Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that Chicken is doing great and is settling in just fine! Thanks Joanne!!!!!!!! Amazingly, she still hasn't tried to bite me....although she doesn't like my husband much. She screams at him whenever he enters the room and then tries to bite him when he gets too close. At first, I thought she was just being protective of me, but she does this even when I'm not around. My husband doesn't get to spend much time with her, so maybe she's just not used to him yet. She can also see the mail man from her window and she screams at him every day. At least she lets me know when the mail is here!

Chicken and I get along great! She loves to sit on my shoulder and mutter in my ear. She still hasn't said any words yet, but she's learned some new whistles. I have a bird clock in the room that whistles a new bird song every hour. Chicken has learned some of the bird songs. She doesn't practice a lot when I'm in the room, but I hear her practicing when she's alone.

She really fooled me yesterday. I was sitting in the room with her relaxing before I had to go to work. I had to be at work at noon and I thought it was only about 11:15. All of a sudden I heard the bird clock whistle at noon and I panicked thinking I was late for work. I hurried and got dressed and was just about to leave the house when I glanced at the clock in the kitchen. It said it was only 11:20. I went back to my room and looked at the bird clock and it said it was only 11:20. That's when I realized that it was Chicken who had made the clock whistle. She was just sitting there and looking at me like, "I didn't do it."

She has a game that she likes to play. I'll give her a treat and she'll drop it on the floor. Whenever she does this I'll say, "Uh Oh" and then pick up the treat and give it back to her. I think she likes to see me pick things up for her because she'll do this about five times in a row before actually starting to eat the treat. She also sounds like she's trying to say "Uh Oh" and then she'll laugh at me and stomp her foot.

She likes it when I sing to her. I sing softly and she'll close her eyes. She then lets me pet her back and neck when her eyes are closed. She still doesn't like the sight of bare hands or fingers. When I place my hand near her and ask her to step up, she keeps backing away from my hand...but she doesn't try to bite. As soon as I place a towel over my hand, she'll step up immediately.

She likes to be eating whenever I'm eating so I make sure she has her food bowl at that time. She still tries to steal food off my plate or out of my hand but she's polite about it. Whenever she tries to take my food, I just put her back by her food bowl. She also likes me to hold her water bowl up for her to drink from.

She still doesn't like bathes so I've just been spraying her with the water bottle. She sits on the towel rack while I'm in the shower. She then knows that she's going to be sprayed with water when I get out of the shower. She doesn't seem too bothered by it, but she hates getting into a bowl or sink of water.

She is still preeening a lot, but I haven't seen her plucking out any feathers. She has some feathers just starting to come in on her back and around her legs, so hopefully she'll leave them alone. She does like to pluck out my hair whenever she's sitting on my shoulder. I don't really mind as long as I don't go bald from it!

I've been taking her cage outside and setting it on the porch for her to get some sun. I'll then sit out there with her and read a book. I'd like to take her for walks but I'm afraid something might happen. Her wings are clipped, but she can still coast a good ways. I'm afraid something will startle her and she'll end up getting hurt. She gets startled easily when she's sitting on her play gym and my husband walks into the room. She'll jump off her play gym and coast over to me like she wants me to protect her. I then pick her up and she huddles against me like she's really scared.

She doesn't seem afraid of our dogs, but one of my dogs is really afraid of her and won't come near her. The other dog completely ignores her. My cats are more interested, but I don't let them anywhere near her.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I'll write another update after a while.

Thanks....Melissa

Great news that Chicken is doing well. I am glad that you too are getting along.

Oh thank you Melissa. I am sooooooo glad to hear she is settling in and loving you!

She would do NONE of that stuff with me ... she only wanted to eat me!!! Chomp chomp chomp!!! I think being an only fid is what she needed.

She is not used to a male around ... I live alone, so it may take awhile for her to warm up to Chris, but when I got her, she LOVED the man and tolerated the woman ... go figure! Now she has someone to love on her and I think she'll blossom.

Thank you so much for letting me know how she's doing. I think about her every day, wondering if there were something else I COULD have done to get her to love me, but obviously she is happier where she is, so that truly eases my heart.

Let her know her former Mommy loves her but I'm glad you have her now. Check in now and then for further updates, I appreciate it. Pics too!

That's wonderful that she is settling in so well

That's fabulous news! It's great that she is settling in so well!

yay for you chicken!!! good job with your new family!!

Glad for a happy ending to this..

