Fostering a Goffin

[Chrishel]

Hello! I'm currently fostering my husband's cousin's Goffin, Christina, and I am looking for some advice on how to better socialize her and how to get her on a better diet. I've had her for 2 months now.

My husband's cousin was hospitalized and I met his bird for the first time when his sister called and needed someone to care for Christina immediately. I have lots of experience with small birds (budgies and lovebirds) but nothing like a cockatoo. All I was told was that the house key was under the brick and I needed to bring a carrier. I didn't have a cage or a carrier, but I thought I'd check out the situation first before jumping in. I found her sitting on a cage top (cockatiel sized cage) on a snow sled. She had a mug of clean water and a bowl of sunflower seeds.

Long story short, I bought a new parrot cage and a spare parakeet cage to use as a carrier home (I figure it will come in handy at some point for the other birds). I have her on Higgins Safflower Gold and she only eats the safflower seeds and ignores the rest. I give her about 8-10 sunflower seeds a day and use it mostly as a reward to step up.

It turns out she is an extremely sweet bird. She loves head scritches (I read the extremely helpful sticky about where NOT to touch her) but will let me touch her anywhere. She does not bite at all. Once I hit a pin feather and rather than bite, she ran off and shook. My lovebird would have given me a good nip and he's hand fed and very tame.

She doesn't screech. She was completely silent for about 2 weeks. I was warned that she does scream and that they would put something near her that she was scared of to make her stop. I realize that screeching is perfectly normal but I'm not complaining about the lack of screaming! Now she does scream for me for attention if she sees me in the other room or hears me talking to someone or on the phone. I try not to encourage that behavior and ignore her unless it's her 9:00 bedtime scream or early morning, "my bowl is empty of all the seed that I'm willing to eat" scream.

I don't know what her home life was like before I got her. The sister of the owner who has a sulfur crested cockatoo at her workplace feels that her brother abused her. I can see that her life wasn't really stable. He loves her but I don't know how much time he spent with her. She's pretty terrified of people. She will make herself as small as possible and shake. If she's on top of her cage and the UPS man or mailwoman comes to the door she will hit the floor and hide under the dining table. Her wings are clipped and I think maybe even plucked. Also half her tail is missing on one side.

I have not seen her preen unless I'm rubbing her head. She'll do an odd behavior where she'll try to preen items into her wing feathers. Of course, they end up dropping on the floor. Things like wooden blocks and today, I gave her a cardboard jigsaw puzzle and she took each piece and tried the preen them into her feathers between nibbling on the pieces.

She'll chew through about $20 in toys a week. I'm trying to give her a lot more mental stimulation. She loves to watch me put things together and will immediately work on taking them apart once I give them too her. She can play for hours by herself on top of her cage so I'm happy with that. Despite her fear of people and general nervousness, she's not fearful of many toys. I can pretty much tell within 10 seconds if it's something she'll play with or something that I just wasted my money on because she'll not go near it.

My daughter (13 yo) is good with birds so I'm going to have her work with the Christina while I'm at work. If I'm around, I'm clearly the favored person. My son (11 yo) is a little spazzy and the other birds tend to give him a wide berth, so unfortunately, he's not a good candidate to help socialize her. None of our friends that come over frequently are bird people so they aren't much help. To top things off, all the bird people I know that could help are women and Christina has lived with men since she was weaned so I don't want her to think women are good and men are bad. I'm not sure how old she is. Perhaps anywhere from 5 to 10 years old. I get conflicting answers and I called the store where she was purchased but they can't access their records from that long ago very easily.

Sorry this is so long a post! Anyone have any suggestions or advice on what I'm doing wrong or what I could do better? How can I convert her to a better diet? I do have bird bread, pea and carrot mix, and diced apples, which I prep for our sparrow/finch hybrid (another long story) which I've offered and that she ignores. I have offered her apple slices and eaten slices in front of her, before offering her another piece but she's not interested. She's not housed near my other birds and I haven't had success converting them to pellets either. Her owner has mentioned that he given her french fries (that makes me cringe).

 

[LeaKP]

Wow congratulations on your so far very successful foster! You sound right on track. I've never had a cockatoo; the largest bird I have ever had (and have) is an African grey. But, I have fostered an abused African grey and the situation turned around. It took a very long time for him to make the turn but I gradually introduced him to new foods, new people, new situations, and after 6 months we saw a new bird begin to emerge.

As far as diet, I would continue to offer different foods, different pellets, different birdie breads, nutriberries, chop, etc. until I found a couple he loved/tolerates. Then try to sneak in some new things in different forms. For my grey, who loved popcorn, I broke the popcorn into smaller bits and snuck new pellets into the mixture.

The cockatoo experts are sure to chime in and give you better advice. My heart is happy that this bird is in your care right now.

 

[ScooterMcTavish]

Wow, it sounds like you are doing everything right for the little bird - great for you.

For food, I am unfamiliar with the brand you are giving her. Does it contain any pellets? Our RB2 will eat pellets, but has shown a strong preference for Zupreem ones, both Fruit Blend and Naturals. One thing that seems important to our little guy is that he prefers food he can pick up and eat with his foot.

