Conference 7.286::pet_birds

336.0. "Good Bye Sweet Barnie, We Love You!!" by CSC32::PAGE () Wed Mar 28 1990 15:31

        
        
        Well, lets talk about heart wrenching experiences for a while, 
        I've had one recently and it really helps to talk about it. I 
        hope you folks can stand the tears ect...
        
        My wife and I have had pet birds for many years, our latest, and 
        by far the most a member of our family, was Barnie, our umbrella 
        cockatoo. We ran across Barnie from out next door neighbor, who 
        at the time was fast becoming "bird poor" and felt his marriage 
        was in trouble if he didn't get rid of a couple birds. We got a 
        real good deal on her.
        
        When we first met, Barnie could draw blood right through a 
        fireplace glove. This was not a hand raised baby by a long shot. 
        But my wife was not working and spent several weeks working with 
        her and within about 2 or 3 weeks she and I could handle Barnie 
        without a glove.
        
        Over the years our relationship became closer and closer, as 
        would be expected with a 'too like this. Barnie would come 
        upstairs and play in bed with Lynne and I on the weekends. I 
        would take her for a shower with me on Saturdays and she loved 
        it, especially the blow drying after the shower. She would stand 
        on the shower curtain and just scream her delight while flapping 
        her wings, and turning to wag her little butt in the warm air. 
        Barnie was in exquisite feather!! ( I'm sitting at my desk 
        looking at pic's of her eating popcorn and watching the 
        superbowl with me!). We have two children ages 12 and 16 who 
        matured along with Barnie and could handle the bird with no 
        problems at all. Barnie had it knocked. Not a care in the world, 
        she eat everything from fruit to nuts.
        
        After about 5 years things started to change... For no apparent 
        reason Barney started picking at her new feathers as they came 
        in, in fact she was biting the end off her blood feathers. Well, 
        if you want to see a mess you should see a snow white 'too with 
        blood all over it. It looked like a war zone! I took Barnie to 
        all the best vet's in southern Colorado. They all said she was in 
        great health and that the problem was most likely phycological. 
        Well we tried everything... everyone played with her every chance 
        we could. We sprayed her with apple bitters and she seemed to 
        love that. We tried listerine mouth wash and water, we even 
        considered a sheetmetal collar but abandoned that idea as just 
        too cruel for our baby. 
        
        It was becoming all too obvious that what Barnie needed was never 
        to be supplied by us without getting a second cockatoo of the 
        male gender. Nice idea but I have a 1300 square foot house with 
        my wife and I and 2 teen-age kids. Never gonna work out. We set a 
        time frame, If we cant stop this picking we would have to find 
        Barnie a new home with a small breeder that would take care of 
        her. I planned to be VERY picky. We set 3 months. At this point 
        Barnie was picking her breast and would sit right on my lap and 
        pick, I had to pull her head from under her wing and tell her NO! 
        but it did no good.
        
        I spent the next 3 months, and I don't even want to think about 
        the money, calling all over the country trying to find the right 
        home for her. I found one in Newberry Park, Calif. A family with 
        3 kids and a tame male that they wanted to breed. Although they 
        were not very experienced they had a friend in the neighborhood 
        who was a large breeder and had agreed to help. Well, we sent 
        them a tape of Barnie playing with Lynne and coming to me on 
        command. As we reviewed the tape the last shot of Barnie's little 
        face fading to black really put a lump in my throat. We set up a 
        day to ship her out after her new owner had a custom cage built, 
        and waited for the fateful day to arrive. It was to be March 24.
        
        MArch 24 arrived and it was 15 degrees and sleeting in Colorado. 
        I called the airport in Denver and they said forget it. 
        AARRRRGGGGG! This was KILLING US!!! Call Calif. and tell Dick and 
        Debbie no go today. We'll try tomorrow.
        
        Now I'm not a religious person but I prayed to God all night for 
        just one good day to get Barnie to Calif. The next morning I 
        awoke at about 7:00 am and it was sunny and mild. Dash to the 
        phone, call the airline, "come on up" they say. Oh boy....... we 
        have to be there 2 hours early to get Barnie on the flight. We 
        signed her up and asked if we could have a while to play before 
        they took her. Sure, we don't need her till about 20 minutes 
        before the flight. So out she comes and I mean to tell you Barnie 
        is as good as gold. Quiet, loving, and not even picking, as if to 
        say 'if you don't send me I'll stop this stuff' but we both know 
        better. Lynne is crying her eye's out but I'm trying to be strong 
        and tell her its for the best, We are doing what we think Barnie 
        needs. The airline people are 'really concerned' and are asking 
        Lynne, are you sure this is what you want to do? With Barnie 
        perched on her shoulder she nodes, yes.
        
        They take Barnie from us and we rush to the gate to see her 
        loaded. the hold closes and we start the longest 1 hour ride back 
        to Colorado Springs that I can ever remember. 
        
        When we got home Lynne decided to go into work and try to take 
        her mind off it. I sat down next to the phone and waited...... 
        Three hours later I get a call from Debbie in Calif. The whole 
        family had gone to pick up Barnie. When they saw her in the 
        carrier she had no water so Debbie popped the door open to give 
        her some water and out jumps 'the Barn's' right onto the shoulder 
        of their daughter. the rest of the ride to her new home was spent 
        jumping from person to person and running around the car!! She 
        went into her new cage and started eating and drinking right 
        away. She even meet her new 'husband' Vern and there where no 
        raised crown feathers or hissing, just a curious look between 
        them. Thank God, it seems we made the right decision.
        
