Peapod, my first bird Do you remember your first Teddy? Peapod is just like the old Teddy to me. He led me into the world of aviculture, and changed my life for good.  Small but perfect. This is how I describe Peapod, my little Zebra finch. He is a handsome charming bird who has stolen my heart since he came to our house. I found that each Zebra finch is an individual. Even siblings in the same clutch have different characters; some are bossy, some are shy, some are adventurous, and some are gentle. Peapod is a gentle, cheeky bird. When I feel depressed, sad or angry, I go to see him. Hopping on the floor, tugging the leaves of house plants, preening his friend, nodding off on a perch and, of course, singing his cute songs on the tiptoe. It only takes a few minutes for me to be able to smile again.

Peapod's cheerful song

We think that he is an Opera singer in the Zebra Finch world. We didn't realize that each male Zebra finch has a different song until we heard other ones. His two sons developed completely different songs. I named one of them Dyson because his scratchy voice reminded me of  the vacuum cleaner which I used in their room everyday. I hope he didn't learn his song from it. Some research shows that the young male Zebra Finches learn their songs from their fathers as well as other adult males. The sounds Dyson had heard during his learning period were mainly Peapod and the vacuum cleaner. Do they learn their songs from non-bird as well?  The other son, Pocky, started practising his song even before weaning despite being the youngest of the clutch.  Since he sings to any birds passing his window, even a gull, Mike used to say, 'He would even sing while being carried away in a gull's bill.'  Peapod usually repeats his repertoire approximately four times in succession, but whilst breeding he repeated six times or more. Some interesting research on Zebra finch songs has been conducted.

Peapod's opera (winter)
Research on Zebra finches' songs

Flying time
My Zebra finches fly outside the cage at least a couple of hours everyday. They look forward to it.  They fly in a 210 cm wide bay window. They perch both on their cage and an iron plant stand holding several non toxic plants which they nibble. They are very good at flying in a confined space. They fly in loops to maximize the space given. They will quickly learn about glass and mirrors. But, at first, you should place the cage very near to the window to show them the glass, so that they don't fly into it from a distance. When they get hungry or thirsty, they will go back to the cage. So, don't worry, but be patient. In order to catch their poops, I place a sheet of paper under where they perch. There are, however, dangers in house environment for free flying finches; there is a list of dangers in The New Fich Handbook (Christa koepff 1984). I hope more people enjoy sharing a room with their pet finches.
Taming

My Zebra finches prefer people with soft calm voices. I move very slowly around them and always talk to them before I go close to them. They don't like sudden sound and movement. Peapod recognizes his name. He usually becomes calm when he hears it. Peapod became so tame that he flew to my shoulder and head to pull my hair for nest linings in a couple of months. All my patience was rewarded. There is a good article about taming finches (Link below).

Food
Being their staple diet, the seeds should be the best quality on the market. Having tried several seed dealers and brands, I am contented with the Haith. They relish mixed millet seeds as well as millets sprays. Besides them, I feed plenty green leaves, usually organic lettuce, kale and dandelion. Once a while they enjoy sprouted seeds.  I used to give them egg food during moulting, but I seldom do now because Peapod ate too much of it and became obese. When they raised chicks, however, I made the egg food suggested by Kenneth S Karsten PhD. with great success (Link below). My Zebra finches loved it so much that they refused to eat the branded egg food.

The cabbages and caterpillars During the summer of 1999 I started to grow some cabbages in the garden to supply organic greens for our birds during winter. Although small in size, cabbage plants attracted lots of cabbage butterflies. Now I harvest tiny caterpillars as a by-product!  In fact, they will probably become the main products because the leaves are already half eaten. I take each caterpillar on the tip of the small stick to them. They peck the caterpillar on the tip, chew it and peck the tip again, just in case others might be hiding somewhere. They often squabble over them. The caterpillars must be a delicacy for them. I have also offered tiny mealworms, but they were ignored.

