Hi All
I am relatively new to the chat and need some expert advise.
I recently went to south Asia with my family my daughter at the time was 5 years old and she loved the IRN's.
I promised her that I would buy her one returning back to the UK.As her 7th birthday is now approaching I intend to buy her one.
I have read up online and spoken to a breeder in the UK, who has advised me that you cant seem to hand tame a IRN that is let's say 2 years plus, is this correct? He said that you are better of buying a 3mth IRN and then hand taming it, is this correct?
As I would like the IRN to play with my daughter and other kids in the house under my supervision.
Reading some of the chats I was thinking about getting a pair, and hopefully breeding the next generation of IRN's.
But I would like both IRN'S to be tamed so my kids could play with them. I have no other pets in the house.
Could someone please advise me here what I should do, and more importantly what I should consider for the options below
a) Buy a male or female from a breeder in the Uk?
b) Buy a pair and let them get on with things?
c) Buy a baby 3 mths old and hand tame ?
Many thanks
Choosing IRN'S
Moderator: Mods
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ellieelectrons
- Posts: 2708
- Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
- Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Re: Choosing IRN'S
Hi Discovery2012
IRNs can be hard to tame but it is extremely variable deoending on the nature of the bird and how you interact with it. My recommendation would be to get a handraised (raised by humans) male from a reputable breeder as your starting bird. To find out the sex you will need to ask the breeder to DNA sex the chicks. Then, when you are happy with your interactions with the first bird, you could consider getting the second. If you are planning to breed your birds, your birds will change during the breeding season. The female will interact with you very little and the male may become protective of the nest.
Reasons for my suggestion of male, handraised are:
1. Although not true of all males, overall i believe males are less prone to bite hard.
2. If you want to get a companion for your bird down the track, you can either get a second male (if you don't want to breed them) or a female. Two females will not get along.
3. Handraised birds will generally be easier to get and keep tame especially with children. Ask the breeder about how he socialises the bird when it's young. You may even be able to visit it during the handraising process.
4. Females can be I uncharacteristically aggressive during nesting season.
I have two IRNs. Our first was a handraised female and a year later we got a handraised male. They are both tame. We just had our first season with her sitting on eggs (but they didn't hatch) this year.at my avian vet's urging, I am hoping to avoid her breeding cycle next year by altering their diet. She got quite aggressive during the nesting period. Her instincts were in overdrive!
Good luck and best wishes.
Ellie.
IRNs can be hard to tame but it is extremely variable deoending on the nature of the bird and how you interact with it. My recommendation would be to get a handraised (raised by humans) male from a reputable breeder as your starting bird. To find out the sex you will need to ask the breeder to DNA sex the chicks. Then, when you are happy with your interactions with the first bird, you could consider getting the second. If you are planning to breed your birds, your birds will change during the breeding season. The female will interact with you very little and the male may become protective of the nest.
Reasons for my suggestion of male, handraised are:
1. Although not true of all males, overall i believe males are less prone to bite hard.
2. If you want to get a companion for your bird down the track, you can either get a second male (if you don't want to breed them) or a female. Two females will not get along.
3. Handraised birds will generally be easier to get and keep tame especially with children. Ask the breeder about how he socialises the bird when it's young. You may even be able to visit it during the handraising process.
4. Females can be I uncharacteristically aggressive during nesting season.
I have two IRNs. Our first was a handraised female and a year later we got a handraised male. They are both tame. We just had our first season with her sitting on eggs (but they didn't hatch) this year.at my avian vet's urging, I am hoping to avoid her breeding cycle next year by altering their diet. She got quite aggressive during the nesting period. Her instincts were in overdrive!
Good luck and best wishes.
Ellie.
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discovery2012
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:21 am
Re: Choosing IRN'S
Hi
Thank you for you advice, really appreciate it. I can across someone that was selling his cage and IRN, he was quite adamant that it was a male as he brought the IRN from a breeder, I am doubtful. I was told that the IRN was semi tamed, soon as I approached the cage IRN would go crazy, flapping around. I let the IRN settle for a day and then decided to take it out of the cage, started flying around and was very screamish. It eventually flew out of the cage, took me 40 minutes to get it back in the cage. Eventually had to pickup the 3 ft cage with the door open and had to force it back in. Trying to touch it was out of the question, I decided that I would clip the wings as I want to hand tame the IRN. Four days on it is less aggressive and now looks very carefully when I talk, I have offered food through the cage,sometimes I am lucky and the IRN takes the food. I have a set time in the evening now where I let the IRN out of the cage normally by opening the cage door. I can put my finger forward wearing a glove, 9 out of 10 times it flies away. I have yet to pet / stroke my IRN but I believe this will take time. I have trained the IRN to stepup on the perch when I need to pick the IRN up. I can stroke it now using the stick which I can get away with, but still not liking my fingers or me touching it with my hands. I will get there eventually, I hope.........
. Sorry we have yet to name it!!!! Thanks again
Thank you for you advice, really appreciate it. I can across someone that was selling his cage and IRN, he was quite adamant that it was a male as he brought the IRN from a breeder, I am doubtful. I was told that the IRN was semi tamed, soon as I approached the cage IRN would go crazy, flapping around. I let the IRN settle for a day and then decided to take it out of the cage, started flying around and was very screamish. It eventually flew out of the cage, took me 40 minutes to get it back in the cage. Eventually had to pickup the 3 ft cage with the door open and had to force it back in. Trying to touch it was out of the question, I decided that I would clip the wings as I want to hand tame the IRN. Four days on it is less aggressive and now looks very carefully when I talk, I have offered food through the cage,sometimes I am lucky and the IRN takes the food. I have a set time in the evening now where I let the IRN out of the cage normally by opening the cage door. I can put my finger forward wearing a glove, 9 out of 10 times it flies away. I have yet to pet / stroke my IRN but I believe this will take time. I have trained the IRN to stepup on the perch when I need to pick the IRN up. I can stroke it now using the stick which I can get away with, but still not liking my fingers or me touching it with my hands. I will get there eventually, I hope.........
. Sorry we have yet to name it!!!! Thanks again-
discovery2012
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:21 am
Re: Choosing IRN'S
Progress week on from there I picked up Sonu using my hands much more comfortable, less bitting and lets you stroke now. Started to feed from our fingers now, so it's looking good. Still hasn't mimic anything that we have said. How long would it take to start learning words and talking, I wonder?