Agressive behavior(?)

[rockyhorse]

Hi everyone! Now that Christmas is over I have more time to devote to my attention here. I have a problem I am not sure how to fix it. My Little Lemon recently hatched a clutch of 5 (just before Xmas). She is the sweetest little bird, and is a devoted mom along with her partner Blue Cloud. This is actually their second clutch together, each time having five eggs and hence five little hatchlings. The problem is Sky Blue, another female, is terrorizing Little Lemon every time she goes to her nest to feed or check on her babies. Sky Blue fights with her chasing her all over and will not allow Lemon to go near her nest. They actually fight and Lemon has had the area around her eye hurt. I thought that Sky was trying to take over the babies however that does not seem to be the case, as she doesn't go in the nest. She lets Blue Cloud in without any problem and he has been feeding the babies most of the time. Today was the worst, I caught Sky fighting with Lemon while Lemon was in the nest trying to feed. I have an aviary so there is a lot of room, so I reached in and tried to grab Sky but she got away. Poor Little Lemon came out and again the area around her eye was hurt. They are not tame so it is difficult to catch them. I am at a loss as to why and how to fix it verses having to remove Sky from the flock and also her partner. Any ideas or suggestions will be welcomed. Thanks! Rockyhorse PS I recently took out the unused nest boxes, tried putting one back in but that didn't help.

[pal0m1n0]

You will have to separate them, you have no choice. If you don't you will have a disaster on your hands. Instead of moving the trouble maker out, you could move the pair and their chicks out. I don't think they will be quite as upset to be put into smaller quarters. If you don't have at least one cage, you really should get at least one. As long as it is bigger than the nest box you can move them all into the cage.

[aka.pody]

Hi. This is a bad problem especially when one of them ends up getting hurt. Right now the only thing I can think of is to get Sky Blue away from Lemon for a while.
I know they're hard to catch and manage when they're not tamed but it's not impossible.
Hopefully you have an extra cage she can 'vacation' in.
Catching them is always a stressful thing. Unfortunately there's not an easy way unless you get lucky.
It's best to use a small hand towel and try to corner her.

I hope somebody comes on that has a better suggestion than that.

[aka.pody]

You will have to separate them, you have no choice. If you don't you will have a disaster on your hands. Instead of moving the trouble maker out, you could move the pair and their chicks out. I don't think they will be quite as upset to be put into smaller quarters. If you don't have at least one cage, you really should get at least one. As long as it is bigger than the nest box you can move them all into the cage.

I see that you were posting while I was still typing.
That's about the only thing to do. Someone has to move out.

[rockyhorse]

I do have a couple of bigger cages and will definitly separate them. I like the idea of moving the nest box and mom and dad. Have you ever had this happen? I was just wondering what was going on. It didn't happen the last clutch. Sincerely and thanks for your input! Rockyhorse

[pal0m1n0]

When ever Budgie was about to lay an egg, Squeeky would harass her constantly. At one point I even offered them a nest box each but no matter where Budgie went, Squeeky tried to boot her out. When Budgie had her chicks, I might have put her, Oscar and the nest box in a cage and moved them to a separate area of the house. In any case I took pains to make sure Squeeky could not get at the nest box and still get everyone out of cage time.

[rockyhorse]

First off thank you all who sent me their input, much appreciated! I did separate Little Lemon and Blue Cloud and babies, At first they weren't to thrilled, however as the day progressed things seemed to be fine. Boy Little Lemon spent a lot of time in the nest with her brood, then both Lemon and Cloud spent time in the nest with the babies. Her eye area looks like it will be fine, the eye its' self didn't get injured, thank goodness! The babies are close to coming out of the nest as they keep poking their heads out. I am not sure but I think the youngest may be grey! I sure hope so. I will let you know what happens with the separation. Thanks again, Rockyhorse

[legry]

This happened to me :(
I had separate two sisters, it was sad because they used to be best friends, until one started fighting over the nextbox and the male.
Good luck with yours.