It's awful. It makes me so sad every time we get one surrendered at the Rescue...and I'd guess that probably 90% or more of them are badly plucked...They are such gentle, loving birds too, so smart and so human-like, all they want is someone to include them into their lives and to spend time with them every day...People actually think they'll adopt a Moluccan or Umbrella Too and just keep them locked inside a cage all day long, every day while they're at work, with one or two toys and that they'll be okay with that...I had a young guy in his 20's surrender one to the Rescue a few years ago, he had actually paid $2,000 for a hand-fed baby Moluccan who had just finished weaning when he bought him. He actually drove the entire way from Altoona, PA to Fort Myers, FL and back to pick the baby up...He had the best of intentions, had done "research", purchased a huge, free-standing indoor-aviary for him to live in (which he disassembled, brought to the Rescue, re-assembled, and donated to us for free, it must have cost at least $1,000, probably more, we use it to house larger Macaws, he was a good guy)...He kept this Moluccan from the time he picked him up as a baby until he was 6 years old...He had made it through puberty with him, and you could tell that this Too was every bit his child and he loved him more than anything or anyone else in the world. And the bird was in perfect health, perfect feather...He had made the decision to give him up, which ripped him apart, you could see he was physically in pain, but he told me "I just can't do this for the rest of my life. I want kids, or at least one kid, but kids eventually grow-up. They don't stay 5 years-old for their entire lives. And I just can't have a 5 year-old for the rest of my life"...I didn't know whether to be angry at him for taking-on this Moluccan voluntarily, knowing what he was in for and then bailing on the poor guy, or to hug him for being so honest and wanting what was best for his bird...It broke my heart. That was a long day at the Rescue for all of us. He actually came a visited him every single day for at least an hour a day, usually more. He'd stop every day on his way home from work, and then every Saturday and Sunday morning first thing (one of us would let him in on Sunday mornings since we aren't open on Sundays but someone is always there)...That Moluccan was there for a good year, many wanted him but very few owned a house, had a job, had the space, and rarely did people have the time...poor birds.

Actually a shame it's not possible to move the unwanted moluccans to Europe. I would quite easily find breeders with large aviaries, who would gladly take on many moluccans... I could probably also find some zoos, that would like some. I haven't checked lately, but I think Tierpark Berlin (where Lullu came from) is still missing a female.

ChristaNL · Jan 2, 2019

Thans for the update, I was wondering if they produced a second egg by now or stuck with the one.

lol@football
(Appie was the same with eggs, first en sofar only time she had some: they went everywhere)

Scott · Jan 2, 2019

SilleIN said:
Actually a shame it's not possible to move the unwanted moluccans to Europe. I would quite easily find breeders with large aviaries, who would gladly take on many moluccans... I could probably also find some zoos, that would like some. I haven't checked lately, but I think Tierpark Berlin (where Lullu came from) is still missing a female.

Sad commentary global politics prevents the worthy movement of parrots to ease supply/demand.

SilleIN · Jan 2, 2019

Scott said:
SilleIN said:

Actually a shame it's not possible to move the unwanted moluccans to Europe. I would quite easily find breeders with large aviaries, who would gladly take on many moluccans... I could probably also find some zoos, that would like some. I haven't checked lately, but I think Tierpark Berlin (where Lullu came from) is still missing a female.

Click to expand...

Sad commentary global politics prevents the worthy movement of parrots to ease supply/demand.

It's a bit "funny" as I have no problems in moving parrots to and from European countries. As long as their certificates are in order, you can move them freely.

As for countries outside Europe you "only" need first an export permit and Denmark will issue an import permit- no questions asked. However the US will not issue an export permit to any CITES appendix 1 animals unless you are a zoo. And even if the animals are exported to a zoo, it takes about a year to get the permits.

About a year ago I tried to get a pair of Hyacinth macaws from the US to a Danish zoo and we had to give up due to the bureaucracy. We ended up getting them from Belgium instead.

