Whether you are a member of a small or large flock, establishing whose portion is whose (commonly referred to as “portion control”) is an important part of maintaining your flock-wide “alpha” status.
Here, it is not important what size you are in comparison with the size of your fellow flock members.
Rather, it is all about confidence.
There are several methods to display “alpha grade” confidence when establishing portion control.
For instance, you can stand directly in front of the dish while maintaining direct eye contact with other flock members.You can also climb onto the dish and stick your face into it.Another effective tactic is to start picking out individual morsels to chew and fling.Glaring at the dish is another powerful way to keep hungry “beta” flock members at bay.A final surefire method of “portion control” is to put one foot on the dish while chewing and flinging morsels.
Yes, I have seen this method many times with my tiel Charlie. It is very effective.
It sure is, Jeanne – especially with beta flock members who prefer their portions “unsampled” in advance! 🙂