Emmy

Was at our local bird sale today. I had a 'phone call from a person who had bought zebra finches from me at the previous sale and she wanted one more so I took the one zebra finch BUT I came home with four others !! Two cock birds- one pied and one white Two hens - one pied and one white. (Haven't taken any photos yet want to let them settle down first. (Then when checking the bird shed I discovered that one pair of my gouldians have at least 3 eggs in their nest fingers crossed they'll incubate the eggs). Emmy

Allan, what do you mean by saying the white zebra has been put to bed?? Has it been misbehaving that its getting put to bed early ? (without any supper??) Emmy (ps is it one of them you won in the auction? (lol))

Lee thank you for not including me in your warning (can't recall a 'Jane' registered oh this forum - could be wrong though) so I am allowed to remind you that you could have had a pair of BC as a gift from me in October. I offered to bring them down to Stafford to you but at that time I didn't know if they were show quality-- Now just to make you feel better a pair of those BC went on to get 3rd place in show. So take heed in future: ' Never look a gift horse in the mouth' (lol) Now just to rub salt into the wound: By now you perhaps would have had your BCCFW if you had accepted my offer. EMMY

Welcome to the forum Papajay, That 'Mr Arthr Itis' does a lot of visiting, problem is when he arrives it's very difficult to get him to leave and he's still forever visiting me even although he knows he's not welcome (I've had both knees replaced because of that - so I can sympathise with you. It's no picnic! Like you I have a variety of birds and that helps a lot. Problem with the birds though I'm always finding more varieties that I like but I love them all. My latest acquisitions are 2 pairs of Madagastar love birds (the smallest of the love bird parrots ) and 'Bobby' my Bolivian Blue fronted Amazon Parrot. (not buying anymore now!) Hope you enjoy the forum Emmy

Clare I used to be apprehensive re parrots especially after being bitten by one of the first cockatiels I had, but somehow I trust Bobby not to bite too hard Thinking of this saying: "His bark is worse than his bite" this definitely would apply to Bobby. Emmy

Before I could transfer Bobby to a slightly larger cage (not his final one- still to order that yet) I had a few days making sure that the 3 plus 2 cockatiels would get on OK together in the same cage. For almost a week I have had the 5 of them out together flying free and one of them was determined to be the Big Boss so I had to be certain there would be no fighting when they were all in the same cage! Bobby was patient and just sat in his cage and watched them -not sure about allowing Bobby out with them at the same time. The next step was to tempt Bobby into the other larger cage but he's very alert and seems to read my mind. So I just clipped the two cages together and put some of his favourite food into the new cage and left him to make up his own mind. When I returned he was in the larger cage but it was obvious he didn't like the perches and although he seems to like the wooden beads on the swing he has yet to sit on the swing. While he was having his free flying time this gave me the chance to swop his favourite perch from his old cage into the new one and it worked! I stayed with him while he was flying about and he did come onto my arm when I tempted him with chicory what I didn't expect was that he must have thought that I would be a bit more tasty and proceeded to try out my arm (OUCH!) good job I had a thick sweater on. The good thing was he did stay on my arm and let me walk with him and when I sat down he stayed there and continued to eat the chicory. Guess he's going to be OK -- after all is said and done 'Rome wasn't built in a day!' (p.s.--. (It's ME Bobby-I didn't want to hurt Mum's feelings but there was a wee bit too much fat there for me so I’ll stick to my proper food from now on ) Guess this will have to do me meantime!

