IRN Noob. He Comes Home In The Morning.

[karpathion]

Just introducing myself. The name is Chris, but everybody knows me as Karp. Looking forward to making new friends, and learn as much as I can about my new buddy.

I was put on a waiting list for an excellent, well known breeder, back in March. To be honest, I had almost forgotten about it, but he finally called this morning. I pick my little guy first thing tomorrow, and I can't wait!

He is a 19 week old, grey/blue cross, but he came out grey. I was hoping for a blue, but as soon as saw his picture I didn't care anymore. The grey is actually quite nice once you see it.

He's already been genetically tested, handled multiple times daily, hand fed, and registered to something. I guess it's like the AKC for IRN's? I still have some learning to do on some of this stuff.

I picked up his starter cage this evening. It is L=26", W=21", H=31". It should be ok for now, but I'm a carpenter/cabinet builder. I'm going to start working on a mansion. The space I have for him is about 6' wide, and I can go about 3' deep with it. I'll probably go about 4' tall. That should be pretty comfortable for him when he's full grown.

While this is my first IRN, I'm no stranger to birds. My family has raised Game birds for generations, myself not excluded. While they are known for fighting, I personally gave up on that way back in my teens, back in the 90's. I couldn't stand to see the magnificent, noble, animals that I was breeding, hand raising, and training get hurt or die. It's just not for me. I like my friends and kids way too much for all that.

The last of my game roosters and hens went to my uncle about 2 years, and I've had a missing piece of me ever since.This is why I learned about parrots, picked the IRN, and found myself a good breeder.

Like I said before, I'm looking forward to meeting and learning from everyone here, and once I figure out how image hosting works in here, I'll have to show him off.

[sanjays mummi]

Hello and welcome. When you build the cage make sure it is easy to keep clean, my bird had a palace, but it was very hard work getting into the nooks and crannies. You talk of game bird fighting, it has been illegal here in the UK for centuries. Unfortunately, only a few of us left on this site, and the threads have been sabotaged with spam,

[karpathion]

I'm still researching designs for cages. I want to make sure he has plenty of room, and enough toys to keep.him occupied. I can already tell he gets bored within 5 minutes of going back in his cage. He starts taking things apart. I mean, he completely disassembles any toy that he can.

Luckily, I think he's starting to bond to me. Everytime I have him out to wonder around and play, he comes to me and crawls up into my underarm, like a chick does it's mom in the nest. It's like he feels safe under there. He makes a little cooing noise when he does it as well. At least I'm hoping that's what it is.

He only comes do the door of his cage when I walk up to it and start talking. With everyone else, he takes off to his mirror and tries to hide. And if the kids and wife are in the room while he is out, he comes running to me and does that thing under my armpit. I'm currently trying to find some more info on that behavior, and I'm really hoping this isn't one of the nervous behaviors I've heard of. If it is, he may not take to anyone but me, and could be aggressive towards everyone else. I don't want that. He is supposed to be a member of the family, not just my buddy.

As far as the game birds go, it's illegal here for my whole life, but it doesn't stop anyone. You just go to the Indian reservations where normal laws can't touch them, or you just find out who's hosting that weekend, and end up in someone's barn out in the middle of nowhere. Most of the time some of the local police will be there. Some to watch and gamble, and some to participate. Lol!

I personally started with game birds at about 7 or 8 years old. I was given an old, retired, Hatch breed cock by my uncle, and his partner gave me 2 Gavalin Hatch hens. It took me about 2 years to get my line going, but with everything the old timers where giving me, "because I was a kid," I built a pretty strong blood line. It put me as runner up in my first derby.

My pride and joy where the Redquill birds I was given by a legendary cockfighter. I don't want to say any names, but it would be real easy to.figure where they came from. Redquill are extremely rare, and valuable. There only a handful of people you can get them from now, and most do not like to let them go.

Like I said before though, as I got a little older, I just found that is wasn't for me. I loved my birds, and I couldn't stand watching them get hurt or killed in the derbies. When I was 16 or so, I just stopped training, breeding, and worrying about fighting. I kept my birds and continued to work on my Redquill line.

A few years back I downsized and sold most of my birds to my uncle's friend, and kept just 1 rooster and 3 hens. And about a year later I gave my remaining quills to my uncle.Ever since, I have just felt like something was missing. I loved my birds. That's why I know have Anakin.

It took about a month of research to figure out what would be the best fit for me, and everything pointed to the IRN. Then I had to find a good breeder, get on his list and wait. The whole process took almost a year, and I'm completely happy. I love this little guy.

[sanjays mummi]

I had to google Redquill, the only chooks I'm familiar with are the Rhode Island Red, and Buff Beauty my Irish grandfather kept. Redquill are extremely beautiful. As for Amerindian people cock fighting, I thought they had respect and affection for All animals, how times have changed, sadly.
I don't know why your bird prefers your armpit, maybe he likes your deodorant?
My bird keeps her distance when my grandchildren visit, mainly because they move quite quickly and are full of funny noises, I'm sure yours will get used to All members of his new flock eventually.