Lost my bird outside

[sexlink]

Hi, thanksgiving morning my bird escaped the cage on the front porch. I was going to put new food in and he took off. He went around the house and up in a oak tree. He then spent about three hours flying around singing like a fool tree to tree. He would buzz me but he wouldn't land on the ground. I spent three hours or more getting him to come to me for food. I guess he got hungry and landed on a low branch to get his layer pellet from me and I grabbed him. Does anyone know a better way should this happen again? Is it better not to chase him around the yard but wait for him to go into the cage himself? This was my first time he got out in the yard. Thanks for any advice from experience.

 

[Pork Pie]

I give my flock millet seed as a treat every day. If i want to handle a particular bird and its not playing ball, i put a handful of millet on the ground and they become pre-occupied with the millet and i can get a hold of them.

I'm no expert, but since its a roo, i'd imagine that there are two scenarios. 1. he calls his girls to join him, or 2. he will not want to be far away from them, so he may decide to return.

A three hour chase was good exercise though eh?

CT

 

[sexlink]

Oh, it wasn't a chicken it was a bird. He likes layer pellets soaked in water like a mash. He still likes to be fed from a bobby pin, spoiled! He is 6/7 months old and can eat but still likes to be fed by us and loves layer mash!

 

[Pork Pie]

Oh, it wasn't a chicken it was a bird. He likes layer pellets soaked in water like a mash. He still likes to be fed from a bobby pin, spoiled! He is 6/7 months old and can eat but still likes to be fed by us and loves layer mash!

Jeepers - so sorry. I think i need some more tea before my brain kicks in (its 7:15am here in Kenya), or maybe i should go back to bed and start the day again

Apologies once again.
CT

 

[sexlink]

Lol, thanks for trying to help. I have chickens but this is a song bird a breeder gave me because she didn't want to feed it every hour. He was hand feed and still likes to be fed by us. I put him outside every day so he can make his mess outside. He throws seed, fruit,vegetables and mash all over my floors. What a mess.

 

[Lozuufy]

LOL he sounds like a starling I raised, she would fling her food everywhere too (and pooped ALLOT). So I moved her outside and she would fly around us and land on our shoulders for a few months until fall when she decided to join a wild flock of starlings. She did come back the next spring though and nested in our roof but was never super tame again after being with that wild flock.

I do have a pet house sparrow right now that lives with my society finches in my room and she is super tame and completely unafraid of anything

.

Most of my hand raised birds I let out to fly free during the day if it's nice out and bring in at night and they try to roost on the porch at bedtime so it's usually easy to catch them then.

 

[sexlink]

They sure can be a mess. Thanks for the information, sounds like you have lots of experience. I would love to free him in the day and have him fly into his cage at night, best of both worlds. I ordered a aviary and hope he will be happier in a bigger space.

 

[Lozuufy]

He will probably love the new cage! I noticed my starlings poop left a residue that was (still is, a year later) almost impossible to clean off anything, my other birds poop didn't do that though. It was weird

 

[Lozuufy]

Another thing is that most of my birds that I allowed to free fly every day eventually joined wild flocks. The house sparrow I have now lives inside but she used to go outside for the day, she is just so completely unafraid of cats and other predators that I don't let her outside anymore.

 

[sexlink]

My bird went to the dog kennel when he/ she got out. If the dogs get close to the cage he will peck them. I was calling him but he was steady squawking at my German shepherd. By the time I got to the kennel he flew back up in a tree. I think it would be nice for him to be free but I don't think he knows how to find food and find safety at night. He still wants me to feed him and that is nuts. When he's alone in a room he screams steady until the people come back. He bobs when he gets his favorite food, spoiled.