Are you hoping to get some Zebra finches too.? My canaries get on fine with the zebs in both the inside/outside flights. Just had some new baby chicks hatch out so cute. Emmy

10th February 2016 Thought I had better write this rather than 'Mum' because if I let her tell you she may use some words she shouldn't and get banned from the forum. Yesterday when 'Mum' left me.in the shower room on my own I did some investigating. I thought a few things need to be sorted in the shower room but before I could get started 'Mum' was back with a rich tea biscuit and with me that definitely comes first before work! So today I was allowed free flying time and Mum told me she would be back in 5 minutes. Now that wasn't leaving me much time to get the work done and I wanted to do a good job so it could go on my record, if and when I had to apply for a job.as an experienced demolisher! In my opinion there were plastic strips which were of no use and they also got in the way when I tried to perch, if they were removed I'd get a better grip. Strip No. 1 was easy because I had practised on it before. I was just started to strip No. 2 when - bet you have guessed it- 'Mum' came back in and from what I was hearing she was NOT amused. As usual out came her camera to get evidence-( I didn't mind too much because in the future I could use that as proof that I was a good demolisher) .I thought I was just as well to get 'hung' for a sheep as for a lamb' so I decided to just finish the job. Strip no 2 fell to the floor - In my opinion ,'Job Well Done' (Just wished I had to use hearing aids then I could have removed them and then I wouldn't have heard all those loud words Mum was using.) I finished by putting on my 'Sorry Mum' look but I'm not stupid, by now I knew she wanted me back in my cage and even if she was angry with me she would have to give me a treat before I go back in- Well at least I did deserve it after all that hard work.

Welcome to the forum Daisymay. I keep Fife canaries too, (what colours are they?)I have a variety of finches including Bengalese- (great as foster parents) Last October I bought a pair of penguin finches -they lay eggs but so far don't incubate them, one of them is crested (reminds me of Ringo Star (Beatles lol) Hope you enjoy the forum. Emmy

How many birds do you have now Sarah? you need to stop posting such lovely photos of the budgies --I don't have any budgies (yet?! ) lol you are putting temptation in my way! Emmy

Hope all goes well with your move Penny. That was great you got the bird back. Emmy

I only know the 'phrase' in Scottish and you wouldn't understand it. I'll try to get a video clip . It only lasts a very short time but so, so funny. Emmy

updated.

This is Chuckychuck tonight after it was fed at 9pm.

I had to remove the last of the three eggs the diamond dove had laid because the first two disappeared- exactly the same as last year. I'm almost 100% certain its the cockatiels who are raiding their nest - no trace of the diamond dove's eggs at all-not even the tiniest bit of a shell! So I removed their last egg and put it into the incubator and it hatched out last night. The egg started pipping about 9am in the morning (yesterday, 4th February) and it hatched out at 6.05pm last night. I left it in the incubator until 9a.m.this morning then transferred it to the other Brinsea incubator (using the 2nd incubator as a brooder -can easily alter the temperature in the new one I have). So far its doing OK getting fed every two hours. This is when the egg first started to 'pip' approx. 9am Approx. 8 hours later (5pm) Chick newly hatched 6pm.

updated 3rd February

I did offer to let 2 of mine fly down to him - (with the wind here at the moment they would have arrived in no time at all.) Emmy

Rabelou (born 23rd June 2013) came here as a tiny puppy on August 21st 2013 when he was 9 weeks old. So many things have happened since it's difficult to know where to begin. So I guess the best place to start is at the beginning. I have had many dogs before but this was the first time I had one that came as a trainee demolisher (I think I'll change the word 'trainee' to 'highly experienced') OK, all tiny dogs have sharp teeth, and need something to chew on, but most of them are content chewing the new toys they get bought for them --but toys were not good enough for Rabelou -- he decided from day one the first thing he would use to extend his skills would be MY FURNITURE! The very first thing was the dining room table, now this had been in our home for over 40 years without a scratch on it! The table legs must have been a real temptation for him because that's where he started. (sounds silly to say this but apart from the damage he was doing I was afraid he was going to hurt his mouth! - That NEVER happened, he must have been born with a mouth that had been reinforced with steel! I was given lots of advice how to stop him doing this and I eventually decided to try things out. Goodness knows what people must have thought when they came to visit and noticed that one of the dining table legs that was being chewed, was now sitting inside a plastic tumbler ( Glad to say this actually worked - at least with that table leg) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caught in the Act As soon as Rabelou realised he couldn't chew through the plastic tumbler on the dining table -- he just changed tables! Obvious with what happened next - the tumbler was only going to work on one table at a time so it didn't have they desired outcome I had hoped for. This tiny little 'Ninja' decided there was plenty other things available. Because I was keeping a closer watch on him he was caught in the act - no need to send him to trial - he was GUILTY.! Demolisher at Work Oh!! I've been caught! I'm sorry I won't do it again. Question now was did Rabelou mean what he said in the 3rd photo.?

