# Decibels and hearing issue



## Sumrrr (Jul 14, 2021)

Greetings all! My daughter and I have gone from 0 to 12 birds in the span of 15 months. It's safe to say we're addicted. We have 9 American budgies (2 were rescues), 1 English budgies, an orange breasted finch (a rescue) and a zebra finch. Everything has been going swimmingly all be it loudly, which brings me to my question. 

I need advice on possible changes to our home life. My daughter and I live in a one bedroom apartment in Queens NY. The budgies live in the living room (although have access to hall, bathroom, bedroom as well, and free fly except for sleeping when they return to the cage. We had no plans to change this and actually wanted to eventually get a cockatiel. However, my ex and I are concerned that my daughter's hearing might be getting damaged. 

From our research and decibel app on my phone we figured that our budgies and their happy chatter was "hearing safe". However, we're concerned now that the amount of birds and thus chatter might be consistently higher than the recommended decibel range for prolonged periods (from what I've seen in the 70s). 

My plan is to #1 get my daughter's hearing tested, #2 add a television to the bedroom and perhaps spend more time away from the birds (although we'd rather not) to give our ears a break, and #3 over time adopt out some birds (although I don't see this happening because my daughter would not want it and I don't imagine realistically being able to find enough people to take our birds who would also be willing to let them free fly most of the time). Ideally, I would love to move to a 2-3 bedroom apartment where we could dedicate a room to the birds but this is not likely to happen any time soon. 

Any suggestions/ideas or solutions you all have discovered? Thank you in advance for reading and considering.


----------



## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Wow that's a big increase, I would not get any additional birds unless you are able to get into a larger space. With that many birds you need to have a large amount set aside for vet bills. Several years ago I had 13 birds, 10 were budgies, I never found the noise to be too loud just constant. If you are concerned, wear earplugs, they would not drown out the noise but it would muffle it.


----------



## Sumrrr (Jul 14, 2021)

Yes, we have a definite problem. I didn't think bird addiction was a thing but it is, we love them. Yes, our avian vet suggested we bring them in all at one time to make it cheaper than individual visits or even in pairs/trios. For all of them it would take about 2-3 hours and cost minimum $1400! Anyways, earplugs are a great idea and immediate step we could take. Thanks Cody!


----------



## Impeckable (May 11, 2013)

Is it possible to build a stud wall in the sitting room? Potentially you would lose half of your sitting room dependant on sizes, but you could line the walls with sound deadening boards which would lessen the impact on both yours and your daughters ears, the birds could still fly free but be limited to the "new bird room," also it would possibly reduce your cleaning because you'd only be cleaning up after your birds in one area rather than in multiple rooms, obviously when you enter the "new bird room" you'd wear the earplugs as suggested by @Cody.


----------



## Sumrrr (Jul 14, 2021)

Good suggestion, thank you. I don't believe it's possible but definitely worth considering that or similar options. In NYC you must be creative in your dwelling space so I'll start thinking about this more. Cheers!


----------



## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Sumrrr said:


> Yes, we have a definite problem. I didn't think bird addiction was a thing but it is, we love them. Yes, our avian vet suggested we bring them in all at one time to make it cheaper than individual visits or even in pairs/trios. For all of them it would take about 2-3 hours and cost minimum $1400! Anyways, earplugs are a great idea and immediate step we could take. Thanks Cody!


How many of each gender are there in the budgies, you will really need to be proactive in preventing breeding.


----------



## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*When you have mixed genders, it is very important to do everything necessary to prevent breeding.
Budgies are much healthier and happier when they are never bred.
*
*A Heartfelt Plea to All Members*
*Tips For Discouraging Breeding*
*Before You Ever Consider Breeding Your Budgies*
*Guidance for Breeding Advice Threads*


----------



## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

That does sound like a lot of birds; you've been given great advice above. I hope you can find a solution!


----------