Click to view attachmentWell, we’ve had chicken for a month now and everything is still going great. She’s getting better everyday! She will now step up on my bare hand without me having to use the towel. She’s been doing this for about a week. She’s also getting more comfortable being close up to my face and she even gave me a few kisses the other day. She will also let me pet her head now. She used to only let me pet her back, but one day she let me pet her head, and I guess she decided she really liked it. She lets me pet her all the time now. I’ll be scratching and massaging her neck and she closes her eyes like she’s really enjoying it.

However, she’s still biting at my husband. She won’t let him anywhere near without trying to attack him. She will take treats from him (sunflower seeds are her favorite). My husband will hold the seed in one hand where she can see it. She then starts begging for it. He will then put his other hand near her for her to step up. If she steps up without biting, then she gets the sunflower seed. It’s only worked a few times so far, but we’ll keep trying.

She’s still plucking a little. She’s not plucking out pre-existing feathers, but whenever new feathers start to come in, she plucks them out. She does pretty well about bath time, but she likes to pout. I’ll spray her with a water bottle which she will tolerate. But after I’m done, she shivers so much and looks so pathetic (yet adorable). I cradle her in my arms until she stops shivering. I then put her back on her play perch to dry off. She will actually turn her back to me and not look at me until after she’s all dry.

She’s still trying to talk. She can say “Uh Oh” and she can almost say Chicken. It’s still not really detectable, but I can tell what she’s trying to say. My husband said he gave her a treat yesterday and he heard her say “thank you”, but I haven’t heard that yet. She’s also started imitating my sneezes. I have allergies and get sneezing fits sometimes. Whenever I go into a fit she starts sneezing along with me. It’s so cute because she makes the sneezing sound and then shakes her head! She also makes a really funny sound which sounds like a big fart! Maybe she’s been spending too much time around my husband!

She will also give a short whistle whenever she wants a treat. We then give her a treat and as soon as she’s finished it, she will whistle again for another treat. We have to kind of limit her treats though, but she tries to get as many from us as she can. Also if I leave the room for too long, she’ll start doing the wolf whistle. I then whistle back to her so she knows I’m still there. If I don’t whistle then she starts screaming until I come back into the room.

She spends most of her time out of the cage on her play perch or on my shoulder. She hates going back into the cage. If I put her in the cage, she starts screaming and throwing a tantrum. The only time she doesn’t throw a tantrum is when I put her in her cage for bedtime. She knows it’s bedtime when it starts getting dark outside. She still sleeps in her happy hut every night.

She also loves to sit on the computer desk while I’m working on the computer. She sees me typing on the keyboard, so she likes to climb down onto the keyboard. She then starts pecking at the keys like she’s trying to type something. Her favorite place to be is outside. We spend a lot of time outside on the porch swing. I don’t have to keep her in her cage outside anymore so she usually sits on my shoulder or on the back of the porch swing. We also go for walks around the neighbor hood and she’s so well behaved. We get a lot of people coming up and asking about her. She doesn’t let them get too close, but she is getting more use to being around other people.

One of her favorite activities is watching me kill flies with a fly swatter. She thinks it’s so hilarious. I’ll be holding her with one hand and the fly swatter with the other hand. Whenever I kill a fly Chicken starts laughing and stomping her foot. I can’t tell if she’s laughing at the fly or if she’s laughing at me, but I would guess she‘s laughing at me. She also laughs at me when I do aerobics. I have several exercise videos that I do at home and I guess she thinks I’m pretty funny looking jumping around all over the place.

Okay, I guess I’ve gone on long enough…but it’s just so amazing what a wonderful bird she is. I absolutely love her to death! She is so cute and she does the funniest things. It’s like she always knows how to make me laugh. Thanks again to Joanne for giving us this wonderful little sweetie. I’m sure I’ll have more updates in the future.

Thanks….Melissa

hahahha i can picture you with he on one hand and the swatter in the other.. you should teach her- Im gonna get you!!.. good that chicken is doing well

That is what we did when my oldest son Chris was trying to win Max's love back.

Keep doing this, on a daily basis if you can, and it helps if your husband is the only one to give her sunflower seeds. Let it be their special treat. Also it helps that when she steps up, and he gives her the treat, to give lots of praise too

I love that picture you posted. It is so darling!!

Oh Mellissa thank YOU for the update. It is wonderful to hear that she is doing so well. I loved the way she laughs and stomps her foot, don't you? Like she is REALLY getting into her laughing? That is just adorable.

I got the rest of the pics you sent in the email. Thank you. She is looking great.

I am so glad to hear she is such a lover ... she sure wasn't with me ... she needed to be an only birdie to be happy and lovey I guess.

Thanks again for the update. Keep checking in every now and then to let me know how she's doing. I really did love her, I just wasn't the right home for her. But you are!