One of those days Andyn - when I get time At the moment I'm beginning to think my day is over before it begins When/If it gets published I'll send you a free signed copy Emmy

This true story began on the 20th March 2015. Just after 9 a.m. on the 20th March I received a 'phone call from my son. He said he had just taken my granddaughter up to her Primary School and he was having a chat with the Janitor whom I knew well and the Janitor wanted to know how I was and what I was doing now. When my son told him I now had an aviary and had lots of birds and was even incubating eggs-- I'm sure that's when the two of them put their heads together and did some plotting . Now this 'phone call really wasn't about someone enquiring about my health there was another motive involved: it concerned TEN, 10 day old chickens. One of the infant classes in the school had been incubating hens' eggs as part of a project but could only keep the chicks for 10 days after hatching and the janitor said I would be the ideal person to take the chicks and give them a good home. So the next part of the phone call went something like this: Son: "How would you like some 10 day old chickens Mum?" I found it hard to believe what I had just heard!! now this is my son who had been lecturing me to stop going to bird sales and pet shops and to stop buying more birds- something was odd here-- then a little bell clicked HE had always wanted to have chickens but he was going to have to wait until he retired in a few years time before that would happen Me: "No way! I'm not wanting 10 chickens!" Son: "Mum! That's not like you to refuse 10 lovely tiny chicks you wouldn't want to see them being homeless?" Me: " The answer is still No! In any case I've no place to keep them." Son: " Yes you do! Meantime, you could keep them in the large rabbit hutch you have just had re-roofed. I can come up and move it to where you want it to be in the garden and you have the chick crumbs that you were feeding the young quails so you have feeding there for them as well" At this point the Janitor joined in to remind me about when I taught in the school how I had an incubator and incubated hens eggs and even had a broody hen and her chicks in my classroom. 'Blackmail' wasn't a strong enough word for this!' Well I guess you'll know what happened - Yes! within 2 hours I was the new mum to 10 chickens! Why did I give in? To be honest, even now, although my family are all married with grown up children of their own I still look on them as my 'wee bairns' and like to see them happy - after all that son is the 'baby' of the family and I just had to let him get the chickens ----------------------------------------- The chicks in their new surroundings: This was to be their sleeping area but the chicks had different idea and slept in the other part of the hutch which I believed would be cold for them during the night so out came the doggy heating pad again. chicks using the heat pad at night. I didn't take long for the chicks to settle in and to tell the truth I had already fallen in love with them but I still wanted to find out more about them. So I 'phoned the school and had a chat with the teacher involved. She was very pleased I had taken them and asked me if it would be possible to keep the school informed about the chicks' development so the information could be passed onto the children- I thought that was a great idea and promised to send photographs, videos etc It was during this conversation I discovered that if nobody had wanted to take the chicks they would be taken back by the organisation that had supplied the fertile eggs, incubator, brooder etc. and the chicks would be taken to a farm. ( odd how the Janitor and my son conveniently forgot to mention that part!) I was told the chicks had hatched out on the 10th March but she had no information regarding the type of breed they were. However she did tell me the person who supplied the eggs had told them the sex of the chicks!!! Four of the chicks were a light brown colour and the other six were yellow. Next piece of information had me asking myself just what had I done to deserve this! The 4 brown chicks would grow to be hens and the 6 yellow ones COCKERELS!! There was no way I could keep even ONE cockerel never mind 6 of them! I had a good many sleepless nights worrying about this because I didn't want them ending up on someone's dinner table. Finding homes for the cockerels was definitely going to be a job for my son. -------------------------------------------------------------- 16th June 2015 Re the cockerels I found a web site (Homes4Hens) where they rescue hens after the hens have been used to mass produce eggs in horrible conditions. They then rehome them where they will live out the rest of their lives in freedom. I did enquire about the cockerels to find out if they could be rehomed and they would have taken them only problem was it was too far away for me to deliver them. Time was passing and the cockerels were growing fast- At 12 days old At 4 weeks old Showing the comb beginning to appear on its head. enjoying themselves n the garden Just look at me now! It was about this time I discovered that one of the 6 cockerels was in fact a HEN! GOOD! Now I had only 5 cockerels to find homes for -one good point was- they still hadn't started to crow BUT they had started to think I would taste good on their menu! From then on at feeding time for the cockerels - I dressed appropriately : Thick jacket with long sleeves, heavy duty gardening gloves and trousers tucked into socks! Yes!! and I still got pecked The hens were OK-- but after all they were female and like all females, they were very obedient and loving My son eventually found a person who was looking for cockerels and with a sigh of relief they have finally been delivered to their new home with the assurance from my son that they would not be killed. I was to get photographs of the cockerels in their new surroundings to prove they were still alive -but so far I'm still waiting!! 