Second Linnie

srirachaseahawk

srirachaseahawk

Fledgling
Hi everyone,
I plan to start with just the single Linnie, but I think that I’d like to add a friend for her in 6-8 months. This would give us a chance to bond first before a new kid was added.
I’m fairly sure that (after quarantine) they would be caged separately for a period of time until it was appropriate for them to be housed together. I’d put the cages next to each other so that they could hear/see each other. Co-housing would likely just be connecting the two cages and removing a panel or two for extra room.

Both would be from the same breeder and hand raised.
My first Linnie is likely going to be a female; but should that automatically mean that the second one should be too?
I know that female parrots can tend to be (generally) more territorial and they often don’t work well in pairs like two males would (this is obviously bird dependent though).

So. Are female Linnies typically happier with a male partner, or is another female not as big a deal as I’m thinking?

I am not opposed to preventive breeding measures for a mixed pair, as that seems like a lot less work than having to house two girls separately who may not get along…
 
LinnieGirl

LinnieGirl

Moderator
Staff member
srirachaseahawk said:
Hi everyone,
I plan to start with just the single Linnie, but I think that I’d like to add a friend for her in 6-8 months. This would give us a chance to bond first before a new kid was added.
I’m fairly sure that (after quarantine) they would be caged separately for a period of time until it was appropriate for them to be housed together. I’d put the cages next to each other so that they could hear/see each other. Co-housing would likely just be connecting the two cages and removing a panel or two for extra room.

Both would be from the same breeder and hand raised.
My first Linnie is likely going to be a female; but should that automatically mean that the second one should be too?
I know that female parrots can tend to be (generally) more territorial and they often don’t work well in pairs like two males would (this is obviously bird dependent though).

So. Are female Linnies typically happier with a male partner, or is another female not as big a deal as I’m thinking?

I am not opposed to preventive breeding measures for a mixed pair, as that seems like a lot less work than having to house two girls separately who may not get along…
Click to expand...
Sounds good. Same sex pairs do very well with linnies and unlike many other parrots, it doesn’t matter if it’s boy/boy or girl/girl. Bot do equally well accounting for individual bird personalities.
 
Morgan

Morgan

Hatchling
srirachaseahawk said:
Hi everyone,
I plan to start with just the single Linnie, but I think that I’d like to add a friend for her in 6-8 months. This would give us a chance to bond first before a new kid was added.
I’m fairly sure that (after quarantine) they would be caged separately for a period of time until it was appropriate for them to be housed together. I’d put the cages next to each other so that they could hear/see each other. Co-housing would likely just be connecting the two cages and removing a panel or two for extra room.

Both would be from the same breeder and hand raised.
My first Linnie is likely going to be a female; but should that automatically mean that the second one should be too?
I know that female parrots can tend to be (generally) more territorial and they often don’t work well in pairs like two males would (this is obviously bird dependent though).

So. Are female Linnies typically happier with a male partner, or is another female not as big a deal as I’m thinking?

I am not opposed to preventive breeding measures for a mixed pair, as that seems like a lot less work than having to house two girls separately who may not get along…
Click to expand...
I also started with a single hand-raised female linnie (Lottie), and later sought a male linnie because I knew I wanted to let them breed someday.

I am currently trying to get Lottie to *stop* laying a second clutch of infertile eggs, however. It actually can be a bit of a challenge if your hen is very insistent on having a clutch. Having fake eggs available ahead of time is very helpful if you have a mixed pair. I think a female companion would be better if you wanted to avoid egg-laying as much as possible, but of course some hens will lay regardless.

In my experience, I found my second linnie (Happy), when Lottie was about nine months old and already very closely bonded with me.

At first Lottie was standoffish toward Happy, but I think mainly because Lottie was quickly maturing, while Happy was still an uncoordinated baby. He kept trying to play with her leg band too! He was like the annoying little brother at first.

I already had extra flight/breeding cages so they each had their own at first (also for quarantine, it's a good idea to have two cages anyway), but they were pretty much out together all day. Lottie would mostly just run away from Happy, and he would try to follow her everywhere! She would only let him get close during "nap time" and they would sit quietly and snooze on the same perch together. Lottie slept in a separate little sleeping cage that I would bring into my room with me, since her main cage was in the living room at the time, so Happy had his own sleeping cage at night also.

They bonded pretty quickly after that though, maybe after just two or three weeks tops.

Happy never became quite as bonded with me as Lottie was, since I didn't have as much time spent with him alone as I had with Lottie. And once Happy met Lottie she sort of took over his world. But he was also hand raised and at least still isn't hand shy, even though he hates having his nails clipped. I clip just a few toes at a time over the course of a few days so he won't hate me too much. :) And when Lottie comes to me to "cuddle" on my shoulder and groom me, Happy then pays more attention to me too. :D

So that was my experience with my two linnies, if that helps put anything into perspective! I hope you will share your new arrival here also when you get her! <3
 
Eddie's Aviary

Eddie's Aviary

Administrator
Staff member
If you want an easy life with tame pets to enjoy, go same sex. I prefer hens to males for pets, they are more calm and even tempered in my experience. A rarity in the parrot world!

I would not do opposite sex unless you want to breed, and don't mind losing your pet bond and challenges mixed with fear in getting them out of breeding mode.

Getting handfed babies from the same breeder (if you are happy with the tameness on week 1 with the 1st one), that is helpful as they had acclimated to the same biome and even after a lengthy quarantine, that assists the transition to one another.

