Ferns Avian Safe Haven

02/01/2022

Chico enjoying her pets. It took us awhile to figure out how to get her to accept them as she’s blind and didn’t understand what we where doing. Now we have a system and she understands that she can get loved one as much as she wants

01/27/2022

I was talking to a falconer today about hand rearing falcons verses parent rearing them. We veered off into discussing exotics and self mutilation and plucking. Upon further discussion I found that it’s almost unheard of for a raptor to pluck. So we discussed why this may be and the key differences in raptors in captivity and exotics in captivity.

We first discussed diet, the obvious is raptors are used for pest control and much more. Allowing them the ability to hunt for their food frequently. Allowing daily enrichment and naturalistic behavior. Also allows for a whole diverse diet. Raptors are not fed pellets and are not in need of supplements (usually). While raptors and Exotics have vastly different diets we need to account for the fact that our birds diets are hugely over processed. A lot of people use Zupreem and their pellets are very processed with added ingredients, this goes for even Harrison’s. Truly I suggest TOPs over both as they’re cold pressed but we can truly avoid needing a pelleted diet through a raw whole food avian diet. Providing what is naturally found in the specific areas our birds originate from.

The next thing we discussed was clipping. The falconer in reference was appalled to hear of such a barbaric practice and stated this was a cruel human behavior done for pure convenience over proper training. And I agree! Falcons are trained to be freeflighted and that is their main purpose. These animals are not captive bred like our birds, so why can’t we do so with our birds. Most of the time people do it out of convenience over properly recall training their bird. I’ve heard it all, from “it gets to cold here” to “I’m afraid they’ll fly away”. That is the key importance of training, specifically recall training. In a situation where your bird may get spooked or escapes a simple recall allows your bird to be called back to you or a perch. Thus, avoiding any issues.

After discussing flight we realized we are taking away exotic birds will and right to fly. We are taking away our birds ability to fly for pure human convenience and then we wonder why we see these behavioral issues arise so often in captive bred and raised birds.

Please note that birds can pluck and self mutilate over health issues as well and those can not be forgotten. A common cause of plucking that is health related is fatty liver disease and obesity (caused often by a sedentary lifestyle from clipping and over feeding).

01/24/2022

Remember to syringe train your birds! Not only can it save you stress from toweling your bird but can save their life! In this video you can see that I’m using Opal to train my other birds to use the syringe (it’s just water). This is a vital skill that I reinforce often and is something I teach all my fids.

People often fail to realize the best tool to training birds is other birds!! Utilize your well trained birds to train your others along with positive reinforcement.

01/23/2022

Some people are upset that we don’t adopt out our birds, first, we do not owe anyone a bird or an explanation. The reason we do not adopt out our birds is stability and end of the life care. A lot of our birds are old and need not only the stability to feel safe but also deserve to be given proper care towards the end of their life. Another reason is our conure flock, our conure flock is a complicated system that runs smoothly and have all bonded to each other in intricate ways that we plan to never break apart.

We currently only have 7 birds, our conure flock and our Amazon. Our end goal is by the end of 2025 to have a 40x40ft temperature controlled aviary that all our rescues reside in. The reason we plan to do this is simple. Flight.

Flight is a huge part of a parrots life, and they deserve freedom to do so not only on their own but with the same species.

We also plan to open the aviary to the public on the weekends for educational purposes and to allow the public to see our work and our lovely fids.

So yes, some people may see us not adopting and think that’s ridiculous. But we aren’t a rescue where we rehome. Our end ghoul side to be a 501c3 sanctuary for birds.

01/22/2022

On today’s episode of what did my boyfriend send me, we have “these f**kers”. 😂😂😂

01/21/2022

Charlie is part snapping turtle 🐢

01/19/2022

Charlie is making strides. He went from a bird who could not fly to his first recall on 1/17/2022. Such a huge accomplishment for our old man 😭🥰. I can’t wait till the weather gets nicer and we can go for walks with the flock.

01/17/2022

Have a wonderful Monday everyone! The cold weather is making us shiver over here. Hit -8 last night again!

01/13/2022

To those who follow us, all of the birds you see on the page are not available for adoption and never will be. We take in birds who need homes or come from terrible situations and offer them a place to live, a safe haven.

All of my birds have had rough beginnings and will never need to worry about what their future holds. Just like our human children, our feather children deserve that as well. Stability, love and compassion.

01/12/2022

Did some rearranging

01/10/2022

Getting Chicos things ready. Will be picking her up tonight

01/10/2022

Trippie and Opal do not approve of my engagement ring 😂😭

01/08/2022

Our seed order for sprouting is done. Plus I bought the birds some treats 🥰❤️ thank you My Safe Bird Store

01/07/2022

Opal and her distaste of her harness.

01/06/2022

Thank you Planet Pleasures 🥰🙏🏻

01/05/2022

Have you ever seen a birds ear? Opal is my heart bird, I rescued her a few years ago from a terrible situation. She was dumped in a empty cage with only sunflower seeds, the bottom had over an inch of f***s in the cage. The “breeder” stated she was highly aggressive, I picked her right up and put her on my shoulder. Immediately she became by baby.

To my first bird, congrats Opal, to a new year and new beginnings.

01/05/2022

Things we will always need!!!:

- Newspaper, paper towels and empty spray bottles (cleaned)

- P**p off is extremely important here, if you have any extra or want to donate some via our wishlist it is posted to our website and I’ll post it below

- Old cages and aviaries (the larger the better!!!)

- To follow up with cages, JAVA TREES!!!

- Any donations towards food and toy orders would be fantastic

Link to our Amazon wishlist:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/21S0X6GJ5VV3I?ref_=wl_share

01/04/2022

01/03/2022

Opal comes to visit in our room sometimes.

01/03/2022

We ordered a lot of safflower. I think I misunderstood the amount I was truly ordering 😂. We use safflower as our rewards to training of any sort. Anytime the safflower comes out it becomes chaos. Thank you My Safe Bird Store

01/02/2022

Our happy Fids enjoying some much needed varied diet as well of their chop and nuts

01/01/2022

U*i to the left and Peep to the right ❤️. The conure flock has a very intricate and delicate system. They mutually respect and love each other in their own unique way. I’ve even noticed they address certain birds in different calls like names. Very interesting.

12/31/2021

Huge progress was just made! Charlie’s first bath 😭🥺. The pure joy on my face should say it all.

12/31/2021

12/31/2021

12/28/2021

Yesterdays bowl 🥰😋

12/28/2021

12/23/2021

Early morning cuddles with U*i

12/22/2021

Trippie and I getting some much need sunshine. It’s 5 degrees outside and snowing.

12/21/2021

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

12/18/2021

Charlie has the beautiful glow going on today 🥰❤️

12/16/2021

The Fids cage got moved around today to ensure proper enrichment and stimulation. It’s important to do this pretty frequently.

Please do not use happy huts, we currently have one inside and we are working on removing it. U*i has a very strong, unhealthy bond to it and plucks when we remove it. So we are slowly taking it away in hopes he will be okay without.

12/15/2021

Opal is always into stuff she shouldn’t be. I didn’t even see here. She blended in 😂