Little Mihah

I was searching craigslist for finches...because what better way to come across cheap little birds than to search the hobby breeders, ya' know? Anyways, I was searching craigslist for finches when I remember an older post about how someone wanted to adopt out a bunch of her birds. I looked it up, emailed her, and got a blurry picture of some societies and a tiny white chestnut flanked white zebra. She was the only one in the bunch and I thought it was dumb luck to find her. I told the woman I'd be out to pick her up that afternoon.

So after grocery shopping that day, I weaved my way through the town, got lost, did a few circles, got found, and finally came to the address I'd been searching for. A few knocks on the door and an older woman answered and welcomed me inside. I quickly kicked off my shoes at the door and followed this older woman into her kitchen. The whole time we passed a bunch of different birds, from different finch species, to cockatiels and love birds, and I think maybe a budgie or two. She was very into her birds but she said she was downsizing because she had back problems and had issues with getting around these days.

We finally came upon the cage that my little CFW zebra hen sat in. The cage was a tad over crowded with the other babies that were recently weaned. All the other zebras had been taken, and the only ones left were Mihah and a bunch of societies. The woman said that Mihah helped rear some lovebird chicks for her and was literally hand tamed. She reached into the cage and slowly grabbed Mihah, who didn't even flinch. Needless to say, I was a little impressed. I had hand tamed my societies, but I didn't know the wilder breeds could become this tame.

Anyways, we put Mihah in her little carry case and I went home. I released her with JD and finally had the chance to really get to study her.  Honestly, she was pretty dirty. It was kind of obvious that her gentle nature came as a hindrance in a crowded cage situation. She was all sorts of dirty underneath and her wings were torn to shreds. Her previous owner admit that she clipped her wings, and you can tell Mihah had a hard time getting from place to place without them. I was a little concerned but I put the food on the ground, and set a low perch in the cage so she could hop onto it in order to find the water.

I'm really happy to be able to announce that Mihah is sparkling white now. She's able to find her way up into the little dome nest I put in there for her and she sleeps there every night with JD standing guard ontop. Although she still can't fly worth a damn, she can flutter enough to navigate the cage. She's getting stronger every day and her wings are starting to grow out. Theres a small spot on her head where you can see someone must have plucked, but I don't see any problem with it in the future.

Eventually, I'd like to pair her with Decoy. At first I thought maybe I'd put her with Bullseye, but Decoy seems to have more of the pied markings, so if I'm going for color, I think I'll try Decoy. Bullseye has a thicker chest band though which is more desirable in solid, normal zebras...but I'm not breeding show quality yet.

Mihah and the boys are way to young anyways, so Mihah will have to wait to be a mom. She will make such a wonderful mom though. She takes care of JD (my pussy-foot catthroat) and she's helped raise love birds. I named her Mihah from the spanish word Mija (Mi Hija), which is a term of endearment for a little girl. It fits her perfectly :) 

This is Mihah's wings as of today. They are still pin feathering, but should clear up eventually without the stress of having to fly everywhere. Her perches are set up so that she can just hop to where she needs to be.