Hello from Queensland, Australia

[ellieelectrons]

Hello

I live on the Sunshine Coast with my husband and our two IRNs: Charlie & Janey. We love them to bits and can't imagine our lives without them. Sometimes, I think they are our children.

Janey is the oldest (almost 2) and she has learnt to talk... a little... There aren't too many people who can understand what she is saying... although we can. She can say "Janey", "Hey Janey, Wotcha doin'?", "Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful bird", "J-J-J-Janey". There may be some other phrases but they're the only ones I can remember right now. She can also wolf-whistle.

Although I probably spend more time with her, Janey only seems to learn words from my husband... and she has a slight preference for him... but she likes me too.

I think Janey thinks that her name is the way she calls us. Once I left her on her play gym with my mum in the room watching her for about a minute. When I came out, Janey was on the floor running around yelling "Janey! Janey"... I think she was wondering where we had gone and was calling us!

Charlie is about 8 months old. When we first brought him home, we had him in a smaller cage and we gradually introduced him to Janey with their first sessions together occurring on the play gym. They get on ok in the same cage but occassionally Charlie will chase Janey around the cage... she has learnt to watch where he is and get out of the way sometimes. I am sorry that it is like that, I hope they will get along better in the future. Having said that, they will regurgitate food to each other although they don't seem to sleep side by side or preen each other much yet.

I've also spent many hours training them to do tricks. Janey has the biggest repertoire because we've had her longer... I also find it hard to train them both at the same time. They can both turn around on queue and wave. They both know how to step up and step down but only do it when they want to! Janey knows how to go back to her cage when I say, "go to bed"... and Charlie usually follows her... although if Janey doesn't want to go to bed, getting her back in the cage can be tricky. Janey will also fetch bottle caps and put them in a dish and can sink a basket ball hoop. I'm trying to train Charlie to do these too!

I haven't been able to have success in harness-training them... I'd really like to be able to do this.

I'd also like to be able to train them to let someone put their hands around their back and hold them in their hand and be comfortable in a blanket... I'm finding this really challenging - especially since Janey is prone to biting when she doesn't understand what is going on. Charlie bites too, but not hard. I would really like to master these because at Janey's last annual vet checkup, she was absolutely terrified and let out the most awful screeches I've ever heard... and wouldn't stop. She was so noisy that one of the vet assistant's asked if she was tame at all.... cos you wouldn't have known that she was, the way she was carrying on! I felt so bad for her, that I couldn't help crying... which was really embarrassing!

Most mornings they come into the shower with me. I have two suction cup perches that I place in the shower cubicle. If they choose to stay on the perches, they don't have to get wet. They seem to enjoy sitting there and soaking up the steam... janey will often chatter to herself. Charlie loves getting wet... I don't think he has refused a shower yet (at least not since he's gotten used to having one anyway!) i usually just let them sit on my arms and they get wet from the spray... but Charlie seems to like walking up to the jets and dunking his head, tail, wings under the water for short bursts... it's really cute.

Janey loves getting pats. She will perch down low and beg my husband or me to pat her... it's really cute... and it makes our heart melt.... we just hope it's ok that we do it. We pat her on the head and the chin.

Charley loves playing with toys. I have a red hanging basket full of their toys and Charlie loves nothing more than climbing on it and emptying out the toys one by one on the floor!

Sorry for going on so long!

I will attempt to attach some photos in later posts. I'm looking forward to being a part of this community!

[pinkdevil]

What a great introduction of yourself and feathery family!
They really know how to turn on the charm to get what they want, don't they?
Charlie and Janey sound like a fun little duo, and sounds like you have spent a lot of time with them, which is great to see.
It sounds to me Janey could be coming into breeding mode when you described her sitting low and begging for pats. Sounds very similar to how my girl behaved.

Welcome to the forum, I am sure you will fit right in with the rest of us "owners" of ringies.

[ellieelectrons]

Thanks for your reply. You do a great job with this forum.

If Janey is coming into breeding mode should I be doing anything special for her? eg. provide a nesting box and nesting material? Yesterday when I took them both to watch some tv, they normally spend time climbing all over me but yesterday Janey climbed down and was going into small confined spaces (eg. under the coffee table, trying to figure out how to get under the couch). I was wondering if she was looking for somewhere to nest.

Since the male is 18 months younger than her, what implications are there for them in this period of time whilst he is maturing?

I know that the females tend to be dominant with IRNs but in our case, the male is dominant. I'm told this may change over time especially as she matures? Is there anything I should be watching for?

[pinkdevil]

Since the male will be too young to breed and if you are not intending to breed with Janey, then I personally would not provide her with a nestbox.

I am not sure what, (if any), implications of having such a young male with a more mature hen would do. I do not have such a large gap of ages housed together.
I am guessing if they have bonded, she may try and entice him to breed with her, but I don't think he would be mature minded enough to know what she is doing.
If Janey thinks thinks the deed has been done, she could lay a few eggs, (unlikely but not impossible), but they would be duds.

I have noticed with my pairs, they are only cosy during breeding season. During out of season they tend to stay their distance from each other by being on opposite ends of the perch etc, but not fighting. More like a "just keep out of my space" kind of friendship.

Maybe watch for any aggression in one forcing the other to mate etc. Or any vicious domination happening where wounding occurs. Chances are if they are getting along ok now, then it could continue to stay that way unless Janey decides on of her human flock is her partner, then she may become aggressive to Charlie or other members of the household.

I have a ringie that I raised 2 years ago now in an aviary but still handled. She presents herself to me but chases the male. Although I did see the male feed her a couple of days ago which is a good sign, she still acts lovingly to me when she sees me and still puts the boy in his place. But she has not shown any vicious behaviour to the male or caused him any injury.
So hopefully she will soon bond more with the male than me. lol