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Post by Jane on Jun 11, 2015 4:11:07 GMT -7
Many members talk of "chicken scratching" that their Greys do from time to time. It is very common in young Greys but older ones also do it. I have always thought it to be something to do with the nest.
I have been watching a TV programme called Springwatch where hidden cameras allow us to see what goes on in the nests of various different birds. A pair of Tawny Owls have nested inside a hollow tree stump and the female was scratching in the base of it to make it just right for her to lay her eggs and raise her chicks.
The movement was exactly the same as the African Greys and African Greys in the wild also nest in tree cavities. The sawdust produced by the scratching is used as a substrate for the nest and presumably there are plenty of opportunities for it to be rearranged by the adults and the young.
Jane
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Post by Haz on Jun 11, 2015 9:42:56 GMT -7
That is interesting. Chy has not done the scratching since she was very young. Maybe that is a good thing if it involves nesting as I don't want her to start laying eggs.
Haz
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Post by Thomas on Jun 11, 2015 11:13:45 GMT -7
Sheeba does the nest scratching behavior once in a while in the morning while we watch the news. She has her own towel(with cats on it)that she scratches away on. I tell her to "get those kitty's" and she goes to work, usually for about 10 minutes. She's never laid eggs.
Thomas
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Post by Justin (z00ropa) on Jun 15, 2015 7:59:49 GMT -7
Ash does it sometimes when she is running around the floor in her room, she scratches at the carpet.
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Post by Jane on Jun 17, 2015 2:43:28 GMT -7
Mitzi sometimes does it when she is on the sofa and she has done it on the carpet but she doesn't go on the floor much as she doesn't like it.
She once had a cylinder shaped bag with toys in. I would lay it on its side on the sofa and she would put her head in it and then start the chicken scratching. I stopped giving it to her because I was worried she might start thinking it was a suitable nest.
Jane
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wizzy
Just Hatched
Joined: February 2024
Posts: 1
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Post by wizzy on Feb 20, 2024 10:39:44 GMT -7
Hello! I have only had Charlie since August. He is around 7. He has started scratching about on the roof of his cage recently, sometimes for ages. I have his newspaper to tear up and cardboard but i wondered if it is normal to buy scratching paper, like sand paper, or a sand tray? How claws are getting long and he keeps getting caught in my jumpers!
Someone told me he may be female...🤔
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Post by Jane on Feb 21, 2024 1:50:36 GMT -7
Hello wizzy and welcome to the forum.
I don't think you need to buy special paper or sand, especially if Charlie is a female as you don't want to actively encourage nesting behaviour.
I have the nail trimming perches for mine and have always found them very effective.
Jane
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Post by Haz on Feb 21, 2024 8:18:24 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum.
I don't use any special paper but nail trimming perches don't work well with Chy. I don't think she grips the perch hard enough so her nails don't touch the surface. I have used my own nail file on her but she starts cooing and regurgitating like mating behaviour. I have also used a Dremel which is very effective but really needs two people, one to hold her and one to use the Dremel.
Haz
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Post by Adele on Mar 5, 2024 21:49:33 GMT -7
Maui has always done lots of scratching. I have nail trimming perches (both sand and concrete ones), but they have never really helped. My parrots always stand on the perches a lot too. In the end, I use nail clippers.
Now that I just have Maui left, I catch her in a blanket and trim her nails. She has given up fighting it years ago and knows what she's in for. It only takes me about two minutes, then she lets me give her head scratches after I release her.
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Post by Scratchpost on Mar 14, 2024 3:09:13 GMT -7
The only time Aka has ever done this was when he felt closed-in. In his very first (baby) tank, he would chicken scratch because the tank was too small and he couldn't spread his wings properly.
When we got the second cage (still for a young parrot and before we got the larger cage), every time he grew and wasn't able to fly around (well try fly as a baby) he would chicken scratch and leave the cage immediately when we opened the doors.
With his last cage (before we upgraded to the much bigger cage we have now), he started chicken scratching at the bottom in the area of his cage that faced the lounge. He spent a lot more time outside this cage because it was too small for him and when we would close the cage, he would immediately start scratching again.
He also does this when he is in his travel cage but not when he's on the floor walking around the flat or in his new cage at all.
I know parrots chicken scratch for different reasons but I'm convinced Aka does it relating to the size of the space he is in.
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Post by Jane on Mar 23, 2024 1:59:43 GMT -7
Mitzi has a favourite corner of the cage where she does it. It is at the back right hand side. She also chews up paper and cardboard in that corner.
Jane
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