Two of the same sex almost always easily co-habitate. If you wait 10-12 months between the two, the introductions are slower to single accomodation housing.

Servicing multiple cages can be a labor of love, or labor.... depends on your lifestyle. My goal is always to keep it simple for people, hence the advice here.
 
srirachaseahawk

srirachaseahawk

Fledgling
Thanks for the replies everyone!

So I spoke with the breeder the other day about this.

She said that Linnies are atypical in the parrot world, but that if I planned to have two that I should both get boys and stay away from a mixed pair. Two girls is fine, but then I just have to be on the lookout for any potential egg laying, but a mixed pair "may" be fine but they tend to get more hormonal and possessive.
So, long-story-short, if I want two that will more than likely go well together and have no issues with eggs; boys are the easiest way to go (much like budgies).

Her other breeding pair is just starting to roost, so I moved my reservation to that group to ensure that I could start with a male. It pushes out my take-home date by a month or so, but that's totally fine with me.
(If the current clutch has an un-reserved female, I may go the two female route...as clutches are never a "for sure" thing.)

I know that the cage that I got is large enough for two, but I honestly may just get the same exact cage again and remove the side panels and join them together. The space that I have carved out in my living room between two windows is "just" the right size for that.

I would keep the second Linnie in quarantine and bond with it over that time, and then house him/her separately until s/he is as bonded to me as s/he is likely to get. That's when I would start to look at cohabitation. Post-quarantine, I'd have the cages together no problem so that they could interact vocally/visually and have out-of-cage time together; but it would make training sessions easier if I could focus on one bird at a time :)
 
Eddie's Aviary

Eddie's Aviary

Administrator
Staff member
I like the advice your breeder is providing..... two of the same sex is much better. I prefer females for pets personally, only because they tend not to get fresh in adolescence. They are not "eggie" like a prolific species such as a lovebird, budgie or cockatiel (hence their rarity) so becoming bound is very unusual. They can be discouraged easily from egg laying (click here to read about that).

Be sure the breeder dna sexes with a reputable lab unless a sex-linked mutation. If she has a hen starting to lay now, she will finish laying and incubate. If all goes well, you have hatches about 30 days from now (lay time + incubation), and then 6 weeks average time to weaning. So, you are about 2-3 months from go home date.

Hope this info helps! ♥
 
srirachaseahawk

srirachaseahawk

Fledgling
Eddie's Aviary said:
I like the advice your breeder is providing..... two of the same sex is much better. I prefer females for pets personally, only because they tend not to get fresh in adolescence. They are not "eggie" like a prolific species such as a lovebird, budgie or cockatiel (hence their rarity) so becoming bound is very unusual. They can be discouraged easily from egg laying (click here to read about that).

Be sure the breeder dna sexes with a reputable lab unless a sex-linked mutation. If she has a hen starting to lay now, she will finish laying and incubate. If all goes well, you have hatches about 30 days from now (lay time + incubation), and then 6 weeks average time to weaning. So, you are about 2-3 months from go home date.

Hope this info helps! ♥
Click to expand...

It does!
She absolutely sends them out for DNA unless the wee one has an obvious sex-linked trait.
 
srirachaseahawk

srirachaseahawk

Fledgling
Morgan said:
In my experience, I found my second linnie (Happy), when Lottie was about nine months old and already very closely bonded with me.

At first Lottie was standoffish toward Happy, but I think mainly because Lottie was quickly maturing, while Happy was still an uncoordinated baby. He kept trying to play with her leg band too! He was like the annoying little brother at first.

They bonded pretty quickly after that though, maybe after just two or three weeks tops.
Click to expand...
This is very useful :)
I would definitely want to give the second one ample time to bond with me before they bond to each other.
They would both be hand-raised, so hopefully that helps to cut down on the shyness factor; but I may keep the second one housed until s/he is a year old or so?

It's all academic at this point, the first one hasn't even hatched yet ;)
But I'm very excited about it. I have the cage ready to go and I've even built my own playset out of PVC for him/her.

Lots of climbey bits, since they seem to prefer that in the cage over actual flying; so there's a lot of loops and perches and toys to get into trouble with. Not to mention a full seagrass mat that I attached to the roof of the cage on the inside to make climbing easier.

Stainless Steel food bowls for veggies, pellets and chop, covered water dish and then an enclosed feeder for sprouts (s/he is being raised on a seed-free diet). I tried to arrange all of the perches away from the bowls so there are no...accidents in the food.
I'll add newspaper and paper towelonce we get closer to cover the bottom.

Oh! And an attached bath :)
 

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Eddie's Aviary

Eddie's Aviary

Administrator
Staff member
Hopefully much less.... they wean fast. If they aren't handled a ton after weaning, it can be harder to transition to you. I want them 8 weeks if going on an airline, but if local and eating on their own totally for 14 days.... they go home at 6-7 weeks.
 
srirachaseahawk

srirachaseahawk

Fledgling
He's 6 weeks old as of today and she's already dropped one of the hand feedings. I expect that in the next few days we will drop the others as well, since he seems to eat pretty well on his own. I think we're only looking at another 2 weeks or so. The breeder has a pretty solid rule that none of her birds leave before 8 weeks (they get daily socialization with humans, so hopefully the transition will be smooth).
 
Eddie's Aviary

Eddie's Aviary

Administrator
Staff member
If he is still taking hand feeding, then yes... too soon. Large species, or singletons can take a long time to wean. The fastest species I ever raised was elegants and scarlet chested. I opened the nestbox at 26 days and was shocked when they all flew out! :oops:
 
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