Post by Adele on Apr 17, 2018 8:29:02 GMT -7
Now that I have a family with our two birds (husband, two children, dog), I've really been struggling with a happy world of everyone getting along. I was visiting my sister last month and she told me about her neighbor who has a cockatoo. She called them and they let us come over and look at their setup.
It was amazing. They have six kids and a dog. The cockatoo is given free range of the house and isn't clipped. He flies around. They have a large cage for him that is always open. They also have a play stand and the husband welded these metal tops onto their dining chairs so every chair has a perch top (they said the cockatoo chewed their wooden chairs). The bird is definitely the husband's bird, but it has a relationship with every member of the household. Their oldest daughter is the bottom rung and when I was their, the cockatoo did a fly by and she instinctively ducked. The cockatoo doesn't bite any of them, but they all seem to know how to interact. The cockatoo stays on the chairs, play stand, or cage. I was there about 45 minutes or so and he was frequently flying from back and forth between his places. The husband wasn't much help though when I asked how they got the situation working. He said he just let the kids and bird work it out between themselves. I asked how that was possible when the kids were newborns, but he said the bird just left them alone. The wife wasn't a huge fan of the bird, but she knew it was a packaged deal when she got married. I was incredibly envious of the situation.
Right now, my boy is 1.5 yrs old and he is more of an animal person than my 2.5 yr old daughter. He gives the birds treats every day and Manzi knows to take the treats nicely from him. Maui is not trustworthy yet and I try to monitor the treat giving to her. Still, I cannot let the birds free roam when the kids are up as I know the kids or birds will get hurt.
It was amazing. They have six kids and a dog. The cockatoo is given free range of the house and isn't clipped. He flies around. They have a large cage for him that is always open. They also have a play stand and the husband welded these metal tops onto their dining chairs so every chair has a perch top (they said the cockatoo chewed their wooden chairs). The bird is definitely the husband's bird, but it has a relationship with every member of the household. Their oldest daughter is the bottom rung and when I was their, the cockatoo did a fly by and she instinctively ducked. The cockatoo doesn't bite any of them, but they all seem to know how to interact. The cockatoo stays on the chairs, play stand, or cage. I was there about 45 minutes or so and he was frequently flying from back and forth between his places. The husband wasn't much help though when I asked how they got the situation working. He said he just let the kids and bird work it out between themselves. I asked how that was possible when the kids were newborns, but he said the bird just left them alone. The wife wasn't a huge fan of the bird, but she knew it was a packaged deal when she got married. I was incredibly envious of the situation.
Right now, my boy is 1.5 yrs old and he is more of an animal person than my 2.5 yr old daughter. He gives the birds treats every day and Manzi knows to take the treats nicely from him. Maui is not trustworthy yet and I try to monitor the treat giving to her. Still, I cannot let the birds free roam when the kids are up as I know the kids or birds will get hurt.