22nd June 2015 I'm still waiting for the photographs of the cockerels!?! Now they have been rehomed I had to get the hens sorted out so I bought a large hen coop (ebay) it was a German firm and the hen coop was actually posted from Germany (free postage). My son and my two grandsons agreed to built it up for me but when it arrived the instructions and the fixtures, screws etc. for assembling it were missing but mistakes do happen and when I emailed the firm they apologised and immediately posted the screw etc. and emailed me the instructions for assembling it. When I had printed off the instructions just couldn't help laughing ---they were in German. but I told my son just take his time and look a the diagrams and he should be able to work it out --- I'll not print what he said in reply. About 1 1/2 hour later after studying the instructions and re-opening the four boxes to check the parts they discovered there was also a panel missing and the metal bar for opening/closing the door to the sleeping area. Once more the email I sent stating the problem was answered immediately but it meant this time there would be a delay in getting the missing panel etc. At first I thought the hen coop would be better next to the outside flight so to save time later they decided to assemble the coop in that area and the missing parts could be added when it arrived. Now my son is used to me changing my mind where I would like things put and after a lot of thought I decided it would be better in the back garden where there's a bit more shade - it was a good job he agreed with me this time :biggrin:. He had to cut down some fir trees, bushes etc. then he laid down slabs which was great, making it easier for me to keep it clean. When the missing panel etc arrived they moved the coop into the back garden. I'm really pleased with the end result and the hens seem content with their new home. The new hen coop. The four hens now inside chick at 12 days old Look how I have grown! . When the weather is OK I take the hens out (have to carry them one at a time ) to the outside runs I have in another part of the garden and they spend the day there and they get carried back to their coop at night. They also now have a new feeder and drinker but I'll talk about them later to be continued: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 30th 2016 Well it's almost 7 months since I added anything here. So far my 5 hens are doing well and are keeping everyone supplied with eggs. I get 4/5 eggs every day now. I thought they would have stopped laying when the weather got colder but so far that's not happened. One good thing I don't have to carry them out to their run anymore, in fact they haven't been in their run for a while because when I'm out in the back garden and the dog is in the house!! the hens get to run free in the back garden. . They have grown up to be very clever hens so I had a thought , instead of letting them try to dig down to Australia in their run I would teach them how to do some gardening. I have two plum trees in the back garden and I wanted the weeds/grass removed from around the bottom of the trunk of the trees so I could put down fresh top soil then pea gravel on top. I chose Susie, she is the calmest of the 5, to be leader and I took her to the tree and explained to her what to do and told her to get the others to help and they maybe find some worms too.. Soon the five of them were busy scraping the weeds away then they went on to hollow the area and smooth the ground ready for the top soil. Must admit they were almost black when they had finished but they seemed to have had a great time.(lol) (Once the snow has gone I'll take a photo of their handy work!) The other job I gave them was to scrape together all the fallen leaves I had missed unfortunately they must have misunderstood what I had said because they had the time of their life scattering all the fallen leaves I had gathered ready to put in the compost bin. Now they have been rewarded for their work (lol) I have bought each of them a lovely waterproof jacket, which also keeps them warm but there was another reason for them getting the jackets (but I didn't tell them .lol) when it gets dull/dark I can find them in an instant and don't have to go searching for them They must get their jacket off before going to bed!! There are 3 pink coats and two yellow coats and they get turn about . When two are wearing the yellow coats they are on henpatrol duty and have to make sure the other three don't go down the driveway to cross the road! (So far -- I haven't been locked up yet lol)