Cockatoos also like to forage, so when he was eating a bit less aggressively, we'd actually put various food like chop and a mix of pellets on the base of his stand. He seems to like to root around, picking up and sampling various foods.

For socialization, we take our birds out as much as we can. They don't necessarily need to interact or be hands on with people, but it does expose then to a variety of different sounds and people. They learn very quickly that "different" doesn't mean "harmful". Plus, if you're their favorite person, they're mostly happy to be with you anyways, and you provide safety and comfort for them.

Good luck with your charge. Once the diet improves and the bird is more settled, you can see how the feathers are and work on the "guys are OK" thing. I'd also suggest a comprehensive avian vet check up to ensure she is in good health, and isn't suffering from/carrying any diseases that may be manifesting themselves as behaviour issues.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Hi there...

I HAD a Goffins that I adopted after my Grey passed away..It seems the action of putting things into their feathers is a 'too thing lol..My Jonesy did that also
We have a member here,Scott,who has FIVE of those little rascals and he can help you more than I.
It sounds like Christina can be a wonderful bird. Sounds like she is just skittish of her new surroundings.
We all know a diet of sunflower seed is a no-no and I applaud you for offering new foods. My Goffins didn't eat a whole lot of different things either,not like my Amazon does.

Keep doing what you are doing,you are on the right track,and keep us posted.

Jim

 

[Siobhan]

Security is the first thing and it sounds like you're doing well on that front. Don't push Christina into accepting things that scare her, but gently expose her a little bit to things that might make her slightly uncomfortable. Example: My Rocky was terrified of the broom if I carried it horizontally. So I carried it upright, in the sweeping position, and always verbally reassured him "Mama's just cleaning up Rocky's mess" in a very cheerful, Mary Poppins tone. Little by little, he got over being afraid of it, and one day the stinker took it away from me and played with it! He's an umbrella 'too, so he's pretty strong.

He was on an appalling seed mix, so I gave him a bowl of pellets very first thing when he moved in, and he took to the pellets immediately and ignored his seed. So I tossed it -- I was going to gradually switch him over, but he didn't need that. I bought him the fruity, multicolored pellets. You might try that. It had an almost immediate effect on his feather condition and he put on weight, which he needed to do.

 

[Scott]

Thank you for fostering Christina and posting in great detail! You are on the right track, and the passage of 2 months suggest the "honeymoon" period has passed! What you have is a fantastic Goffin with great potential.

By now Christina likely feels safe, but socializing a cockatoo is a lengthy process as they are choosy and have almost hard-wired preferences. Trial and error, but don't push, and definitely reward breakthroughs.

They are safflower monsters and can be extremely stubborn with new foods. Zupreem fruit pellets and some seeds are a portion of their base diet. Some popular items include yam, sweet potato, lima/pinto/garbanzo/black/kidney beans, endamame, peas, corn, green beans, red/green/yellow and orange peppers, apple, orange, pear, banana, melon seeds, pomegranate, cooked whole wheat spiral noodles, cooked carrot, etc. For treats, Cheerios, whole grain bread, and a small piece of string cheese are offered. Keep offering a food even if it is immediately jettisoned! My mother Goffin took 25 years in my home to try string cheese!

My 5 Goffins range from 18 to 35+ years and have generally proven hardy with diverse personalities and are loving companions. They are my favorite parrot!!

 

[Chrishel]

Thank you, Everyone for your help!

I went on vacation for a few days (my daughter was accepted into an Honors Choir and they performed at Carnegie Hall in NYC) and my husband held down the fort. Christina basically threw a tantrum and destroyed a bunch of things like chewing through her rope perch (both sides!) She (and all the other birds) were happy to see me when I returned. The fact that she destroyed some things was much better than her sitting in one spot being scared.

While in NYC we met with Christina's owner's sister and she told my husband that Christina cannot go back to her owner. He abused her and in one instance hit her with a broom so much that they thought she wouldn't make it.

I am heartbroken about it. I am amazed that she is as sweet as she is and I will not push her too hard about her socialization. I can imagine that she could have turned into a nasty biter and I wouldn't blame her one bit. I'll let her decide when she's ready.

I will take her to my avian vet soon now that I know she isn't going back to her owner. I noticed that she favors one side a little and one foot is slightly larger than the other (I think from standing on one foot more). As sad as it is, I am happy to hear a little more about her background so that I can relay it to my vet and can give her a little better care by watching for other issues.

I am happy to keep her permanently, I just need to convince my husband to let me!

 

[Scott]

I hope you are able to keep Christina, as she now needs a great new home.

Ah yes, the destroying of the rope perch at both sides trick! Definitely the sign of a tantrum and decision to destroy it effectively!! Not sure how to evaluate the slight difference in foot size. Might be a matter of use, but your vet may have a better understanding.

Let us know how things go with Christina!!

 

[Siobhan]

I suspect being hit with a broom was also why Rocky was so afraid of brooms. Poor Christina. Now let's find that man and hit HIM with a broom and perhaps something a bit heavier as well.

