I would really like to thank everyone for there well-wishes over our loss of Boo. Our Vet friend did confirm it was a respiratory infection possibly caused by dander, viral, bacteria, fungus, or something else. We now have TWO Pure enrichment air purifiers in the bird room plus we change the heating & air conditioning filters once every two months when 3 is what the filters call for! I flat out ask our vet if we simply had TOO many birds for the area and he said know. He use to raise and sell HUNDREDS at a time. The sad truth of the matter is: if one is going to have large numbers of birds, your eventually GOING to lose some either by what we just went thru, unforeseen injury or problems at birth. I know he meant well but when you get attached to each and every flock member.....it's still tuff to deal with a loss.
JUST AN UPDATE: We are SLOWLY getting over the sudden loss of Boo. I'm reminded every morning when I back out of the car port and see the little fenced off area where Dacey and Boo are buried. It's sad yes, but life goes on plus I have 12 other tiels to look after and cherish PLUS the two suns. After the holidays, we are seriously thinking about letting Kiwi and Woody breed again. At some point next year I can't wait to see if Buzz (a whiteface male) and Auzzie ( a whiteface cinnamon pearl female ) will give us a clutch!
I guess the big news is Peanut has finally found his voice and is catching up fast to Tiki. They both now wolf whistle, sing a short song the other birds know and do A LOT of chattering in cockatiel language! Tiki looks odd waddling across the floor with NO tail feathers!!! The same thing happened to Buzz several months ago but they will all grow back. We had a little scare the very day AFTER losing Boo. We noticed a fairly big spot of blood on the cage floor for Tiki. Sure enough, he had a broken blood feather. No really big deal as we've dealt with these before.....just get the Styptic powder. HOWEVER....this time we couldn't get the bleeding to stop! It finally took four applications of that powder to stop the blood flow. We watched him VERY close for two days as he had lost a good size amount of blood for a bird. Thankfully all is well now as of this post.
P.S Honey was the female we sold to a good friend.
MORE HALLOWEEN CAPERS. We decided to just let them all hang out today! TONS of chirping whistling and cockatiel chatter! Even RIO ( one of "The Boys") got in on the action. For some reason, he goes straight to the cage we keep 4 tiels in. He seems to love playing with there toys and of coarse eating there food! Sorry for the crappy photos. Perhaps it's time for a new I-phone!
Today Nov. 4th is Sunny's 1 year birthday!!! She is a female from our first clutch that looks the most like her beloved mother Dacey that passed while feeding the chicks. Sunny pretty much keeps to herself but is cage mates with Woody and Lou lou. (both females.)
THANKS all for wishing Sunny a happy B-day! She got her own millet party and Woody actually let her sleep in HER perch swing last night!!!!! Don't know what was up with that!
Maybe a few of you will enjoy some of these older views of our flock including TWO that are no longer with us! R.I.P Dacey and Ozzie. The first photo shows Woody looking at Rio (the male sun) as if to say....it sure would be nice if tiels had those colors!!!! The 2nd photo is of a very young Tiki eating one of his first human fed meals! 3rd shot is Cosmo (the sun) and Kiwi trying to figure out HOW they could have made such a mess on the arm of a couch! 4th shot is Woody and Dacey not long after we got them both on the same day! They would each go on to give us a total of 8 babies in two clutches. The final photo is of a very favorite tiel ( our first Ozzie ) that succumbed at a early age of the dreaded respiratory disease. This one was a male and like Boo, didn't make it to his 1 year birthday!
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Woody checking out Rio..jpg
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Tiki eatting one of his first meals with his new 2nd parents!.jpg
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Rio and Kiwi trying to figure out HOW they made such a mess!.jpg
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Woody and Dacey not long after we got them. Both are females and would become mothers!.jpg
A couple of our two oldest birds. Pepper and Kiwi. Both will have there fourth birthday not long after the new year. While Kiwi has fathered 8 babies, Pepper, still being the oldest has yet to lay a single egg!
I am really proud of these two, Peanut has learned to step up just like his mother Woody even when they really don't want too. In time, I'm thinking peanut's grey will darken even more like his mom. Tiki ( the other son ) and Matilda ( the daughter ) are both doing very well. Tiki chirps A LOT and even makes his own versions of whistles we've thought him.