That's going to be a real nice bird Trevor. will the feathers on the back be light grey/silver? Emmy

As the title says this blog is about the new addition to my 'mini zoo' Perhaps I should start off getting members to guess who/what Bobby is ? and that's what I'm going to do! (After some good laughs, their comments/guesses were hilarious, It was Andyn who guessed correctly ) Is it an animal? Is it a bird? or is it something else? One clue I'll give is I've always wanted this ? and I hope it will be happy living with me. Now no cheating! some members will already know what this is -- so they can answer this post but are banned from telling what it is. Pictures etc will come later -- that's if I'm still here to post the results after my family finds out what I've done (lol) . Just curious - just how many members will be willing to have a guess! (Read the comments at the end to discover the 'guesses' that members posted) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ January 25th 2016 Hi everybody, this is Bobby typing. (My New Mum doesn't realise just how clever I am or she would have closed down the computer before going out to see to the other birds.) Yesterday was priceless! I did a 'Houdini' on her! I had been given some treats to get me to go back into my cage-- I know what I'm doing here -the longer I take to go in the more treats I get - but I don't overdo it -I'm wise to that -if she thought about it- my treats would perhaps disappear. Well I did go back in and she locked all the doors of my cage then went to the other room. I maybe young but I'm a quick learner and in a very short time I had undone the lock and opened the door of the cage and decided to have a look around from the top of the cage. I was really comfortable and forgot to be quiet and when I saw that 4 legged thing lying sleeping on the settee I thought I'd waken it and introduce myself so I shouted, 'HELLO!' Well I had heard my previous owner TALK about Superman and Flash Gordon but this was the first time I had actually MET the two of them combined. Odd thing was they looked like my new Mum. So I decided I'd join in the fun and try out MY flying skills. I had always thought Mum was slow at getting about in the house but I must have been wrong so I decided I'd stop flying and sit still and watch for a while. Woosh!! doors were banged shut. How she managed to close all three doors in seconds was a miracle. The 4 legged sleepy thing on the settee was Rabelou - a dog he was grabbed and held tight. Next she 'flew' to the sink to empty soapy water she had been using to wash the dishes. I heard her giving a sigh of relief but she must have forgotten I was still not in my cage - just great!! Rabelou wasn't happy because he got locked up in his cage. Now I was out from my cage I was just as well to make the most of it and do a bit of exploring, which I did. My only problem is I just can't resist Rich Tea Biscuits and Mum had just taken one from the new packet and the only way I was going to get a bit was to make my way back into my cage- which I did. Mum was now on the 'Go Slow!' but I had had a great time. You'll never guess what she has gone and done now?!! She's tied up my escape route with string and got clothes pegs on all other exits of my cage- So I'm not sure when I'll get access to her computer again, but until the next time. Cheerio! from Bobby ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ January 27th 2016 Bobby is still in the cage he came in but I'm going to move him sooner than I was advised into the bigger cage. Everything seemed to be going wrong this morning and even Rabelou, (dog) didn't want to go out because it was heavy rain When I found a big 'puddle' on the floor below Bobby's cage that was the final straw and I got hold of the dog and said, 'rain or no rain out you go!! ' So I cleaned up and then let the dog back in -- he was like a 'drookit rat' I was thinking deserves him right he should have barked to get out in the first place. 5 minutes later yet another puddle on the floor below Bobby's cage?? This just couldn't be Rabelou again!! then I noticed the water was dripping from the table where Bobby's cage was sitting. When I looked at Bobby, his head was soaking wet - he must have been trying to have a bath in his drinking water. Not content with the mess he had already made he took the edge of the water dish and tipped the remainder of the water out. Guess he was trying to tell me something So I got out the water spray and I just wished I had been able to video the next part, he sat on his perch and first lifted one wing to let me spray underneath it then the other one. When I was finished Bobby looked like Rabelou-- drookit! Both of them look good now but Bobby will be getting moved very soon so he will have access to a bath in his cage and I wont have wet floors and Rabelou will be relieved to know he wont be getting blamed for something he wouldn't and didn't do. I felt really bad at having put Rabelou out in the rain when I should have known he was Not Guilty! I'm beginning to think that Bobby is beginning to act like a young child with an attitude! (lol) (Think I've just realised parrots are more intelligent than I have ever given them credit for ! ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ February 7th 2016 Bobby actually came onto my arm to get his greens. Must admit his feet felt cool but it's progress. I'm sure he can read my mind. I was thinking what would be the next step to get Bobby to fly onto my arm instead of 'stepping up' ? To get him to step up I just rested my arm along the top of the cage so he just had to lift his foot and he was on my arm, he stayed on my arm until he got a taste of what was on the menu then literally grabbed it in his beak and flew to the top of the shower cubicle where I couldn't reach him. After a few times I thought I would make it a bit more difficult for him, so I moved my arm off the cage so he would have to jump to get onto my arm. Yes he did come to the edge of the top of the cage, actually stared at me, then started to walk backwards and just sat there. He seemed to realise he was being tricked. (At least that's what I thought) So it's back to square one. Today was hilarious, Bobby's cage is close to the cockatiels' cage, and some of my cockatiels can 'talk/sing' Today it became very obvious that Bobby is listening to them because Dallas (one of the cockatiels that sing/talks) was on performing mode and one of the things he does is sings the first part then goes Putt! Putt! but what was happening today was a duet Dallas singing the first part and Bobby providing the ending Putt! Putt! and I missed getting it on video! (My 'mum' tried to trick me again today this time with a grape but I was too quick, she can't reach me here, so now I can eat my treat in peace) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If that's normal for penguins then that's a relief _I was beginning to think there was something not quite right with the pair I have. Did the eggs in that nest hatch out? Emmy

Really curious about what is happening to the eggs this hen is laying? I did check the eggs last night and a few of them look a though they just maybe pull through (thinking along the lines they may have been the last to be laid) so I'm leaving them in the incubator to find out if they are fertile then I'll try giving them back to Mum and Dad not sure if that will work either but worth a try. Hope your CFW changes her mind. Are her eggs fertile? I know I should get my brain examined (lol) but similar to what I'm doing now if bird doesn't sit on eggs -if eggs are fertile and I don't have any birds to foster-- out comes the incubator without taking into consideration of what it may entail if and when the eggs hatch out. (Got more Bengalese now ) Emmy

Can't understand this pair of crested penguins. They have 7 eggs in this nest now and another one has a double yolk. They have been incubating the eggs but they have also been tearing the paper that's on the floor of their cage and taking it into their nest. I've kept removing some of the paper so the eggs wouldn't get completely covered but tonight when I went in to check before locking up they had put a larger piece of paper over the eggs and the eggs were covered completely when I removed the paper the eggs felt cold. A few of the eggs were definitely fertile so to check them out I brought all the eggs in and put them into the incubator to get them warm again. In the morning I'll check the eggs using the ovascope and any that have survived I'll put them back into the nest box and remove the quicko paper from the cage and use another type of floor covering. There is an odd situation with the size of eggs laid. In the nest are very large eggs, normal size eggs and the smallest size of egg I've ever seen. This photo makes the eggs look larger but believe me the smallest one is TINY Emmy