 

[Chrishel]

The funny thing is that I've swiffered around her cage and she didn't freak out so I had no idea. Maybe the motion of swiffering versus using a broom makes the difference.

When I tried to cover her cage the first day, there was a lot of drama. Unfortunately, we don't have drapes or blinds in the room she's in so she gets up with the sun. Now the trees in front of the house have leaves so she can't see the road at night anymore, but it was very scary for her to see the car headlights drive by at odd intervals.

My husband and the other birds have taught her bad things while I was gone. When the other birds hear I'm up, they might call softly but they pretty much remain quiet until I uncover them. Now Christina hears them and she calls. My husband has been calling back and forth to her (he thinks it's funny). So now when he comes home after she's gone to bed, she calls to him and if she hears him talking she calls to him. He's gotten reprimanded for that!

I'm thinking of changing her name. She doesn't really respond to Christina and perhaps a new name will give her a fresh start.

 

[MonicaMc]

I am looking for some advice on how to better socialize her and how to get her on a better diet
If you have a safe way (harness? travel cage/carrier?) to take her out in public, it would be a great way to start getting her more socialized. All interactions should be hands off at first, until you get to see how well she does with various strangers. Start with very quiet/clam areas, and work your way up towards busier places.


You might even try looking for bird clubs in your area! Find strangers who are ok with being bitten and know to remain calm with a strange bird! (same as you would do with a strange dog) Obviously, you don't want her to bite anyone, but if she does, it's better she bites someone that is expecting to be bitten vs someone who isn't!



Diet.... hopefully this helps some!

Converting Parrots to a Healthier Diet - Tips



I realize that screeching is perfectly normal but I'm not complaining about the lack of screaming! Now she does scream for me for attention if she sees me in the other room or hears me talking to someone or on the phone. I try not to encourage that behavior and ignore her unless it's her 9:00 bedtime scream or early morning, "my bowl is empty of all the seed that I'm willing to eat" scream.
Simply ignoring the behavior isn't necessarily a good idea. It doesn't teach her what *TO DO*. If you don't want her to screech, then you need to give her something to do *instead of* screeching. Don't just ignore it! If she talks, make a huge deal about it! If she rings a bell, make a huge deal about it! Reward, reward, reward desired behavior! Reward any kind of behavior that may be incompatible with screaming!

Trust me, you and her will be happier for it!


She's pretty terrified of people. She will make herself as small as possible and shake. If she's on top of her cage and the UPS man or mailwoman comes to the door she will hit the floor and hide under the dining table.
Slow, calm interactions can help here. May even help to have a person quietly sitting in a room, you walk in the room with Christina, allowing her to see the person. If she doesn't react, reward her and leave the room. Repeat. Try getting closer and closer to the other person in small approximations while rewarding desired behavior. The more comfortable she gets with the situation, the more you can have the person try talking or moving. Don't have people walk up to her if she's not comfortable with that.



Her wings are clipped and I think maybe even plucked. Also half her tail is missing on one side.
I know a lot of people may disagree with this, but if she is capable of having her wings grow out, it may help her. Birds can be more confident if they have their flight and have the option to get away from a perceived threat. Clipping birds often just leads to flooding... a very stressful training technique that I do not recommend and doesn't always lead to good results.


I have not seen her preen unless I'm rubbing her head. She'll do an odd behavior where she'll try to preen items into her wing feathers.
That behavior is often called "anting", but it could also be an "antiparasitic behavior". It could be normal behavior, or even a sign of stress.


I'm trying to give her a lot more mental stimulation. She loves to watch me put things together and will immediately work on taking them apart once I give them too her. She can play for hours by herself on top of her cage so I'm happy with that.
This is actually fantastic for her to do!!!


How can I convert her to a better diet? I do have bird bread, pea and carrot mix, and diced apples, which I prep for our sparrow/finch hybrid (another long story) which I've offered and that she ignores. I have offered her apple slices and eaten slices in front of her, before offering her another piece but she's not interested.
You know those toys that you make her????? Have you ever tried stuffing them with food???



The funny thing is that I've swiffered around her cage and she didn't freak out so I had no idea. Maybe the motion of swiffering versus using a broom makes the difference.
Color may also play a role. I can use a brown/yellow broom, a green broom or even a black broom in the bird room and no *big* deal. A red one though? That one results in some not very happy birds!

I'm also a pretty low key kind of person. I don't wear bright clothing (other than white). I wear mostly blues, browns, blacks and some white. I do have some shirts though that I hardly ever wear and one day I decided to wear an orange-yellow one. Walked into the bird room, all the birds FREAKED! I turned around, walked straight back out! Came back in with a different shirt on...


When I tried to cover her cage the first day, there was a lot of drama. Unfortunately, we don't have drapes or blinds in the room she's in so she gets up with the sun. Now the trees in front of the house have leaves so she can't see the road at night anymore, but it was very scary for her to see the car headlights drive by at odd intervals.
If it ever becomes an issue again, can you get blinds? Or what about a room/dorm/privacy divider that could be used to block her site from the windows?

Or use a smaller cage as a night time cage and place that in a dark area at night?



If she isn't attached to her name and you don't really care for it, then by all means, change it!