        The last couple days have been a real adjustment. Waking up and 
        not hearing Barnie down stairs calling 'Dad, come feed me!'. But 
        we are adjusting. We hope, some day, to take a motorcycle ride 
        out to visit. 
        
        Now the good news... We have been running down to southern 
        Colorado for the last 2 weekends to visit Karen Workmans breeder 
        friend Chris and are having a hell of a time figuring out which 
        of the two 6 week old baby male Eclectus we want!! Its name will 
        be Kiwi, and it really is helping to try to think of him. Come on 
        Kiwi, grow up and come fill this huge void in our hearts, 
        (tear,tear).
        
        I guess if there is a moral to this story it is that some times 
        we humans must be willing to do what we consider the impossible 
        for the sake of our feathered companions. If anyone else has to 
        go through this, please, use all your friends for support and 
        remember, the most important thing is the happiness and 
        well-being of the bird.
        
        Thanks for letting me cry on your shoulder folks. If I can ever 
        be of any help to anyone else having a problem like this. I will 
        be there.
        
        
        			For the Birds!!
        
        			Bob Page

    Hi Bob,
    
    Thanks for sharing your story. You did the right thing, but don't
    know if I could have done it.
    
    Keep us updated on your new baby!
    
    Thanks,
    Doug

    Hi Bob!
    
    I agree with Doug that you did the BEST thing for Barnie.  I've seen
    pet birds that just werent the same when reaching "that age" go into
    breeding facilities and what a difference!  
    
    Maybe what you aughta consider is going to visit Barnie in a year or so
    and see how he is doing.  You will probably be nicely suprised and then
    KNOW you did the best thing!
    
    Now as for your Eclectus baby - Well I don't really need to add
    anything here other than these birds can bring so much love
    and joy!  And what conversation pieces too!  Most folks haven't seen an
    Eclectus before and when they come to your home, won't be able to keep
    their eyes off!  I love it when people visit because its like a kid in a
    toy store. 
    
    Kiwi is going to be one lucky bird to have you and Lynn.  I know how
    excited you are about this and think you are going to have one spoiled
    baby bird at your house in no time!
    
    I want to hear more about how all this is going!
    
    Talk to you soon - Karen

    You did do the right thing, but it is really hard.  On a smaller scale,
    I gave up a pair of budgies (to a great home) because I just didn't
    have the time to give them attention after the Quaker, the Macaw, and
    2 cockatiels.  
    
    As for the Eclectus , I saw my first one "in real life" yesterday --
    9 week old, male, hand fed, Grand Eclectus.  All I can say is WOW!
    Now I'm really torn.....I had decided that my "one more" bird was
    going to be a bare eyed cockatoo......but the eclectus was really 
    somethng.  I spent 30 minutes walking around the shop with him
    nuzzled into my neck crying to be petted................
    
    

    Well, we went over to visit Kiwi this weekend. We figured out for sure
    which one he is. The two baby's are different as night and day. One is
    very quiet and reserved and one, not unlike myself, is very curious,
    and outgoing and makes lots of little squawking noises!!
    
    Sorry Karen, but we have fallen in love with the noisey one. He is 6
    weeks old and about fully feathered now and is just stunning to look at.
     Lynne and I had a chance to feed him a little. He eats out of a spoon,
    What a riot!! food everywhere, on me on the bird on the table. It was
    great! 
    
    The three of us (Lynne,me and the breeder) where down on the floor playing
     and Kiwi was wrestling with me over a dog biscuit having a ball,
    flapping his wings and squawking, with flashes of blue and red
    everywhere. when he suddenly seemed to realize he was having too much
    fun. He dropped the biscuit, looked up and took about 3 steps back as
    if to say "what am I doing??" We all broke up laughing and Lynne gave
    him a hug and everything was fine.
    
    After about an hour and a half of this we put Kiwi back in the box with
    his brother. Kiwi curled up and took a nap, enough excitment for one
    day I guess.
    
    As we left we peeked back in one more time and here are both Eclectus 
    and 2 baby Alexandrian ring necks all cuddled up together getting some
    ZZZZZ's.
    
    I cant wait!! Looks like about 3 or 4 more weeks and Kiwi will come
    home to brighten our home!
                      

    
    	Ok Bob, you were right about your story. I wouldn't read it because 
    I didn't want to read about another bird getting hurt or dying. If I
    may make a suggestion for you, I think you should send your story into
    Bird Talk and see if they would print it. A lot of other people would
    love to share it with you.
    
    	I was just given a Gothum, (Spelling ?) Cockatoo that needed a 
    good home. His name is Chris and he is also plucking his feathers. His
    owner didn't have the time to give him the attention he though he
    needed, so he offered him to me, after hearing about my birds from 
    someone at work. 
    
    	The little guy is a quite a character. I took him to the vet for
    a complete check-out the day after I got him and once he was given a
    clean bill of health put him in his own cage in the Pet Shop, (what I
    call my bird/fish room). Every day when I change the water in my tanks,
    I let him come out of his cage on his own and he loves to just sit on
    my shoulder. My orange crested conure sits on the other shoulder and
    my Grey stands on top of my big Grey cage and talks to the Greys I have
    there. It's quite a zoo. sometimes I wonder what the fish think of it
    all.
    
    	If I find that I can't get him to stop plucking his feathers then
    I will find a mate for him just as you did. 
    
    	Good luck with Kiwi!
    
    						    Mark

    Re: .-1
    
    I believe your new bird is a Goffin.

    
    	So that's how it's spelled. I'll be looking for a good book on
    them or a good 'Too book that talks about them. If anyone knows of 
    any let me know.
    
    
    						Thanks,
    						 Mark