SilleIN · Jan 2, 2019

EllenD said:
Wow, as many adult Moluccans that I've seen being re-homed (we're talking probably in the 50-100 count just at the Rescue alone in the past 8 years, and even more Umbrella's), I've not ever seen a pair lay a fertile egg...Actually, now that I think about it, it's really very sad because over here in the US, there are quite literally THOUSANDS of Moluccan and Umbrella Too's that are in Rescues/Shelters and on Craigslist and other websites being re-homed, and the reason I've never seen a successful breeding-pair is because they are never in one place/home long enough to even have a chance...The situation with the large Cockatoos over here is just disgusting...At least I don't see many breeders of them advertising babies for sale, I can't imagine actually purposely breeding Umbrella or Moluccan Too's over here. If you want one, all you have to do is go to ANY parrot Rescue or jump onto Craigslist or Kijiji and you can very easily find a young adult for free I'm sure...that's how bad it is here, people who are re-homing them don't even bother asking a "re-homing" fee because they know that there are so many of them up for adoption/re-homing everywhere that they'd never get any large amount of money for one...It's awful. It makes me so sad every time we get one surrendered at the Rescue...and I'd guess that probably 90% or more of them are badly plucked...They are such gentle, loving birds too, so smart and so human-like, all they want is someone to include them into their lives and to spend time with them every day...People actually think they'll adopt a Moluccan or Umbrella Too and just keep them locked inside a cage all day long, every day while they're at work, with one or two toys and that they'll be okay with that...I had a young guy in his 20's surrender one to the Rescue a few years ago, he had actually paid $2,000 for a hand-fed baby Moluccan who had just finished weaning when he bought him. He actually drove the entire way from Altoona, PA to Fort Myers, FL and back to pick the baby up...He had the best of intentions, had done "research", purchased a huge, free-standing indoor-aviary for him to live in (which he disassembled, brought to the Rescue, re-assembled, and donated to us for free, it must have cost at least $1,000, probably more, we use it to house larger Macaws, he was a good guy)...He kept this Moluccan from the time he picked him up as a baby until he was 6 years old...He had made it through puberty with him, and you could tell that this Too was every bit his child and he loved him more than anything or anyone else in the world. And the bird was in perfect health, perfect feather...He had made the decision to give him up, which ripped him apart, you could see he was physically in pain, but he told me "I just can't do this for the rest of my life. I want kids, or at least one kid, but kids eventually grow-up. They don't stay 5 years-old for their entire lives. And I just can't have a 5 year-old for the rest of my life"...I didn't know whether to be angry at him for taking-on this Moluccan voluntarily, knowing what he was in for and then bailing on the poor guy, or to hug him for being so honest and wanting what was best for his bird...It broke my heart. That was a long day at the Rescue for all of us. He actually came a visited him every single day for at least an hour a day, usually more. He'd stop every day on his way home from work, and then every Saturday and Sunday morning first thing (one of us would let him in on Sunday mornings since we aren't open on Sundays but someone is always there)...That Moluccan was there for a good year, many wanted him but very few owned a house, had a job, had the space, and rarely did people have the time...poor birds.

Can I just ask regarding selling birds as moluccan cockatoos? A lot of birds (moluccan toos included) are protected by the Washington Convention of March 2nd 1973 Appendix 1 against "commercial enterprices" unless you can prove the animal is captive bred (which moves them to the rules of Appendix 2). Do you in the US have a certificate, which follows the bird, which proves the bird is bred in captivity?

SilleIN · May 18, 2019

A new update on Acke and Lullu. They have layed their 2nd and 3rd egg. They seem to have survived the initial riverdance party in the nestbox and next question is if they are fertile and if they will survive the next 20 odd days. I will not know if they are fertile until either babies come out or they leave them after not hatching.

I would love to take a photo for you guys, but am afraid I might stress them too much.

They have calmed down after the first excitement in the nestbox. I only check them once a day and some days Lullu is tending to both eggs, some days Lullu is laying on one egg and Acke on the other.

Scott · May 18, 2019

Fantastic news, hope you soon find two healthy chicks. Always love your updates!!

bug_n_flock · May 18, 2019

Wow, good luck!

Lullu and Ackes first egg

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