How to Get the Family Involved in Taking Care of a Bird

Interaction is an important part of socializing a bird. If various members of your family don't handle your bird regularly, he may become aggressive, territorial or antisocial. Getting the entire household involved in the daily care that your bird needs allows everyone to form personal bonds with him. Having the whole family involved promotes your cage bird's well-being.

  1. Experience Level

    • Even well-intended beginners may not have the experience level required to perform certain tasks, such as giving medicine. Make sure that everyone has the experience and maturity level to properly complete the tasks you've chosen for them. Divide the tasks related to caring for the family bird into levels of difficulty, then assign each task to a family member suited to give the care. For example, young children may be trusted to fill water bottles or keep the food dish clean but should probably not be charged with disinfecting the cage or handling the bird without supervision.

    Make a Schedule

    • Busy families have a lot of activities going on during the day. If you want the whole family to be involved in caring for your bird, make a schedule that outlines precisely who needs to do what for the bird each day. Try to let family members pick their favorite bird-care duties or trade out the less-than-fun tasks, such as cage cleaning, to make sure everyone gets to spend enjoyable time with the bird and no one feels like he's on permanent poop patrol.

    Make a Checklist

    • Having multiple people caring for a bird means you might not know for sure if every task gets done unless you personally supervise the care. Make a checklist on which everyone can check off what they have done each day. It's a good idea for an adult to check at the end of the day and make sure all your bird's needs have been met.

    Responsibility

    • At the end of the day, the adult primary caretaker is responsible for the care of a bird. Getting the entire family involved in the care of the bird can teach responsibility and enable everyone to enjoy ownership, but you must make sure it does not result in the bird being mishandled by overexcited children or inadvertently neglected by busy or uninterested members of the household. Supervise young children and inexperienced bird owners when they handle the bird and perform more complicated tasks to avoid possible accident or injury.