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Parrots –How to Manage Coming Out of Lockdown
Reading Time: 7 minutes Covid-19 has put a huge amount of stress on all of us, whether we’ve suffered from the virus or not. It’s no wonder people have turned to pets for companionship, fun, stress relief and entertainment in large numbers. But, with lockdown restrictions now loosening, and homeworking being wound down, there are fresh challenges on the horizon for everyone, not least for the birds and animals in our lives.
What to do if a Baby Bird Falls Out the Nest
Reading Time: 7 minutes Spring is a magical time of the year when the world re-awakens from its long winter snooze and greets us with new colour, beauty, and life. It’s also one of the best times to watch the birds in your garden as new mums and dads frantically fly around collecting enough food to raise their brood and prepare them for the biggest moment of their young lives – the day they finally leave the nest.
Give Your Conure a Health Fix with our Latest Mix
Reading Time: 5 minutes Johnston & Jeff has conjured up a new blend for Conures to help owners keep their pets healthy. Conure Mix has been developed by the leading Yorkshire manufacturer in partnership with top breeder Cheryl Robinson of Riverside Aviaries, resulting in a blend specifically formulated for this type of parrot.
Beat the Lockdown Boredom Blues with our Bird-Based Activity Pack
Reading Time: 9 minutes We have put together some fun bird-based activities that you can do with your kids. You can download and print all the activity pages. We have a choice of colouring pages, a step-by-step guide on how to make an origami bird, and a spotters guide to the wild birds you'll find in your garden.
A Guide to Common Parrot Welfare Issues and Parrot Illnesses
Reading Time: 10 minutes As responsible pet owners, it’s our duty to ensure we provide top-notch care for our parrots. This starts with basic duties such as feeding the right food at the right times, keeping their enclosure clean, spending time with your pet, and allowing them to get as much exercise as they need ...
The Importance of Cleaning Your Bird Feeders and Tables
Reading Time: 8 minutes With lots of birds visiting your feeders and bird table on a daily basis, it is essential to keep your feeding equipment clean to avoid the risk of infection. After all, with birds being in such close contact around the feeders, if one is carrying an infection it can soon spread.
Budgies – the UK’s Favourite Pet Bird
Reading Time: 6 minutes Budgies – also known as parakeets – are the most popular companion bird in the UK and it is easy to see why. These colourful little birds are every bit as intelligent as their bigger cousins, but at just seven or so inches in height, they take up much less room than an African Grey or ...
Talking Parrots – What You Need to Know to Get Started
Reading Time: 6 minutes Many people are first attracted to parrots because of their ability to ‘talk’. And you can understand why. Often, talking parrots are hilarious and a large section of YouTube is given over to entertaining videos of parrots cracking jokes and generally saying funny things. But how is it a species of ...
What do Blue Tits Like to Eat?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Alongside the Blackbird and the Robin, the Blue Tit must be among our most treasured garden birds. Instantly recognisable due to their multitude of colours – blues, greens, yellows, blacks and whites – they are one of the commonest and chirpiest visitors to our feeders and bird tables.
Canaries – the Musicians of the Aviary Bird World
Reading Time: 6 minutes When it comes to aviary birds, the undisputed king of the call is the canary. Just as the beautiful, bright colours attract people to the Gouldian finch, and the ability of the African Grey to talk makes them so popular, the melodious song of the humble canary is the number one reason ...
A Guide to Parrot Housing and Enrichment
Reading Time: 7 minutes Once you’ve decided on the type of parrot that’s best for you, it’s time to think about getting an enclosure for your new pet to live in. Obviously, you will need to buy the enclosure before you pick up your bird as it will need somewhere to live straight away, and you want it to get ...
What do Blackbirds Eat?
Reading Time: 6 minutes No British garden would be complete without its share of Blackbirds, a species that seems to be inextricably linked with the UK. Perhaps this is because, like the Robin, the Blackbird has been immortalised in the traditional English song, in this case the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence.
Which Parrot is Right for You?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Owning a parrot is an extremely rewarding experience. Parrots of all types are intelligent, fun, entertaining and engaging, and because of these qualities make fantastic companions. But with more than 400 different species to choose from, deciding which one is right for ...
Mites – Recognising and Avoiding Infestation in Budgies, Canaries, and Finches
Reading Time: 6 minutes We’ve taken an in depth look at the different diseases that affect captive birds in our blog about parrot welfare, and many of these conditions and their symptoms can be extended to budgies, canaries and finches. But one subject we’ve haven’t covered is mites ...
A Year in the Life of a Songbird
Reading Time: 9 minutes A year is a long time in the life of a songbird, and a lot of events happen over that time that take their toll on the birds in your garden. Nesting, breeding, rearing young, adverse weather, all fuel a demand for high quality nutrition to ensure birds and their chicks survive everything nature throws at them.
Finch Facts – Which One is Right for You?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Finches are among the most diverse species of aviary birds and range from the incredible colours and beauty of the Gouldian Finch to the calmer brown hues of the Bengalese Finch, with almost every combination in between. They have a very long association with people, with the first records ...
Supporting Conservation by Adopting Exotic Bird Species
Reading Time: 6 minutes Feeding time at the zoo has never been so exciting for two exotic bird species at Chester Zoo. The Pekin Robins and Wrinkled Hornbills at the charity zoo have both been officially adopted by us. We will donate bird food to the value of £3,000 to Chester Zoo each year, to help feed the large number of birds there.
Friends for Life – Parrot Lifespans Explained
Reading Time: 5 minutes Parrots are the longest living order of birds, so it is no surprise that how long do parrots live is a question we regularly get asked. However, it’s not always easy to answer because there is huge variation in the lifespans of the different species, and with more than 400 ...
Indoor and Outdoor Bird Aviaries – All You Need to Know
Reading Time: 6 minutes Aviaries come in all shapes and sizes, from relatively small cages that will fit in anyone’s front room, to huge, walk-in structures that can take up almost all of your garden. So, how do you know which is right for you and your birds? ...
New ‘superfood’ to Ensure Wild Birds get Enough Calcium
Reading Time: 6 minutes We are really excited to be launching a new superfood to ensure wild birds get sufficient calcium in their diet. Dried Calciworms – the larvae of the Black Soldier Fly – are a fantastic supplement to our range of premium quality wild bird feeds and typically contain around 50 times more calcium than other insects.
How we are Supporting Parrot Rescue & Rehoming Centres
Reading Time: 5 minutes We are flying to the aid of four parrot rescue and rehoming centres hit by the coronavirus. We have donated more than a tonne of our parrot blends to Birdline Parrot Rescue, Problem Parrots, All Star Parrots, and Safe Haven Refuge.
Johnston & Jeff Celebrates 140 years with £1m Factory Expansion
Reading Time: 6 minutes We are delighted to announce a £1m expansion of our factory, to help us mark our 140th anniversary celebrations. Johnston & Jeff’s Managing Director, Richard Johnston, said the expansion was the biggest investment the company had made since moving from its original premises in Hull to Gilberdyke in 2002.
No Mess, No Grow Blend to Celebrate Our 140th Anniversary
Reading Time: 5 minutes To help celebrate our 140th anniversary, we have launched a limited edition No Mess, No Grow bird seed blend. The blend, our first no mess, no grow food, is nutritionally balanced and has been heat treated to ensure no seeds used in its production can germinate.