feeding and training

[jd57]

Hi everyone,
I have a 5 month old front head Amazon, for the last 2 months I’ve been feeding him with mixed seeds, pellets, fruits available all day long plus I give the formula just before he goes to sleep. I have read many articles that say to remove the feeders after every meal. Does anyone agree or disagree with this type of feeding? The reason I’m asking is because I would like to start training, every time I tried he gets distracted and does not respond, I’m wondering if this method of feeding is right, I can start a training session just before feeding and start to give he’s favorite treat. Smokey started to talk, his first word “hello” and from time to time he says “peek-a-boo”.

Any suggestions are welcomed and if anyone has a special feeding schedule or procedure please let me know

 

[Sammy01]

Hi everyone,
I have a 5 month old front head Amazon, for the last 2 months I’ve been feeding him with mixed seeds, pellets, fruits available all day long plus I give the formula just before he goes to sleep. I have read many articles that say to remove the feeders after every meal. Does anyone agree or disagree with this type of feeding? The reason I’m asking is because I would like to start training, every time I tried he gets distracted and does not respond, I’m wondering if this method of feeding is right, I can start a training session just before feeding and start to give he’s favorite treat. Smokey started to talk, his first word “hello” and from time to time he says “peek-a-boo”.

Any suggestions are welcomed and if anyone has a special feeding schedule or procedure please let me know

I don't remove my amazon's food until it's time to go to bed. This way if he wishes to snack he's able to.

I do however change out fresh vegetables and fruits through out the day.

I'm personally a fan of positive reinforcement when it comes to training. If you wish to train them to talk there's two ways:

In context: you talk to him in context. Say good morning every morning, say peanut when you give him a peanut, etc.

Just because: keep repeating the word.

As for the rest of the training I believe you need to find what works best for you as there are a variety of techniques out there.

 

[CaitlinBird]

Every bird is different. I prefer to have my birds free feed all day on pellets and they can work for treats. My cockatiel works fine on this regimine but my cockatoo ifs a different story.

Jojo really only eats when he's hungry. So I feed him like zookeeper s feed their animals. I give him meals twice a day and train before each meal. He gets to eat as much as he wants too.

It's sounds like you're worried about the ethical considerations of feeding? And yes ethics certainly play a role when deciding how to train a bird, every good animal trainer knows this. The "train before you feed" idea is considered fine because we as humans have (generally, haha) structured meals as well.

What can be considered ethically questionable is the misapplication of weight management (not food management, choosing when to give treats is food management). The average person never needs to use weight management even though some amateur sources may promote it (Michael Sahzin anyone?).

Good luck!