Zebra finch communication
I have noticed their several calls which have distinctive meanings:

• I find something good! - Foods, bath, etc..
• Where are you? - Piercing disyllabic calls.
• I am here. - Quiet nasal sounds.
• Congregation calls, 'mi mi mi'-  When one starts, the others usually join. I used to mimic this in pet shops, then all Zebra finches start 'mi mi mi' together. Our birds make this sound even when they hear the beeps of microwave oven.
• Go away. (while zapping) - Zz, Zz. Zz.
• I want to make chicks with you. - Nasal sounds similar to puppy's.
• Keep still, there is danger. - Quiet plain repeated notes. When a bird makes this, the others become frozen and keep still and quiet for a very long time. They often go to sleep after this.  I witnessed Peapod using this while he was chased off from feeders by others. He made this call, so the others became quiet and stopped chasing him. After some minutes, they came back to a life and started chasing him again. Then Peapod made this call again and the others became still. He was still for some seconds, then flew to a feeder and ate seeds!  I don't remember if chicks made this call. Is this older bird's role to alarm the flock?
• I feel sexy. - Beak castanets. During courtship they often do this.
• I am stronger than you. - Beak fencing. I think they are establishing the pecking order.

Finches & Sparrows - Helm Identification Guides (Peter Clement, Alan Harris, and John Davis 1999 Helm)
This is an excellent reference book on all finches in the world. It is not only for bird watchers but also for bird keepers. Each species is described in identification, description, geographical variation, voice, status, habitat, and behaviour, distribution, movements, and measurements. Precise as well as beautiful colour plates are also very attractive.

Zebra Finch (Matthew Vriends 1997 Howell Book House)
A must for novice Zebra finch keepers. It covers all information to keep this delightful finches happy.

The complete book of Australian Finches (A. J. Mobbs 1990 t.f.h. )
Beautiful photos are eye catching.  Full of down-to-earth tips arranged in alphabetical order.

The Zebra Finches A Synthesis of Field and Laboratory Studies (Richard A. Zann 1996 Oxford University Press)
If you are interested in how they live in wild, and their behaviours in general, you would enjoy this book. I also found information gathered in laboratory very useful, such as daily intake of water.

The New Fich Handbool (Christa Koepff 1984 Barron's)
This coveres all information you should know when you start keeping finches. I felt author's affection for finches is all over the book. It is one of my favourite.
 
 

In 1997 I was frequenting a new local pet shop to see which bird would be my best pet. Although I had kept two female hand reared Java sparrows when I was child,  I was not sure if I would be able to look after such small creatures properly or even keep them alive.

On the 23rd of November, 1997, I finally decided on Zebra finches who looked cutest, and brought the most beautiful looking pair home. On the way home I was holding two small cardboard boxes containing the finches on my lap in the car as Mike drove.  One of them was constantly kicking the box. We said, 'This must be that lively boy'.  How wrong we were!

On the fourth day, I noticed Pea-pea (female) was plucking Peapod's bottom. I said 'No' anytime she did this, but to no effect, of course. So I let Peapod out to protect him from the vicious Pea-pea's beak. Peapod looked fine and still sang his little song although anytime Peapod perched on the top of the cage, she tried to pluck him from inside. What a mean bird she was! Peapod always stayed in the study where their cage was. As night fell, I had to put Peapod back to the cage, then he was plucked constantly. While she was awake she plucked him all the time although they slept close together on the perch like a little kebab.

On the 3rd of December, I phoned the pet shop and explained our situation. They said they would exchange Pea-pea with a new female.  Fine. After Mike came home from work, we caught her up after lots of struggles which made Peapod scared to death although he was not in the cage with Pea-pea. He crashed to a mirror and fell down on a chest of drawers below. Even though he was plucked to half naked at the bottom, he still called her very loudly after we put her in a box. His pining made us very very sad, and we promised him that we would bring a gentle girl for him. We took her to the shop. Unfortunately a shopkeeper went home with keys for all cages on that night so that we could not get a new female then, 'Come back to get a new female tomorrow', we were told. I then asked what would happen to Pea-pea on that night. A shopkeeper said she would be fine because she would go to quarantine anyway. I believed her. How stupid I was!
 

