Onset of hormonal behaviour/sexual maturity in hens

[HalfInsane]

I was just curious, for those of you out there who have female senegals/other members of the poi family, when did you begin to notice hormonal behaviours in your hens, if it all?

 

[Jtbirds]

Well they should hit it around 2-4, but some birds never really get affected by maturity, although others will take it rather hard, like my greenwing took it very very hard... As I've know others that it seems like they have never gone through it. My red bellied doesn't seem effected by it at all and I rescued her when she was about one, she acts slightly sexual but nothing major and she's bonded to my dad and that's the only time she shows anything, but that's to be expected.

 

[suebee]

as we've had nut a few years now, she becomes seasonal around end nov till jan, same every yr

she starts feather chewing, gets territorial over my man or any man that comes into the house, she has also started to see my son who has had a growth spurt as a potential mate, as 2 years ago he to was one of the objects of her aerial attacks and flash bites
(we're her 2nd home, we got her when she was about 2yrs old. she had these behaviors when she came to us, an i later found out some other anti social behaviors that she developed thanks to my father poking her with chopsticks etc)

we or should i say my man discourages any signs of mating, i stay clear of them to reduce her need to defend her man, when she is seasonal. its taken a couple of yrs to calm her, this yr we all got bit once, ok son twice, but i think i'd have bit him for boppin my beak

then by last wk of jan she calms down dramatically an we all breath a sign of relief

this year she is more chewed then last, but i think thats coz we had our room done, fireplace ripped out etc (she has chew of the new wall paper, wood work etc) but generally by march she starts showing signs of itchin all over an i know she's about to pin, and by summer she'll be covered in new feathers, my house currently has little chewed feathers floating over floor, in corners etc

right now she is sleeping on my lap, but we all handle her varied confidence, as we don't have set work rotas throughout week, she is content to just have someone with her, but also not over bothered if left alone. she has about 3hours plus out of cage time morning and evening

for what ever reason she has developed these extreme behaviors, i do think our patience with her, is paying off (3yrs) lol

 

[Jtbirds]

i can feel your pain as my greenwing we rescued when he was hitting 6 and sexual maturity so we had little to no time to teach manners and in that time we did teach manners but not enoiugh for how deep he went into hormones, it has been about 2 years now so they should be over soon, but he is a handful to handle and to try and get calmed when he gets into a mood.

 

[HalfInsane]

Thanks for the replies. Suebee, it sounds like you have your hands full! Sounds a lot like my lovebird when her hormones were in full swing. So far Pixel is a very mellow bird though, didn't even really go through a nippy phase and I'm very consistent in keeping her birdy manners in check so here's hoping. Worst case scenario I'll just have to respect her space three months out of the year I suppose!

 

[suebee]

lol jtbirds if it was a greenwing doing aerial attacks, i might not have a bird now! or a face :11:

an half i have a feeling pixel won't be half as bad as the nut, well fingers crossed anyway, :09: