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The Bird Diaries: Abundant Love

© Mary Wilson

Those in the bird breeding world have heard of "abundance weaning." Simply put, this type of weaning means providing birds with as much food when and how they wish it. With such love and abundance before them, the babies quickly wean themselves into happy, healthy pets. Granted, much love goes into making a happy, healthy baby bird, but abundance weaning is a proven method.

There are several good web sites out there (try the libraries and faq at http://www.birdsnways.com/ for more information) on this type of weaning. Instead, my article will talk about abundant love.

Here is a picture, albeit not a stellar one, of the two baby cockatiels I've been profiling in this picture. The one on the edge of the cage is Mystic, the eldest. The smaller one is Patience, named for his patience at dinnertime. Here, the cage door has been opened, and the little ones are venturing forth in the world.

To me, there are two things vital for a happy, healthy baby bird. The first thing is love. Without love, and lots of it, these little bundles of feathers will not grow into well adjusted baby birds. A loved parrot is a healthy parrot. Babies left in their brooder and only played with at feeding time, if then, do not mature in socially secure birds. Instead, they learn that attention comes when they cry loud enough for it, and the beginnings of an unhappy pet have emerged.

The second thing all baby parrots need is varied experiences. In this picture, Mystic is exploring my bed. He's stepped outside the world of his cage to the world of a human home, something that can be quite frightening to the unprepared bird. Here, he can interact with humans, and other pets in a bars-free environment.

Patience sits atop an Acrobird play gym that sits next to my computer. Here, he is watching everything that is going on. In fact, on a shelf above is Shakespeare, my rat, and although the two did not meet, the babies (Mystic is lower on the gym), seemed very interested in another creature.

The babies are seven weeks old now, and will soon be weaned "teenage" birds. In order to ensure that they are happy, healthy, well adjusted birds once they are weaned, it is my job to provide them with abundant love.