We went home. Peapod was still where he fell, on the chest of drawers, pining. He refused to go back to the cage, just pining very loudly. Our hearts sank because we knew we could do nothing until the next morning. Once we gradually dimmed the light, he finally gave up and went back to the empty cage. 'Night, night, Peapod.' We were very sorry, we could not bring a new friend for you, as promised.

The next morning, I went to the shop by myself, chose a female who looked less nasty and more healthy than others and drove back home. I placed the box contained the new hen on the passenger's seat. On the way back home, the box jumped on the seat and moved itself like a horror movie. When I got home, I went to see Peapod, and opened the box slowly at the door of the cage. A female came out, she looked very comfortable and hopped straight to a perch and plucked Peapod! Oh, No!  I brought Pea-pea back. They didn't put her into quarantine. Poor Peapod was plucked and plucked, so that I had to put him out of cage again. On that evening, Mike came with me to return Pea-pea and get a 'real' new female. The shopkeeper was going to put Pea-pea back to a Zebra finch's cage before we chose another hen. Mike stopped her, otherwise we might get Pea-pea again. It was very difficult to choose because the none of hens looked as good. I didn't want any of them. We finally chose very thin miserable one with a droopy tail. Mike said, 'At least, she won't pluck Peapod'.  That's how Nicole came to our house.

Peapod makes a nest in planters.
Peapod and Nicole got along very well. Although we didn't like Nicole's appearance, Peapod didn't mind. Whilst being preened by her, Peapod often fell into sleep. We seldom saw him preening Nicole though. When I put a piece of lettuce or cucumber for them, it was always Peapod who came first to eat. If Nicole was eating, he gently pecked her at the neck and pushed her away.
 

By the mid December, 1997, Nicole became bigger although she still looked like a cigar in shape. They enjoyed their free time outside cage everyday. Sometimes two hours, sometimes six hours. I felt guilty when I had to put them back to their small cage, and they also became smarter not to be locked in. Late January Nicole started looking for a nest site in the study during flying time and started to make a nest in planters. Despite removing all planters from the room, they were determined to make a nest, so I gave in and brought a big benjamin fig pot in.

 Peapod became bolder and bolder, and perched on my head and shoulder and attempted to pluck my hair for his nest lining, and took all sorts of things from my hands to the benjamin pot. On the third of February, Nicole laid an egg in it while I was filming. She seemed pushing hard for such a long time. The egg was 14 mm in length and 11 mm in width and weighed 1g. She carefully hid it under some leaves. She laid an egg every day for the next three days in the same place.

I had no intention of letting them breed prior to seeing eggs because I knew it would be difficult to find a good home for chicks. But I decided to give them a chance. Books say that hens should be at least 10 months old for breeding, so they had to wait for some months. On the 19th of March, they moved to a bigger cage, 80 cm by 45 cm. I fed them with eggfood once a week. Peapod and Nicole were treated against feather mites and scaly face over a couple of months and we waited for warmer weather.

Mid May, I hung two nests. One was a small willow basket and another was a nest box with a inspection flap. I was thinking if they chose a nest box, I would hand feed some chicks as I recalled my tame Java finches. They chose the willow basket. Peapod took a lot of nest materials into a nest, and Nicole removed most of them soon after. While Nicole was arranging materials in the nest, Peapod sang, sang and sang. Once a while, he went inside and sat there to check if it is comfortable enough. They looked so happy and slept together in the half built nest. On the 24th May, I removed the nest box and hang the basket at the highest place.

Nicole laid the first egg in the nest at 9:15 on 27th of May. She laid an egg everyday for 8 days. I used a sterile spoon as a mirror to count eggs in the nest while she was out feeding. There were eight. Nicole sat on eggs very tight from the first day and only came out for feeding. Then Peapod shot into the nest to sit on the eggs very happily. He wanted to do it very much. Even after Nicole finished feeding and came back to the nest, he was reluctant to come out from the nest. She had to peck him to change turns, probably saying 'Ok Peapod, I came back, come out now, NOW!'

Chicks were too cute to be real.

