Skittish but friendly roo!!

[rosemarysugar]

My roo is about 4 months old. I've had him since he was tiny and have always handled him to keep him friendly. He has recently become jumpy, spooky fella. If I try to pick him up he runs and will do anything to get away. He even flys into walls, windows, and tries to squeeze himself through the fence holes that he could never get through. Once I actually catch him he's a love. Why is he doing this? HE'S GOING TO HURT HIMSELF!!! I've heard of putting a dark blanket over a bird to catch and calm them. Thoughts?

 

[danceswithronin]

My roo is about 4 months old. I've had him since he was tiny and have always handled him to keep him friendly. He has recently become jumpy, spooky fella. If I try to pick him up he runs and will do anything to get away. He even flys into walls, windows, and tries to squeeze himself through the fence holes that he could never get through. Once I actually catch him he's a love. Why is he doing this? HE'S GOING TO HURT HIMSELF!!! I've heard of putting a dark blanket over a bird to catch and calm them. Thoughts?

Can you get him to come to you with treats?

Some birds are just naturally more flighty than others. My young Polish acts exactly like this. If I reach for her she makes a loud distress cheep that sounds (I swear) like "AH!", and then she takes off running! She is getting better about being calm once you actually do catch her but if you act like you're going to grab her and she sees you before you manage it, she goes into a panic.

I would not throw a blanket at him every time you want to hold him, I don't think that's going to cause a positive association for him with you. I'd bring bribes instead. Dried mealworms and stuff like that. If you free-feed treats with his regular feed, I'd remove them entirely and only feed them to him by hand.

 

[rosemarysugar]

Can you get him to come to you with treats?

Some birds are just naturally more flighty than others. My young Polish acts exactly like this. If I reach for her she makes a loud distress cheep that sounds (I swear) like "AH!", and then she takes off running! She is getting better about being calm once you actually do catch her but if you act like you're going to grab her and she sees you before you manage it, she goes into a panic.

I would not throw a blanket at him every time you want to hold him, I don't think that's going to cause a positive association for him with you. I'd bring bribes instead. Dried mealworms and stuff like that. If you free-feed treats with his regular feed, I'd remove them entirely and only feed them to him by hand.

Thank you!! Good idea!!