Managing time with your birds

[2birds]

There may be some here that have all day to play with their birds but there must be some here that have to manage their time. My self, I work four days a week and have three off. My days are long though so I have to consciously make sure that I spend enough time with them. Plus, I have a couple of other animals in the house and horses. Horses can be very time consuming so I make sure that is what I do first thing in the morning (birds are usually still sleeping then) and last thing in the afternoon. On my days off, I treat chores like jobs and I clock out at four in the afternoon no matter what is not done. Then relax time. That's when I spend most of my time with the birds.

What does everybody else do? Some may have kids that need attention, other animals, jobs, other family members, friends. How do you make sure that your birds get enough attention to keep them mentally healthy?

[Pinkbirdy]

I get up at 4am.Birds come out in different shifts [while im scrubbing bowls ,feeding them ,having coffee etc].I I get ready then my kids who are 11 and 14 . I work from 8 to 3:30.When I come home they all come out as im doing "bird chores " watch me work out and getting ready for the next day, then snuggle time , When their out theirs certain ones that can play together.Harlow and Belly eat dinner with us . After dinner we sing and dance and be goofy with them [then put Pearl [my goffin] to bed]. Weekends I soak beans cook pasta ,rice to add to my chop mix for the week. Im very much on a schedule . The birds seem to really respond positively to it [that's why I can have so many ] .:)

[shel]

i work 3-11pm. the dog gets me up between 9 and 10 in the morning to go out. i feed him and the cats then go back upstairs and feed the birds. then beaker comes out until 2pm when i have to get ready to go. on my days off he is out as long as i am home, and i hate to leave home, so he is often out for 10-14 hours.

the budgies were all throw aways that other people didn't want. none of them were ever tamed and they are so cage bound that i once left their cage door open for 16 hours and none of them left the cage (they are in a bird room, so even if they had no harm would have come to them).

[2birds]

Terri, They are probably happier being in a group. I wouldn't be able to handle the flock that you have but two or three for me would be good. I'm thinking that I would like to have a rose breasted cockatoo but that will be next year sometime. I have to get trained by my Goffins buddy first.

[2birds]

i work 3-11pm. the dog gets me up between 9 and 10 in the morning to go out. i feed him and the cats then go back upstairs and feed the birds. then beaker comes out until 2pm when i have to get ready to go. on my days off he is out as long as i am home, and i hate to leave home, so he is often out for 10-14 hours.

the budgies were all throw aways that other people didn't want. none of them were ever tamed and they are so cage bound that i once left their cage door open for 16 hours and none of them left the cage (they are in a bird room, so even if they had no harm would have come to them).

Maybe they don't know what an open door looks like, poor little guys.

[Turquoise]

A very good thread Lori! :)

I work a 4 on & 4 off schedule every week. I work nights, 12 long hours from 06:00pm to 06:00am on my 4 on. I also live 50 miles from my work, so I don't get home til almost 07:30am most mornings. I let the dogs outside and let the birds who want to come out on their play perches out. Most mornings that will be Ruby Jewel, Leyla Belle & Sierra. Roscoe wants out one day & the next he is happy to stay in his enclosure & the same with Angel his brother. I fix their foods and tend to their needs while they are out for about 1 1/2 hrs, then everyone has to go back in to their homes and entertain themselves. By this time it is between 08:30-09:00am and I get in bed for my nap. Up again at 02:00pm, let the dogs outside, let the birds out while I get ready and back in when I leave at 03:30pm for work. They have adjusted to this routine on work days with no complaints so far.

On my days off there is no set schedule when I'm up or down, in or out and no set time when they are out or not. The feathered kids know we don't have a natural life and they are very good kids for it. :th_hug8: