Finally!

[OutlawedSpirit]

I am happy to say that the Pretty Chicken almost has a new butt! Ha ha, when I took her to the vet, he pulled quite a few of the broken tail feathers she had out, and they are about halfway grown back in. So far, so good, she hasn't mangled them. She doesn't intentionally mangle, or pluck them, but she is young, so she had a ratty baby tail. I'm hoping that she is past that now, so she will actually have a tail. I'll admit it is sort of odd seeing her with one now.

In other happy news, she is molting, and has a new primary growing in on both wings. It's only one on each so far, but I am hoping more will follow soon. I cannot wait until she can fly! She's been clipped since I got her, and I've been waiting months for her primaries to molt. She is already harness trained, I am glad I did that early. I also want to recall train her, which I don't think will be too much of an issue, considering she is already half recall trained on the floor. I do not plan on ever free flying her, but I would like a strong recall just in case. You never know what could happen, and I would like to be as prepared as possible for any possibilities.

It's a little early to get her out now, but hopefully I can get a good picture of her pretty, albeit still stubby, little tail later. Don't mess with the chicken until adequate breakfast time is had, or breakfast will be your fingers.

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

So, she got extra breakfast this morning, cause one of the kids wanted to give her a treat. It was a piece of oatmeal squares cereal. Not the best for her, but for an occasional treat, there are worse things.

Then, as promised, her pretty butt.

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[chris-md]

HA! I know the feeling. Few months back for no good reason Parker chewed up all his tail feathers. He looked odd without them but after a while they started to grow back. Now he looks odd WITH them!

Aria is looking great! Parker sends his patented wolf whistle.

[ame="https://youtu.be/1Ze7TAV_iE0"]My nightly ego boost: Parker the Eclectus wolf whistles - YouTube[/ame]

Nows a good time to give a bit more protein in the diet, if you haven't already. Crushed hard boiled egg with shells is actually really good for this. Little bit every day until the egg is gone (maybe 3-4 days).

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

Do you have any other ideas for extra protein? I have tried giving her egg and she won't touch it. She already has beans and quinoa in her chop, so I'm not too concerned about protein, but a little extra probably wouldn't hurt right now. She has pins all over.

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[Anansi]

If she's already getting beans and quinoa, Aria's pretty much covered on the protein front.

Those tail feathers are coming in beautifully! And yeah, baby ekkies can be brutal on their flight and tail feathers!

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

She's loving the extra showers I'm giving her to help with her molt. Although she gets rather angry when it's time to come out of the shower. I think she would stay in there all day if I would let her. At least until the warm water ran out.

 

[Uglow]

Congrats. A flying bird is such a joy. You're in for a treat. Uglow's gotten two of his flight feather's back recently and just yesterday he started flying regularly like a mad man. His confidence has sky rocketed. Usually I have to train with him to fly. Yesterday he let me know he's got this. If you can get her started on flying short distances that would really help with her confidence. In the meantime set up some safe landing zones, get her familiarized with them and then one day she'll surprise you.

 

[Violet_Diva]

I'm so happy for you two! Her tail feathers look beautiful and cute! It's quite exciting thinking about her getting the chance to fully fledge finally. I wish you both lots of luck. Please keep us updated on her progress

With regards to protein, during my initial research into eclectus, I found this list online, it's foods high in protein for a moulting eclectus:

Cooked meat and chicken
Boiled eggs (cooked right the way through)
Almonds
Pumpkin seeds (also known as pepitas)
Lentils and pulses
Chia
Asparagus
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sweetcorn

I also read that apparently sprouted seeds are good for protein, especially seeds such as niger seeds and rape seeds. Though sprouted seeds should be limited to just a few times a week if a bird is hormonal or has kidney problems.

If anyone knows any different, please correct me, I'm still learning