On the 10th of June, the first chick was hatched. There were five chicks. I fed the parents with soft food every three hours starting at 6 o'clock until night. They took soft food and cuttlefish bone, and regurgitated for the chicks. Again Peapod was so keen to feed them that Nicole looked annoyed. On the 14th Nicole discarded a cracked egg which contained a chick inside. Probably it was too weak to hatch. The chicks became louder and louder. Nicole looked tired. On the 16th I put a spoon again to see if everything was ok, then I saw two eggs next to chicks. They had already stopped incubating. We wanted to remove them, but could not manage to do so due to the small entrance of the nest.

Parents fed all chicks very well. Nicole looked so beautiful, almost divine while feeding chicks. I was so glad that I didn't hand feed them, and I felt I had been arrogant to think that I could replace the parents. They fed chicks one by one, looking at each chick to check if it needs more feeding. Peapod looked so contented while sitting in the nest with his chicks. Nicole sometimes dozed off in the nest while checking chicks if they need more food. Poor little thing, she looked exhausted.

It is pity that we have no photographs of the chicks at this stage. They had peculiar appearances. Their necks were still wobbly, and there are several tufted white feathers sticking out on the top of the heads. They had proportionally very big horn coloured beaks which had white lines at the both sides. Inside the beak there were several dots which guide parents where to feed. Their ears were also big. However, they became very cute in two days. On the 23rd, Mike saw chicks preening themselves. Next day we could see there was a white chick. When a chick called from a nest, parents responded to it. Chicks had very big dark eyes. There were still white tufts on the head. I thought they looked a little bit like Koalas. They often came to the entrance of the nest to peek outside. Bigger chicks nibbled nest linings there. On the 25th, the biggest chick finally lost the white tufts. It flapped its wing so hard that the whole nest was shaken.  Everything seemed fine, and we had filmed them for hours everyday to see their development after they went to sleep at night. My mother in Japan was also very interested in them, so I let her hear chicks' begging sounds over the phone.

Enemy Inside
On 26th, all of sudden, Nicole started chasing Peapod. The gentle, wimpy Nicole zapped him. Regardless of this, chicks were doing fine in the nest. Another normal chick and the white chick lost the tufts. They were getting ready to fly. They frequently stretch their wings. The biggest chick flapped its wings fast for 11 seconds over the smallest one who looked some days behind. The poor thing was beaten by its sibling's wings so many times. The nest looked absolutely crammed.  Next day, a female chick came out of the nest despite her parent's dispute. She had a dirty bottom. We were worried about their health in the small basket which started to emit unpleasant odour. Being unexperienced, we decided to move them all to the unused nest box. To our surprise, chicks were already capable of flying. When we tried to move them, they scattered to all directions in the room. We caught them and placed them in the nest box. They took to their new nest without a fuss. Then we found the youngest one was still in the nest. He was holding the basket with two spread legs and refused to come out of the nest. Finally we managed to move him to the nest box. All slept in the nest box on that night.

On the 28th, the same female chick was already outside when I went to feed them at 6 o'clock.  Another two chicks came out during that day. The female chick decided to stay out all day and Nicole called her back to a nest box, but to no effect. Nicole looked upset about this. She chased Peapod continuously in the cage. Peapod wanted to feed chicks so much that he fed them even while being chased. I had to let him out. But since he just stayed around the cage and tried to feed chicks through the bars, Nicole became furious and chased him from inside and neglected the poor chicks. I had to put Peapod into another cage. He pined and pined, and tried to go back to his family. Three chicks stayed outside all night despite Nicole's effort to put them back into the nest. They were getting a handful for a single parent.

The next morning, on the 29th, the boy and the girl went back to the nest. They must have been very tired after perching all night for the first time. Instead, a white girl came out. Chicks were, from the biggest, male, female, female, white female and male. To my amazement, they already showed different personalities at this early age. Somehow Nicole chased the white chick as she did to Peapod, not so continuously but often enough for me to get worried. I also noticed Nicole didn't feed the white chick as often as the others.

The next day, Nicole had chased the white chick continuously even though she still fed it. Feeding of the other chicks was often interrupted by chasing. We moved the white chick and the biggest boy to Peapod's cage, and moved their cage to a different room. Peapod fed them immediately after they were moved, but he was so interested in going back to Nicole's cage that he didn't feed them thereafter. The two chicks looked so hungry in the evening. We had to move the boy back to Nicole's. We tried to hand feed Milky (the white one), but she wouldn't take any food.

