Hello from Australia

[Alaskan]

Howdy and welcome!

That is a great photo you posted!

 

[Alaskan]

Oh, I wanted to ask, what kind of cockatoo?

We have a lesser Sulphur crested.

 

[farmerjan]

Welcome from Virginia, USA. .
My last German shepherd was a very protective dog as far as anything she thought belonged to me so I would say she was more guardian than herding.... Kept the animals out of the garden, the predators away from the chickens.... and her big GRIN was very good at keeping people out of the yard and in their cars.... but she was a big lovable baby and wouldn't bite a flea if it was biting her... It was great that she was so good at scaring them off just by her very imposing looks...

We have another member from Australia also, @The Old Ram-Australia ..... with sheep knowledge and taking care of the land knowledge that is bottomless.....

I have /or have recently had chickens, turkeys, sheep, cattle, hogs...dogs, cats..... right now have a beef cattle operation with my son and we both work off the farm jobs too...been involved with animals and farming for 50+ years.

 

[Vonny]

Oh, I wanted to ask, what kind of cockatoo?

We have a lesser Sulphur crested.

Fugly is a sulphur crested as well! We’ve had him since he was a baby who was kicked out of the nest in 1994! They, and black cockatoos are everywhere here! He has an aviary next to the chooks. He loves them!

The second photo is my other parrot.. a hand raised lorikeet (scaley breasted / lutino cross).

 

[Alaskan]

Fugly is a sulphur crested as well! We’ve had him since he was a baby who was kicked out of the nest in 1994! They, and black cockatoos are everywhere here! He has an aviary next to the chooks. He loves them!View attachment 93477View attachment 93478

The second photo is my other parrot.. a hand raised lorikeet (scaley breasted / lutino cross).

The Lori's and lorikeets have always attracted me. Such bright colors and incredible clowns!!

How good is your cockatoo Fugly with free flight? Looks like you have him outside.

Our Cockatoo is 17 now?? Sunshine.

She is the PICKIEST eater ever! I have never had a parrot so bad about food!

Because of her food issues.... I have yet to figure out how to teach her to come when called.


There is no such thing as a "treat" with this girl.

Luckily, we have a large house with vaulted ceilings, so she has good flight time. But I can't take her outside.

I keep working with her on the food thing, and we are making slow progress, but SLOW.

I am Sunshine's second owner. She is my first second hand parrot. All of my previous parrots I either hand raised, finished handraising, or bought newly weaned. So, all my previous parrots ate a good selection of pellets, as well as veggies and fruits etc.

Silly Sunshine! We have had her, for maybe 3 years now.

 

[Vonny]

The Lori's and lorikeets have always attracted me. Such bright colors and incredible clowns!!

How good is your cockatoo Fugly with free flight? Looks like you have him outside.

Our Cockatoo is 17 now?? Sunshine.

View attachment 93481

She is the PICKIEST eater ever! I have never had a parrot so bad about food!

Because of her food issues.... I have yet to figure out how to teach her to come when called.


There is no such thing as a "treat" with this girl.

Luckily, we have a large house with vaulted ceilings, so she has good flight time. But I can't take her outside.

I keep working with her on the food thing, and we are making slow progress, but SLOW.

I am Sunshine's second owner. She is my first second hand parrot. All of my previous parrots I either hand raised, finished handraising, or bought newly weaned. So, all my previous parrots ate a good selection of pellets, as well as veggies and fruits etc.

Silly Sunshine! We have had her, for maybe 3 years now.

Fugly is very picky about who he hangs out with and has turned nasty since we built the aviary for him! He has always been outside but always close to lots of people traffic! He has quite an amazing vocabulary! It’s hilarious but when wild cockatoos come in to feed (3 regulars) .. he talks to them in ‘human speak’ rather than ‘cockatoo’!! ..his free flight is terrible - bombs almost instantly.. that’s his aviary behind him! He once flew downhill to the neighbours property but was very relieved when we found him and put him back into the aviary… he used to get out of the cage all the time (when he was in a large cage) but no longer wants to go far .. it’s quite a large aviary that allows for flight but he tends to sit and talk .. he has been trying to build a tunnel out! Fergy (my lorikeet) has a really wide diet (blackberries and grapes are her favourite treats) but Fugly’s favourite treats are native figs (he has a tree over his aviary) and sunflower seeds however we have to limit how many we offer of the sunflower seeds. He is more motivated by socialisation with people rather than food! He comes to us straight away when we are there to talk to him! Sunshine is so pretty with those very yellow cheeks!!!

