# jealous or possesive behavyour ?



## andy (Jul 31, 2013)

hi , I have a 12 month hen and a 9 month old cock both are hand reared.she is an extremely tame and gentle bird.whenever I try to hold her or touch her the male will go mad .sometimes he will just fly at her to make her fly off or he will just push her away from me beak banging.hes a rather dominant bird and she is very gentle.they do usually get on very well its just when I show her attention.normally when the birds are out which is twice a day he will eventually settle on my chest and pushes her away if she comes too close.he has even started to attack me for tickling her and playing with her and recently bit me twice soo hard he drew blood.he does give little nips occasionally but this was much more,overall he is very tame apart from he will not let me hold him or put my hand near his head unless he bows for a tickle,is he jealous or is he just being possessive,he does try to flatter her doing heart wings and singing to her a lot of the time,thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to your reply


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## goose'smom (Jan 1, 2014)

Aww Andy! That sounds stressful, especially since the one who loves affection isn't even allowed to receive it. I am not an expert in this but sounds like your male is a bit possessive of you. I just got a new bird and my hen gets jealous when I snuggle with him, but she only responds by tapping my hand for a little love too. She will let me pet them both at the same time. Have you tried separating them for some play time? I would hate for her to lose her affectionate side because he won't allow it. Maybe taking her in another room for one on one time and doing the same with him. Also, do you have any other family members that could get more involved in caring for them? Perhaps having another human to bond with would help in making them less dependent on solely you. It certainly helps when my husband helps entertain them.Just a thought, but I'm no expert. I do hope it gets better!!


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## caterpillar (Oct 14, 2013)

Are they bonded? Do they eat together, preen each other, follow each other around, etc. -- and more importantly, does the female return the affection that the male gives her? Or does she try to evade his advances?

It sounds like she may not be interested in him, he is hormonal, and he may be jealous of the attention that she gives you. We have a male bird who (in retrospect) I think was jealous of how affectionate his female companion was toward humans, and he basically abused her into submission. Our case was VERY rare in how cruel/abusive he was, but I think the lesson still stands that if both birds aren't down with being bonded, bad things can happen.

I'd start with keeping their cage covered for at least 12 hours a day, and removing any mirrors the male may have in their cage. If his possessiveness is due primarily to hormones this may help.


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## andy (Jul 31, 2013)

thank you  2 very interesting replies that have given me a lot to think about.first of all I hope I haven't painted too dark a picture of my male bird.hes a great little chap and sometimes a little bit of a challenge but that's his character,definatly not boring lol. I let them out seperatly this evening as goose,smom suggested. my hen was her sweet usual self extremely tame and affectionate and was able to relax without being chased off all the time. and then the male....wow what a difference,he was so much more approachable hardly even a nip he even let me stroke his back.( I was feeling brave lol ) .normally touching his back would result in him biting me.so a huge improvement in him straight away ... I also agree that he especially would benefit from more human interaction but my children are more interested in their I phones and I pads and do not appreciate the birds trying too destroy there headsets lol. also a lot of what caterpillar said rings true.i think they do share a bond,,,they do eat together and follow each other around .I have only seen her let him preen her ounce or twice for a few seconds then she will get defensive,as if she doesn't trust him,i have never seen her preen him.i will remove mirrors as advised and increase the hours of darkness. when they are in the cage together they are fine. there is no real confrontation or threat to her the problem only arises when they are both out at the same time. will they bond properly eventually ? im not getting too concerned yet as its very early days.even if they don't im sure they both enjoy each others company and they call out to each other as they fly around the room.anyway time will tell and at the moment I am very pleased I have 2 great companions, thank you


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## goose'smom (Jan 1, 2014)

Aww I didn't think you were painting a negative picture at all. I could actually see the same thing happening with mine. They too follow each around and mimic each other's behavior; when one eats the other eats, when one preens the other preens, same for naps and play as well. I feel like they really like each other but both are really bonded to me! Kind of like a brother and sister that love to play together but when mom is around they want to fight for attention. I don't know why but I feel like you have a similar situation but your male is a little more bold while mine is pretty laid back. It's my girl that has the sass!! Haha!! I would love an update in a few days to a week to see if they have changed at all. Removing mirros and increasing dark hours should help a lot too ;-) I'm glad you have already had some success!! To me they sound lovely and very fond of you!!


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## andy (Jul 31, 2013)

well after typing a long reply I lost connection the the lousy uk internet and lost it,goosesmom was spot on massive improvement in badboys behaveyour lol after separate playtimes and even a marked improvement when they were out together,i paid a visit to the vet on Saturday and he said they were doing fine together noting how they were preening themselves in the surgery saying they were comfortable with each other and that their bond will most likely increase over time and that they may become less bonded to me.the overall problem was most likely that the cock was jealous of the attention the hen was receiving from me and as a result of separate playtimes this issue has improved beyond belief.......thanks guys 2 mad birds you gotta luv em


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## goose'smom (Jan 1, 2014)

That's wonderful news!!!! Yay!!! So happy


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