The next morning, 1st of July, I fed Peapod at 5:30 AM and he fed Milky twice in the morning. It was too little. Milky was put back to Nicole's cage. Milky refused to take food from Nicole although Nicole tried to feed her. The mother chased Milky over and over again. Once again Milky was moved to Peapod who showed no interest in feeding her. She was so exhausted that she had no voice to beg any more. We recorded other chicks' begging and let Peapod hear it to stimulate feeding. It didn't work. We had little hope for Milky. On that day I had to go out for a couple of hours because the person I liked had just passed away. I was already overladen with emotion. Tears just flooded with this sad news. I made all sorts of eggfood for Milky to try and just hoped she would manage to eat something. When I came home, I saw Peapod feeding her. There was a hope, I thought. Soaked seeds were placed on the floor, and greens were pegged on the side of the cage.

2nd of July, I saw Peapod fed her five times during the day. Milky begged much louder and looked much happier. She mimicked everything Peapod did. When Peapod pecked seeds, she did so too, when Peapod took a bath, she did just as Peapod did. Peapod often gave his way in to Milky when she came to a bath while he was bathing, which he had never done for his partner. Other chicks were also seen pecking seeds on the floor. The youngest boy who refused to come out from the old nest was even practising his song. Nicole started chasing the biggest boy. We were at our wit's end.

Over some days chicks started pecking soaked seeds, millets and greens by themselves, and we were sure that Milky had passed the worst. Chicks dozed off on the cage floor in the afternoons, they were still clumsy on perches. One of the chicks was pulling sisal strings which was used to tie a branch. The others joined him soon after. On the 6th of July, the colour of their beaks started changing from horn colour to the bright adult colours. Nicole would chase the boy very often by this time. The boy was terrified. On the 13th, they became independent. Nicole and Peapod went back to a small cage and Milky joined her siblings. We named other chicks; Dyson (his horrible song was similar to our vacuum cleaner), Clivia (the most beautiful hen with the biggest eyes, very adventurous), Sweetpea (Very docile and gentle) and Pocky (naughty, loves singing). The boys started developing dots on their flanks.

 Milky had no friends. She was always alone. Nobody wanted to be near her. She was not allowed to take a bath until the last. She was pushed out from feeders. When I went to close curtains in their room in the evening, I saw silhouette of four birds at a corner, or 2 of two birds at two corners, and always a bird at the furthest from the rest. We felt very sad for Milky.

Milky in the White Aviary
I wanted to keep all chicks after all this hassle, so I bought an indoor aviary, W105 x D60 x H130/150cm. It looked spacious, so we hoped they would stop fighting. I put the chicks in it first. Soon after they went to the aviary, Milky was chased by Dyson who himself had been zapped by his mother. We were disappointed. Pocky joined Dyson, and later Clivia also joined this bullying. Milky looked stressed. On the third day she was fluffed up in a corner. With extra heat, she soon recovered. Poor Milky was bullied by everyone, except for gentle Sweetpea. Nobody wanted to sleep with her, nobody wanted to preen her or nobody let her preen them. She was always put down and was not allowed to be on the higher perches. We felt so sad about her. She had already had a bad start to her life, why did she have to suffer more? One morning,  I saw Sweetpea preening Milky at a corner of the aviary. I couldn't help being tearful.

The chicks were very playful. They pecked and pulled everything in the aviary. They made a fuss over who was going to take a bath first and who would roost with whom and where. After a bath one started peeling wet newspaper at the bottom at the aviary, the others followed. Since then, they made a habit of peeling wet newspaper every time they take a bath.

Although Milky was not welcome by anybody. She chose Pocky as a mate. She flew to Pocky, tried to preen him despite his reluctance. She cornered him to be able to sleep next to him. Pocky was Dyson's real chum then, so Dyson chased her off. After three weeks of her courtship, Pocky finally gave in. They became a pair. They slept together, they ate together and they fought together against the others. The other chicks got an idea from them. Clivia and Dyson were sort of paired up. Gentle Sweetpea never showed any interest in paring. It seems to me that she liked being alone, unlike other Zebra finches. Once pairs were made, they became even more aggressive, especially in the evening. They squabbled over who would have the highest perch to roost on.

