Weights and motivation!

[sarah12]

Hi all! I was just wondering who here free flies their parrots?
Where I work we have macaws and small parrots and cockatoos, none are clipped.
What I am trying to learn about is the implications of having birds that weigh more, so they are not always hungry, but still have sharp focus and motivation. From what I have been able to find the majority of people keep their animals weighing less than what is ideal to gain this - or one suggestion was letting them get nice and fat and then sudden drops in food to get high motivation temporarily. Has anyone got any knowledge on the implications of this also?

It's proving so difficult to find decent info online due to various factors such as the free flying, breeding (all our birds live in same sex groups), activity and space etc.

Does anyone here have any resources, contacts, emails, experience or videos in regards to free flying birds that weigh more than they could? Any issues, pros or cons they have discovered in having birds under/over the ideal weight?

Finally, does anyone have any resources on the implications of a bird that is underweight? The problem I'm facing is finding weight guidelines and being told "those are not free flying birds."

 

[MonicaMc]

Birds who exercise frequently may weigh less or more than birds that don't. Flying is the best form of exercise for our parrots, so they are likely to burn more calories and possibly weigh less. However, on the flip side, muscle weighs more than fat... so a bird who has a lot of muscle may weigh more than a bird who doesn't get adequate exercise.

A bird that is full is less likely to be food motivated than a bird who is hungry. This doesn't mean you have to starve your bird, only to use food management. Think of it like this, a kid who stuffs himself at dinner and can't eat anymore probably wont be interested in eating ice cream. A kid who eats a good meal but isn't full to the brim would probably be happy to eat a small bowl of ice cream!


Here's some links that I have... although some might be dead.

Should you clip your bird?
The Flighted Birds wiki
Living with Flighted parrots
Carly Lu's Flight Blog: Parrot Training, Flight & Recall
Free Flight Training
Flyers - Home
Recalling Phoebe
February, 2005 - shanlung
Tinkerbell, a free flying CAG
Good Bird Inc. Companion Parrot Training Through Positive Reinforcement
Wings At Liberty - Avian Training & Flight Instruction
Bird-Click : Bird-Click
Parrotrecalltraining : Recall/Freeflight Training for Parrots
Freeflight : Freeflight
The Bird Man of Las Vegas

Free flight gone wrong.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKlxjZQUueQ"]YouTube - Tui parrot missing free flying - don't try this[/ame]

Parrot & Bird Training Terminology | Good Bird Training


Food Management: Food reinforcers are often used to increase motivation to present a desired behavior when training birds. Desire for food reinforcers can be created by managing when and how food is delivered, what food items are offered, and the ratio of food items offered. This practice is referred to as “food management.” Most parrot training can be accomplished using food management practices.

Example of food management:
There are many strategies for food management. One example is as follows: You would like to train your Pionus Parrot to present a new behavior of stepping onto a scale. However he has no interest in any treats you offer. To create interest in treats for a training session in the morning, you remove his food bowl when he goes to sleep. In the morning before offering him his diet, you conduct a training session. With this approach he eagerly accepts a treat and you are able to have a session.​

http://www.goodbirdinc.com/presskit/Good_Bird_Magazine_Vol3_Issue2.pdf

Managing the Deliverance of Food to Create Motivation

Training Birds for Husbandry and Medical Behavior to Reduce or Eliminate Stress

 

[sarah12]

Thank you so much for the links, I'll have a good read tonight! Very helpful.
We have them on a variable schedule of reinforcement with the use of jackpots, but what seems to be the belief (when I offered the information about one of the birds, a little corella, being underweight than what is stated) is that people with heavier birds don't free fly them, thus he shouldn't weight that much.
I am a strong believer in using other reinforcers than just food, and using our skills as trainers to maintain the birds' excitement and focus. But in order to come away from this "free flying weights vs ordinary ideal weights" I need help

 

[MonicaMc]

A birds body weight is going to vary regardless of diet... I have a flock of four cockatiels that weigh between 80 and 100 grams.. maybe up to 110 grams during certain parts of the year. The bird that weighs 80ish grabs hardly varies in weight throughout the year! It doesn't matter what he eats, how much exercise he gets or the time of year, he just doesn't put on weight! Yet, he's pretty healthy! All the rest actually weigh 90+ grams and their weights do vary! They all live in the same cage on the same diet. Had another tiel that was nearly starved to death and weighed 50 some grams when I took her in. She did average out at 80 some grams for a while, but has since put on more weight and is now typically around 90 grams.

I once put an overweight hen next to a fit, in shape hen. The overweight hen appeared obese, and obviously larger than the in shape hen... yet, surprisingly, the hen that was in shape weighed 6 grams more! Which just goes to show you, muscle can weigh more than fat...

What may be a healthy weight for one bird may not be a healthy weight for another... so as long as your bird is not underweight (thin perhaps, but not underweight), I honestly wouldn't be concerned about it myself!


If your corella is in fact underweight and not simply thin, then you can try providing a higher protein diet for a few months. There are also supplements to try and help birds put on weight. I don't know where you live, but if in the UK or America, these supplements should be relatively easy to obtain? (I know for sure in America) If in Australia (I'm guessing, could be wrong), then it might be more difficult to find something. Vetafarm does have a breeder diet and an Egg & Biscuit mix that has higher amounts of protein. I haven't seen anything in regards to additional supplements, though... so I don't know if they would recommend something different.


Of course, it wouldn't hurt to discuss a diet change with an avian vet to make sure you are doing it right!