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HENRY AND EINSTEIN (INIE)



~HENRY AND EINSTEIN (INIE)~
A true story about my birds.



This is HENRY an Umbrella Cockatoo
and INIE a Stanley Parakeet
Henry was not with Angel at that time.

In a thunderstorm, I lost 7 birds.
Storm-triggered bad bacteria
took over their bodies and
within one hour 7 birds died.

INIE's father died leaving the
hen to fend for herself and
to incubate three little eggs.

The mother cannot feed herself
as well as incubate the eggs.
The male bird was not there
to feed her or sit on the eggs.

Her instinct would make her
starve but sit on the eggs.
I took the eggs to incubate
but was not prepared for that.

I made an incubator from a
wooden nest box with 40-watt
lamp and a dish of water and
prayed to God to save them.

Three chicks were hatched.
INIE was one of those three.
I hand-reared them and kept
the incubator near my bed.

I spoon-fed them every hour,
day and night for two days
and gradually to three feeds
in a day when eight weeks old.

Henry was in my bedroom too.
Listening to the sounds of the
chicks being fed he would get
ready to feed them himself.

Would come down on the stand and
stretch his neck to feed the baby.
I let him try but it was impossible.
They were just too tiny for him.

Later he did feed Cockatoo babies.
Henry took the chicks as his babies.
When they started flying he watched
them with a worried look on his face.

In the picture, INIE landed on his perch
and started pecking on Henry's feet.
He moved to the end but would not
harm the baby INIE pecking his feet.

He was so gentle with the chicks.
Later on he and Angel fell in love
at the first sight when Angel squawked
in the kitchen to her reflection

She thought it to be a cockatoo.
Henry was in the next room.
He flew to Angel and it was
love at first sight for sure.

All day they stayed looking lovesick
and in the evening they mated.
After a month I had a big egg
weighing Twenty-eight grams.

I incubated it and I got
my very first cockatoo baby.
He was big so we called him
Bon Bon or Boney for short.

Henry and Angel gave us
many cockatoo babies.
By genes, Umbrella cockatoos
are wife bashers and hurt hens.

Mild-natured Henry changed.
He started hurting Angel.
Now they are in separate cages
but they are still so much in love.

It hurts me to keep them in
separate cages but the male
Cockatoos have been known
to kill the hens all of a sudden.

Henry is still very kind to the
little parakeet he adopted
as his own baby and loves
INIE even after many years.

Kris ~ Dreamweaver
http://poetrypoem.com/dreamweaver



NOTE:
This story has a very sad ending. The Umbrella Cockatoo pair Henry and Angel were moved to my son's house. Inie moved with them too. One day they could not find Inie. He disappeared and is now feared dead. Henry somehow got out of the cage and killed the hen, Angel. My whole family has still not recovered from the grief. Years have passed but it still breaks my heart remembering Angel and Inie. Henry is with me now with his Son Bambie. They are with the Greenwing Macaw "Ollie" and my African Grey "Sooty". My baby pigeon "Pigoo" grew to be a full-grown Wood Pigeon and flew away a few weeks ago. "Jack the Crow" my rescued baby crow is free to roam in the house and doing fine. Loving birds hurts so deeply when you lose them.
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UPDATE:
On 21st October 2012, Ollie died due to liver failure. He died in my arms in the early morning that day at 4:37 am. Birds do not get a liver transplant so his chances of survival were nil. He was a Green Wing Macaw. Head to tail he was 36" with a 4" beak. He was a gentle giant. He loved cuddling and playing games. Once more my whole family is drowned in deep sorrow.  We have lost him but he will always live on in our hearts and our memory.
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UPDATE:
18th January 2016. Father Henry and son Bambie are in the Bird Room with Sooty. Sooty was in my bedroom where the Baby (Egg Laying Pigeon hen) and Jack the Crow were free-flying. Sooty bit both of them on their feet when they were near his cage. Sooty used to chase the Macaw Ollie and had a hard time keeping Sooty away from Ollie. I had to place Sooty in the Bird Room for his own safety as cockatoos could hurt him if he trespassed their tertiary. They all seem to be happy and healthy.  
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UPDATE:
12th October 2020. Umbrella Cockatoo Bambie is no longer with us. My heart condition forced me to find a good place for him. Henry and Sooty are still with us. The rescued pigeon "Baby" and the rescued Crow, "JackJack" are with us. I wanted to release Jack the Crow in the wild but his feather condition made that impossible. Baby is bonded to me and follows me everywhere. In the morning I find her on my chest or shoulder and she preens me to wake me up. Henry and Sooty are fine. I feed them Banana milk in the evening with a spoon. Just the way I used to feed the chicks. It is the highlight of the day for them. Baby gets fed by me with my hand and she loves that. Crow is independent but very friendly. My main worry is my birds. I had a stroke and I survived but who will love and look after my birds if my heart problem gets out of control and I am no more.  This gives me a reason to look after myself as best as I can and fight for my life.
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UPDATE:
"BABY" our pigeon passed away on 23rd June 2022 - at 7-20 pm.
"PIGU" my son Bridge brought home an abandoned baby woodpigeon on 15th June 2022.
"JACKJACK" passed away on 24th November 2023, at 1-45 am.
NOW:
"HENRY" the Umbrella Cockatoo, "SOOTY" the African Gray parrot and "PIGU" the woodpigeon are with us now.
The rescued birds become our family members and it is heartbreaking to lose them.

Love and peace,
Kris~Dreamweaver
18th February 2024.















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