When their parents joined them in the aviary, the chicks were already fearless hooligans. The chicks chased the parents ruthlessly. Poor Peapod was completely terrified. He was often found at the bottom of the cage. Milky still remembered Peapod, but the others didn't. She wanted to be with Peapod, but Nicole didn't let her. Since then there had been no peace in the aviary. They were constantly zapping each other.

Squabbles and Zaps
Peapod was reduced to be a miserable bundle of feathers in the aviary for a while. Although he was the biggest, he had also the most gentle disposition. After about 10 days of reunion, Nicole regained confidence, and started fighting back. She had protected Peapod from their hooligan chicks. Peapod finally became to be able to fend off with Nicole's back up. Once the parents got settled, Sweetpea became a new victim because she was the only one without a partner. Three pairs didn't want to let her sleep on any perch every night. We had difficulties to turn off the light in their room at night because there was always one or two birds who were chased off the perch and found no place to sleep. We changed the layout of perches, but nothing changed. All pairs wanted to be on the top and didn't want to share the aviary with anybody. We went to see a local breeder to find a friend for Sweetpea because we thought four pairs would be more balanced. But, unfortunately or fortunately, the breeder could not catch the male we wanted in his aviary. I realized that we wouldn't be able to keep all of them in the aviary for too long.

Summer ended and autumn arrived. In the aviary, wars still continued. Obviously the cold weather didn't affect their hormone much. By then Milky had become the Queen of the aviary. She was the strongest. In October, I found a broken egg on the floor of their aviary several times. Most of them were eaten. I felt gloomy about all these things going on, and what was worse, I cut an index finger with a craft knife while making their perch and had it stitched. It was very inconvenient. I couldn't look after myself let alone the birds. Mike had to do everything before and after his work. Cleaning five cages several times a day, washing cages once a week, birds dishing every night. He was completely exhausted.  He said that no bird sitter would be able to do so much work for our birds, and I should consider to reduce the number of the birds. I had to agree.

Horrible Ring Mites
In November so many feathers were found around their aviary. Peapod's neck looked somewhat bare. We caught them up and found Peapod and Clivia had some unusual bold patches around the neck. Consulting in a book, it seemed that this was caused by ring mites. We dusted the two birds and put them in a small cage together in the same room as the others. Clivia zapped him for a couple of days, but they became bonded soon after. Although their partners called from the aviary, they ignored. After some time, their separated partners, Nicole and Dyson, paired up. They had spent a month while treatment for mites continued.

When Peapod and Clivia feathered up, they re-joined the rest of the family. Instantly Nicole came to greet Peapod. When he was about to bubble up his song in response, Clivia chased off Nicole like a tigress. Here a war over Peapod broke out. Clivia and Nicole fought to decide who would be Peapod's wife. This fight was the fiercest. They pulled each others' feathers, flew at each other and pecked each other. In the meantime Peapod didn't do anything much. It seems to me that he had no choice anyway, he would be the winner's possession.

It lasted a week. Clivia won. Peapod accepted this. They were the most beautiful birds among them. The biggest male and female with the biggest eyes. Clivia's eyes were really big, especially the right one. I could tell her from the other females by the eye. On the other hand, the defeated, Nicole was exhausted and went back to Dyson. This was also unceremoniously accepted. Even after this settlement, Clivia often chased Nicole. Did Clivia remember the old rival? I don't know. Mike commented that there were more violence and sex in the aviary than in TV.  I couldn't agree him more.

In early December, I moved Sweetpea into a small cage due to harassment. She looked much happier on her own, although she had called them for some days. I let her fly in the room every morning, so that she would be able to stretch her wings and to greet her family. Sweetpea was a funny little girl who didn't bother to have contacts with the others. She looked more independent than the others who constantly needed physical contact with each other.

