We're lucky here at Bird Heaven Aviaries in the sense that we're blessed with some great parent birds. These guys do a marvelous
job of rearing their young for the first few weeks of the little ones life. When the babies are between 2 - 3 weeks of age we remove
them from the nests and bring them inside and into a temperature controlled brooder.
We do our best to ensure that each baby is not alone and has another baby of similar developmental age to cuddle up to. We believe
that TOUCH is very important for the young birds at this stage of their life as they don't have their parents to snuggle up to in the
brooder. We usually provide soft cuddly toys for the babies to snuggle against also.
Senegal Babies cuddling up to their soft toy
When they're old enough to leave the brooder, we place them in large plastic
containers and drape a dark towel over 1 half of the container. We've found through
observing our babies that having a dark area for them to retreat to helps them feel
more secure with their surroundings. We never force the babies out, instead
preferring to allow them to come out on their own accord to explore their
surroundings.
It's around this time that we start putting various soft foods in for them to try. We
don't give them a huge selection daily instead we give them a small sample one day
and a sample of different food the next. We don't add pellets or seeds yet.
We also add various toys in the containers around this time as well. We don't
put any wood toys just yet. We tend to focus more on small toys of different
textures. That they can play and beak. Toys with Veggie Tanned Leathers
strips tend to go down pretty well with those babies who love to nibble..

Once the babies start showing signs of wanting to spend more time out of
their cozy little hiding spaces we place them inside a play pen on our living
room floor during different times throughout the day.. We have porcelain tile
through out our house and place the playpens on throw rugs that are lined
with newspaper and towels The play pens we use are the same in the photo
below. I'll post more photo's of our babies in their play pens over the coming
weeks.
When the babies are in these play pens they learn to perch on
different perches we have for them  as well learning to forage for
different soft and cooked foods that we have for them. We place
the foods on baking trays covered with paper towels. It's around
this time that we start to introduce other toys that have chewable
bits of wood and other things on them. The babies get to spend
plenty of time in these play areas where they can interact with each
other as us myself, Michael & his children.

Once they've learned to perch and are starting to climb up the sides
of the playpen we take them and place them in what we call their
weaning cages. These are just regular wrought iron cages that we
use. They have plenty of toys and perches in them as well. It's in
these cages that they're introduced to all the things they're
introduced to before heading off to their new homes.
We line the base of these cages with newspaper and towels to soften the landing should the slip off their perch. Here in these
cages they're given the freedom to explore their cage & all the toys that are provided for them. Of course they still get to
spend plenty of time outside of their weaning cages. Once we know they are perching well we introduce them to the various play
gyms we have around the house. They always have access to different foods that we wean our birds on.
Fledging
Here at Bird Heaven Aviaries the fledging period is very important in the
birds mental development. We allow the birds to fly for at least 2 days
before we start a gradual wing clip. We firmly believe that allowing the birds
to fly and hone their landing skills really does help build up their confidence.
During the breeding season it's not uncommon to see African Greys, Hahns
Macaws, White Bellied Caiques, Macaws and others flying around our living
room at any given time. Of course their only flying around when supervised.
We usually have play gyms set up at different sides of the living to allow the
birds to fly from one side to the other. Because we have Porcelain tile
throughout our house we have plenty of soft fluffy throw rugs around that
provide a great soft place for the birds to land on.
Wing Clipping
Once we know that the babies have been flying for at least 2 days we start a gradual wing clip on them. We start by removing
one primary feather from each wing, clipping one feather per wing over a 5 day period. Many people still insist on doing a
traditional clip which involves clipping the primary flight feathers along the covert feathers. There are a few reason we dislike
this kind of clip and refuse to use it on our babies. 1) it can leave sharp edges of the cut feather which can irritate the bird
when they bring their wings in close. 2) Cosmetically it's not very appealling and can ruin the look of the feathers around the
clipped one.

The kind of cut we prefer and recommend is this. For diagrams on this kind of clip please click this link. Using this kind of clip
we can Identify each individual feather and using proper bird clippers we clip each individual feather not far up from the base.
By doing this there is not much feather left sticking out to aggrivate the bird.  By using this method we don't have to remove as
many feather as you would doing a traditional clip.
Bathing Your Bird
Bathing your bird can be great for both yourself and your bird. Not only is it great for your birds feathers but it can also
help forge a stronger bond between yourself and  your feathered friend. All the babies here plus our companion birds get
showered daily. We shower our Companion's Ryley & Bandit daily especially since African Greys and Mollucan Cockatoo's
are prone to creating dust that can create problems for other birds in particular, Macaws that share their space. The dust
can also cause problems for those of us that suffer from allergies.
At first when bathing your bird for the first time he/she may not enjoy it at all.
Don't be discouraged as it takes most birds at least 3 or 4 baths before they realise
it's a fun experience and something not to be feared. That being said it's up to us as
their caregivers to make sure that bathing and showering is a fun experience. Here
at Bird Heaven Aviaries we get all our birds use to the showers by placing them on a
perch next to the shower whilst we are showering ourselves. We leave the shower
screen door open so they can see what we're doing. One thing I do is goof around a
bit. I will flick some water at them as well as flicking some back at myself. I also say
stuff such as "Oooooh this shower is fun" " Does ( add birds name ) want to shower" .
Lord only knows what the neighbours were to think should they look through the
windows. Don't be embarrassed to goof around. It helps your bird get use to the
shower if they view it as a fun experience.  I've used these techniques with great
success on our Companion Birds Rico & Bandit. Ryley came to us already knowing how
to enjoy a bath.
Even though the majority of our birds enjoy being misted with water, some of our babies don't but would rather bathe
themselves in a shallow bowl of water. We use different sized ceramic bowls depending on the size of the bird. Ceramic
bowls we've found don't tend to tip over and spill the water. If you're using a spray bottle always remember to use a
brand new one that has NEVER been used before. Some spray bottles that have been used before for things other than
water may have chemical residue which can be toxic to your bird.
How often should you bathe your bird? Depending on your schedule you can bathe your bird daily. If not every second day
is fine. Try not to go longer than that without bathing your bird. It's just the same as us going for 3 days without a shower.
Frequent bathing will help eliminate the itching that occurs when the new feathers molt through.
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About Our Babies
Baby Parakeets from 2005
Site Updated: 10/27/2008