Are You My Mother? - A New Crib

Heff and Heffer soon outgrew the Hefty Trash Bag box.  Each day I could see tremendous progress in their growth and I knew a larger abode was needed for the two of them.  They no longer needed the heat light so it was time to get them out in the fresh air during the daylight hours.

Their nest was transferred to a larger box where they could step out of it, hop around and spread their wings. During the day I placed the box on our screened in porch where it was easier for me to tend to them and they could get plenty of sunshine along with fresh air.  

At this point, Heff was more ambitious than Heffer.  Heff was stronger and a bit more advanced, hopping out of the nest more often doing his own thing.  Each time Heffer went to leave the nest, he would topple over or get caught in the twigs, making it difficult for him to adventure out and about. (Heffer is closest to the nest and you can see where he just doesn't have the hopping thing down quite yet)

Heff and Heffer loving their new crib ~ especially the paper towels!

The paper towels came in real handy.  Like babies, each time these birds ate, they'd poop!  Clean up was a breeze and it was quite often.  Bounty paper towels really are the, "quicker picker upper." The nest was becoming a mud base for them to hang out on and I'm sure it was quite uncomfortable.  Like every other mother, I often thought if I make their living conditions to comfortable for them, these boys will never want to leave home !!

The video below shows Heff preening and cleaning.  They both have chick fuzz and what I found was this.  After awhile, their instincts take over where they pull out all their little fuzzy feathers so their adult feathers can come in.  They perform this task over many times during the day.

Barbie