During the December, we had treated our birds with mite powder several times. Nobody liked it and everyone became stressed. Treating pet birds with any medicine is not nice, in my opinion. All trust established over a long time with patience gets shaken by just putting something not nice on them. There were so many bad things happened in 1998, we were so glad to see the year off. Our family had developed from a pair of Zebra finches to 10 birds, 7 finches and 3 parrots in five cages in one year. We hoped everything would change for the better.

Early January in 1999, we went to see an Avian vet, Mr Alan Jones, with Kiwi who had developed the same mite problem by then. We suspected Kiwi got it from Zebra finches when all birds had to spend some nights together in the same room in autumn due to work on the house. He was treated with Ivermectin, and we were given small amount of the medicine in a syringe to treat all birds at home.

When we came home, we couldn't make medicine to come out of the syringe. The opening of the syringe was squashed when it was cut in the vet, so Mike carefully cut it further, which made its opening bigger than it should be, which means each drop was much more than it should be. We managed to treat all birds except for Nicole and a boy unidentified. These two had much less than the instructed dosage. The next day, Nicole suddenly lost lots of feathers and became bald around her ears. Her ears were exposed and she looked rather like a reptile. Probably damaged feathers became loose when we handled her the night before. Sweetpea moved back to the aviary, and Nicole moved into the small cage in a warmest place in the room. We had to make another appointment with Mr Jones for next month. On the day of visit, I felt sick, so Mike had to take her to the vet by himself. She was the smallest bird there but not the boldest, he told me afterward. There were three African Greys: two plucked and one with feathers. She was treated and we were given a bottle of the medicine this time. We gave this treatment twice at two week intervals. Nicole's feathers had gradually grown, and after sometime she went back to the aviary. While Nicole was slowly recovering, Sweetpea became so desperate in the aviary that she started zapping the others. She had to be rescued from the family again. I put her in a different small cage.

During shorter days, I found an egg occasionally in their aviary. I didn't know who was laying, but this time eggs were at the bottom of the cage intact. So I thought Clivia or Milky was laying since Nicole had a habit of laying from a perch.

The weather was getting warmer, and days were getting longer. I had to decide which hen to be kept with Peapod. I often stood in front of the aviary and thought about all possibilities. Each day I had a different idea. I didn't want to lose Milky because of mishaps in her early days. But she became very fierce, we called her 'the Icy Queen in the white aviary'. Clivia was the obvious candidate for Peapod. She was the best looking hen as well as they were in deeply love. However, I felt sorry for Sweetpea, she was too gentle to fight back. I was not sure if she would be able to fend herself in a new environment.

We kept Sweetpea. Peapod and Sweetpea were not bonded, so they might try to breed less in this undesirable a father-daughter relationship. We found an ideal new home for the rest of the family. It is a very large aviary in a bird park.

When spring sprung, they became more territorial, I had to separate males from females. I put a father and two sons in a rather small cage for three. Two sons soon picked on Peapod, so I had to give him a different cage, and put Sweetpea in together. Even so, two boys pecked each other. A mother and the other two daughters stayed in the white aviary. Everyone called its' own mate, and looked frustrated. When the weather became warm enough for them,  I took two small cages outside for fresh air and for acclimatizing them.

In April, they went to the new home. Peapod and Sweetpea called the others. The lounge became quiet. Very quiet, indeed. I missed them. I missed them much more than I had expected. But, peace finally returned to the house.

Now Peapod and Sweetpea live happily together. Mike bought them a new cage which is light enough for me to carry it outside. To compensate for the lack of space, I let them fly in the lounge every morning and go to the garden whenever it is warm. I also recommenced a taming session which is doing quite well. Although they have shown a sort of courtship, but there is no passion between them, I have observed. I became to feel much closer to them again because of more interaction I can have with them. There are three pet parrots in our house, but Peapod always occupies a part of my heart, close to its centre.

We have, of course, visited our chicks in their new home. We saw Milky. She was fine and pecking seeds with a pair of fawn coloured Zebra finches. She even pecked a canary which was bigger than her. She looked very happy there. We also heard Dyson's staccato song. But we couldn't find the others. They might be sitting in the nest, or just out of sight. We are looking forward to visiting them again.