I just couldn't do it.

[Kali]

My fischer JC (short for Junior Carter) has always been a biter but lately has a very bad bird.
He/She chases Sam around the house and bites his feet. He seem to get in an evil mood, and then it's look out everybody. He is also a major destroyer,
we almost named him Bismark, he has chewed the wood on the french doors.
Destroyed the blinds. My husband is not impressed.
I have tried all the suggestions on the board regards biting, but today even I who loves him lost patience. He was a real vampire,biting me very hard every chance he had so I banished him down to the back yard aviary, fully intending to leave him there. He caused quite a stir with the flock, but it certainly shook him up.
After about an hour I went back, boy was he glad to see me.
He almost shouted GET ME OUT OF HERE. I just had to bring him back to the house.
He has been very quiet since, but I really am at a loss to know what to do with him. Kali

[Lindades264]

Hi Kali, it seems that you have quite a situation on your hands. I would first try to figure out why the bird is so aggressive. I would check the diet, exercise time and sleep time (just like with my human kids). Are these sufficient? If all this checks out okay, I would set up a plan and stick to it. I would start by letting the bird out for 5 minutes at a time, when he is good, he gets millet & praise. As soon as you notice him being naughty, back he goes. As he improves in behavior, he gets to stay out longer. He needs to learn that coming out is a priviledge. I am not sure if you have tried this but this is what I do with my birds when I need a behavior changed. (Right now Milo thinks the mirror in my dining room is her perch, when I see her on there I put her right back in her cage and let her know this is not permitted. She does not like this because the other 3 are having fun on their play centre). Hope this helps.

[mjm8321]

How old is JC and are you sure he is a he? It honestly sounds like a territorial hen to me. I agree, finding the cause of the biting and destructive behavior needs to be done and also, out of cage time needs to be supervised. First sign of bad behavior, back into the cage with the little one.
How about some nice wood toys in or around the cage to chew, rather than the wooden doors? Are JC's wings clipped? If not, a clip will be a big attitude adjustment as JC will only be able to go where you allow him; keeping him out of trouble.

[Kali]

Thanks for the replies, I think JC is probably a girl and ready to nest as
she is always tearing up paper, even though she is a Fischer.

She is just a year old, and Sam who her room/cage mate is likely to be a girl also. Sam is four.

I put JC back in the cage when she bites, so she spends a lot of time there lately. It just seems to make her worse, she marches up and down shaking all the bars.
As I am home often all day the both of them used to spend most of the time out of the cage. But since she started chasing Sam I have to leave Sam out and leave JC in to give Sam a break.
They get on ok through the night and both sleep in the same box, even though they have a box each.

They have lots of toys, swings,etc: and get 10 hours sleep.

They get a good variety of greens/vegies but prefer seed and love mushy egg/biscuit and/or pasta.

They have never had wings clipped but it might be the way to go with JC
and try to spend more one on one time. They are not easily handled, but sit on my hands when they choose. Which is whenever I am trying to do something. Will keep trying as I really love the little monster, hopefully she will grow out of it.
Kali

ps. Just going out to renew the bandaid supply,and touch up wood putty.

[hungrycorgi]

When you have a bird who needs an attitude adjustment, start over. Pretend this bird just came to live with you, and start from the beginning like you would with a new bird. Don't let her out to run and do as she pleases, start with getting her used to you by offering treats, working on stepping up inside the cage, or even stepping onto a perch if you're tired of getting nipped.

I do the same thing with my dogs (and birds) when problems arise. Go back to making things simple, providing more limitations and structure. You're already doing a good job and it sounds like you really are trying to work with your lovebird, so hang in there. I know how it is, as I have a parrotlet who is an unholy terror, and I am doing some intensive 'therapy' with him too. Hope things settle down soon!

[DebSpace]

All birds are different, but clipping Nip was the best thing I ever did. She pouted heavily for a few days, but we bonded so much more in the few months that followed. Now I keep her clipped. :whistle: She doesn't readily want to get on my finger, but when I need to pick her up she no longer bites AT ALL, much less for blood. Nip has really mellowed in other behaviors, too. Not nearly such a demanding squawker and she gets along better with other family members. I highly recommend DNA testing with Avian Biotech and a good wing clipping. I have also done the "time out" method, which helped but by far I credit the wing clip. :2cents:

[Nyghtraven]

I know im not exatcly a bird expert but yea having wings clip is always a good idea;due to the fact that you can pay much closer attention; and it sounds to me he is a she.. due to the fact she's finding things to nest with. There's also another thing too that I found online for nippy birds.. He trains birds and is selling his tape for like 40-50$ it even includes the "Stick targeting" For scared birds guess that implies to nippy birds. You can try it out for like a month and if nothing improves you can always send it back.. If your interested the site is http://www.birdtricks.com/training_tips/

[graushill]

Hi!

I'm sorry you're having problems with Kali. My track record with biters is spotty to say the least, as my two biters are as bitey as they ever where. I do get bitten less, but I must say it's me who's changed :). All my birds are dowel trained, so that does reduce the possibility for hand bites. For a while my shoulders were also off limits, because of painful neck/earlobe/chin bites :x . The funny thing is that after several months of no shoulder access, Pidget who was the worst neck biter, has actually been behaving better because he now seems to understand that if he does bite me, then off the shoulder he comes, and he loves being there. So I think the old advice "Reward good behaviour instead of punishing bad" does work ;).

As for JC's destructiveness, I agree that she sounds like a hen on the hunt for nest material :). My hen Pontus (from the name you can see that we thought she was a he too) was, I thought, the most destructive lovie on the face of the earth after finding chewed up door frames, rattan furniture, wall paper, and the list goes on and on. But now I understand she's just looking for nest material as opposed to willfullly destroying our possessions. It's a subtle distinction but a distinction nonetheless :). The only thing that works with her, is 100% supervision. She's never out of the cage unless one of us is there to keep an eye on her. When she's nesting I do provide her with things to destroy (piñatas, willow branches, cardboard, etc.), and when she's not, I try to keep her busy beak busy with chewy but not shreddable leather strips and twine. Otherwise she starts chewing up her feathers.

Anyway, I hope something out of this jumble helps you a little :).

Good luck with JC!

Gloria

[Kali]

Thanks Gloria,

I'm pretty sure now that JC is indeed a girl, so I had thought of putting in some palm leaves for her to shred, but it appears this is not a good idea.

The last thing I want is for her to shred her feathers. I dont know if the Australian weeping willow is the same willow you are talking about.

There are some native trees that I know would be safe for her to chew on the branches. ie: bottlebrush.

Thanks again. K

[graushill]

Hi Kali,

The latin name for the tree I was referring to is Salix fragilis and it grows quite commonly besides ponds and rivers. But I just did a check and it seems its only found in the northern hemisphere, which from your answer I guess is not your hemisphere at all >o. I usually use it because it's very soft wood, chewy and shreddable just like hens like it apparently. I know that there are some members from Down Under at the board who could probably recommend other appropriate chewy trees. Of the top of my head the only member I can come up with goes by the nick "Jezz", and he's got a very nice aviary with beautiful lovies. He visits the breeding forum most often (he's a genetics whizz) and while I haven't seen him for a while, you could maybe try to PM him? In any case I'm sure the tree you mentioned would work just fine, but giving shreddables to hens is really not the best option if you don't want eggs. As for the risk of JC chewing up her feathers, it's really not all of them who are prone to feather chewing thank God. So you really don't have to worry too much about this and I'm sorry if I made it sound like it was an inevitable consequence.

Anyway, once again, good luck!

Gloria

[sdgilley]

Hi Kali,
I wanted to mention that if you have two hens together, Sam could be in danger - given that JC picks on her so much. If JC really wants to nest - eventually she will. You might consider housing them separately. If they are bonded, keep their cages close to each other.
Just my :2cents: !
:)

[Kali]

Thanks for the replies,
I am keeping Sam out of the cage a lot of the time as I was also concerned for Sam,s welfare.
At night JC seems to quieten down, and they both sleep together,and I am up at six to monitor them. I will separate them as soon as I can get a new cage.
My husband has banned JC loose in the house as he/she has done a lot of damage to the french doors.
I can't really blame him, even I was surprised at how quickly he/she can cause damage. I will email Jezz about the willow tree.

Thanks K.