For Challenge #9, click
HERE.
Merry Christmas 2CCC friends,
This is Teresa, finally back in the swing at 2CCC and I have lots of Christmas goodies for you in this mid-month post.
About 2 years ago, my wonderful husband made me an enclosed aviary in our basement so my pet birds could fly free without risk to their safety. Since then, my handful of birds has grown to 19: 2 doves, 2 cockatiels, 4 budgies and 11 finches. With the exception of the finches and my 16-year-old white dove, Treasure, all of these have been birds that needed new homes. As for my Zebra finches, I have had to re-home a number of them because the little darlings keep reproducing. Otherwise, I would be completely overrun (over-flown?) by tiny beeping finches. (I was not beeping out a bad word; that is actually the sound they make.
)
Even though I have a variety of species, they all get along reasonably well. Most stick to their own, but my cockatiels - Sassafrass and Frannie - have taken a shine to the doves. Who can blame them?
Most of my birds are not hand-tame, except for the doves, but my finches like to land on my head and shoulders, tugging on my long silver hair. I suspect they think it is straw and will make good nest material.
Health issues with small birds can often be fatal. Usually by the time you notice something is wrong, the bird is too sick to recover. I always keep a small hospital cage in case I ever have a sick bird on my hands. That way I can keep the bird warm (with a heat source under one half of the cage) and quiet until (hopefully) she recovers. For anyone keeping more than two birds, I recommend having a small hospital cage or small animal carrier. Being prepared can make the difference between a sick bird surviving or not.
The best way to keep a healthy flock is to provide a nutritious diet, clean air & water, plenty of exercise, an area away from drafts, and a reasonably clean environment. Over the years, I have developed a recipe that I feed to my birds, which is high in protein and has lots of nutrition, including calcium, which all females need, especially if they are breeding. They also get fresh greens daily and I often add other fruits and veggies to their mix for more nutrition and because they like variety. My first Christmas gift to you is my recipe. If you don't have pet birds, perhaps you will consider making a batch of bird bread as a Christmas gift to the outside birds around your home. They will certainly appreciate it, especially if you live in a cold climate like I do.
Now, even if you don't love having real birds in your life, you might like having them on your cards and craft projects. So I am sharing some of my bird digis with you. Please do not share them directly, but feel free to send your friends here to pick up the images themselves. If you post a project, please give credit to Tickell Expressions. If you can't remember that, you can say Teresa from 2CCC and that will be fine. Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy these.