 

[Vonny]

Welcome from Virginia, USA. .
My last German shepherd was a very protective dog as far as anything she thought belonged to me so I would say she was more guardian than herding.... Kept the animals out of the garden, the predators away from the chickens.... and her big GRIN was very good at keeping people out of the yard and in their cars.... but she was a big lovable baby and wouldn't bite a flea if it was biting her... It was great that she was so good at scaring them off just by her very imposing looks...

We have another member from Australia also, @The Old Ram-Australia ..... with sheep knowledge and taking care of the land knowledge that is bottomless.....

I have /or have recently had chickens, turkeys, sheep, cattle, hogs...dogs, cats..... right now have a beef cattle operation with my son and we both work off the farm jobs too...been involved with animals and farming for 50+ years.

Thank you for the lead on The Old Ram! It straight away made me think of a wonderful Australian movie ‘Rams’!!

I think people love German shepherds or they don’t and are scared of them! I know that ‘grin’ .. all of mine over the years have been so gentle and caring.. we have one elderly dog left of three but when he is no longer with us we are keen to get another shepherd.

I grew up in the country and my husband was a city boy who went to Ag college .. it has been a long road back to the bush! A positive from the pandemic, we were both made redundant, so decided it was time for a tree change! Same property we have had for 25 years but instead of rushing off to the city for work in very stressful jobs we now stay here, play with the animals and work part time online!! We are babes in the woods but learning fast and loving every moment of it!!

 

[Alaskan]

Fugly is very picky about who he hangs out with and has turned nasty since we built the aviary for him! He has always been outside but always close to lots of people traffic! He has quite an amazing vocabulary! It’s hilarious but when wild cockatoos come in to feed (3 regulars) .. he talks to them in ‘human speak’ rather than ‘cockatoo’!! ..his free flight is terrible - bombs almost instantly.. that’s his aviary behind him! He once flew downhill to the neighbours property but was very relieved when we found him and put him back into the aviary… he used to get out of the cage all the time (when he was in a large cage) but no longer wants to go far .. it’s quite a large aviary that allows for flight but he tends to sit and talk .. he has been trying to build a tunnel out! Fergy (my lorikeet) has a really wide diet (blackberries and grapes are her favourite treats) but Fugly’s favourite treats are native figs (he has a tree over his aviary) and sunflower seeds however we have to limit how many we offer of the sunflower seeds. He is more motivated by socialisation with people rather than food! He comes to us straight away when we are there to talk to him! Sunshine is so pretty with those very yellow cheeks!!!

Hilarious about both parrots!

Sunshine is great with flying. She can fly almost sideways to squeeze through a mostly closed door, and even do a full turn around in our narrow pantry.

She can't say a single clear word! She does do people mumble talk. So, unclear gibberish.

Luckily she is doing great with my large family, and is quite fond of most of us. Her first owner was an older lady, getting on in years. When she saw that I had a house full of kids that like parrots, she gifted us Sunshine.

 

[Vonny]

My kids are terrified about who I will ‘gift’ Fugly to in my will! I’m super pleased that Sunshine has blended well with your family! Fugly would ‘chase’ my three girls to bite their feet but loved my two sons!!

He starts the car for us (although doesn’t make it sound like car is in good health .. there were workmen here when he was young that had a truck that made that sound) and ‘beeps the horn’ twice as people reach the gate when leaving the property.. he can sing happy birthday all the way through including the hip hip hooray with wings out stretched .. he still calls the kids with my voice and the dogs by name who get very confused that they are getting called to his cage (although he is starting to get generations mixed up)! .. but his favourite is saying ‘hello darling’ with exaggerated kissing sounds to lure me in for a pat!!!

 

[Alaskan]

Fugly would ‘chase’ my three girls to bite their feet but loved my two sons!!

Sunshine also has a toe issue!!!


We all have to make sure that we never put toes anywhere near her.



Luckily, we live where it is almost always cold... so not a hardship!