Help me out, what did your breeder do?

I am looking for info on common practices. While I have some info from breeders I know personally, there is not a data base for this kind of thing, and people don't appreciate being called up and questioned when you are not buying from them. So I turn to you my friends, I would be so thankful if you could let me know, if you know, what your breeder did with your bird/s or what you do if you are a breeder. I of course have my own practices and beliefs, but I am trying to get a handle on how other people are doing things and why they choose to do them that way. The more detail you can give, the more you help me. Thanks!


-Hand feed and abundance wean
-hand feed and reduction wean
-wean into fully or mostly fresh diet
-wean onto fully or mostly pellets
-wean into fully or mostly seeds
-co parent (interact with the chicks but let the parents keep them and feed them)
-parent raise and then tame
-parent raise and sell wild
-allow for full fledging (no clipping before at least four or five months old)
-clip after first few flights
-clip before fledging begins
-sell outright, no returns
-sell but say the bird can come back
-sell with contract saying the bird cannot be rehomed
-lease for life rather than sell
-anything else you found interesting

Hmm let's see!

Fargo's breeder hand fed and then slowly reduced their feedings, and weaned them onto mostly fresh fruit and veges and a bit of pellets and sprouted seed

They were roughly sold at 6 months old, however they kept them longer to make sure they were 100% weaned and wouldn't have an issue.

They were all fully flighted, not one bird was clipped which was lovely!

They would put the birds 'on hold'... So if someone came and interracted and liked a specific one, they would put their name down to have that bird.. Fargo was put 'on hold' twice before I got him !

They took a 10% deposit and then we paid the rest on pick up, however they said that I could return Fargo at any point and swap for another macaw if I wanted because of how difficult Fargo might be!


They gave us a big bag of sprouted seed mix, a huge bag of mixed nuts, and even a very expensive foraging toy!

Oh and they give each person who purchases a macaw a big travel cage to take them home in

They also said if I ever had an issue and couldn't look after him, or I was going on a long holiday, they could look after him/find him a nice new home!

Hope that helped

Wow it sounds like you found an exceptional breeder! Was there a specific reason they thought Fargo might be trouble?

SilverSage said:

I am looking for info on common practices. While I have some info from breeders I know personally, there is not a data base for this kind of thing, and people don't appreciate being called up and questioned when you are not buying from them. So I turn to you my friends, I would be so thankful if you could let me know, if you know, what your breeder did with your bird/s or what you do if you are a breeder. I of course have my own practices and beliefs, but I am trying to get a handle on how other people are doing things and why they choose to do them that way. The more detail you can give, the more you help me. Thanks!


-Hand feed and abundance wean

This is what I do most with my babies, I LOVE handfeeding and having that bond with all my babies! I have had babies wean earlier than usual and others that just take longer and I feel that it is in Baby's best interest to let them be the judge of when they are ready to "be big". I'm currently handfeeding an 11 week old Blue Black Mask Lovebird baby (Betsy) who shows no interest in pellets or seed but WILL nibble at veggies IF I feed them to her by hand. She is one very sweet baby, I'm getting a bit too attached to this one!

-hand feed and reduction wean

I don't believe in force weaning them

-wean into fully or mostly fresh diet
-wean onto fully or mostly pellets
-wean into fully or mostly seeds

I wean my babies to lots of fruits and vegetables, pellets and some seed.

-co parent (interact with the chicks but let the parents keep them and feed them)

I've done this with cockatiels, lovebirds and parakeets. The cockatiels were pretty tame, lovebirds got flighty and bitey and the parakeets are just as sweet as if they were handfed.

-parent raise and then tame
-parent raise and sell wild

-allow for full fledging (no clipping before at least four or five months old)
-clip after first few flights

I prefer all of my babies to be fully flighted but will clip their wings after they have learned how to fly properly if their new family requests it.

-clip before fledging begins

I have NEVER done this, my Dad has an CAG that must have had her wings clipped before she learned how to fly because she use to just drop. Now she is learning how to glide more gracefully but she still hasn't flown and she is 6 years old

-sell outright, no returns
-sell but say the bird can come back

I've never had anyone ask to bring a baby back, I guess it would kind of depend on the situation. You also have to be careful that you don't bring a disease into your flock because once the bird leaves your care you can't control how it's taken care of or what it is exposed to....

-sell with contract saying the bird cannot be rehomed
-lease for life rather than sell
-anything else you found interesting

Click to expand...

I give my email and phone number to everyone who buys a baby from me and tell them to contact me if they have any questions or just want to talk birds. I've had people contact me a couple of years after they bought their baby with questions, updates and just to say hi. I encourage prospective buyers to come and meet the babies while they are still being handfed and ask any questions they have. I will place a baby on hold only if they put down a non-refundable deposit. Usually anywhere from $10-$50 depending on the species they are interested in.

Can't help you with any of your breeding related questions, but offered a few notations you might need to obtain further information from other sources on.....

-clip before fledging begins
I know a 20yo CAG that had been clipped by his breeder because the breeder did not want to contend with birds flying around her small house/cottage...he has never flown...
-sell with contract saying the bird cannot be rehomed
Check with your favorite attorney but you probably want to look up & read the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)...it's my understanding that all states have adopted the UCC in whole or in part.....depending on how you want to word/limit/prevent re-homing, state and/or federal law may prevent you from imposing any limitations on the sale...
-lease for life rather than sell
Here again, you'll probably need to feed or otherwise engage your favorite attorney as the wording of some leases may nullify themselves if some restrictions are not legal in another state.....
-anything else you found interesting
Some states will collect a tax/fee of their own on materials/equipment brought into their state from another.....

Just a few of the things you might need to brush up on so your endeavor passes muster in all 50 states, U.S. territories & protectorates.....

SilverSage said:

Wow it sounds like you found an exceptional breeder! Was there a specific reason they thought Fargo might be trouble?

Click to expand...

Definitely! They are incredible They even gave me their nutcracker because i didn't have one! hahaha


Oh there are probably a few threads on here which explain the story about Fargo..

But out of 15 baby macaws.. There were only 2 boys... One was already sold.. And Fargo was on hold with other people..


But then those people didn't want him anymore and chose another


But, i only wanted a boy.. Hence Fargo was it..


He had the nickname 'Feral'.. All the other macaws LOVED attention and cuddles.. But Fargo HATED people.. He didn't like any type of interaction, he just wanted to be alone, away from the other birds and people..



For that reason, they told me he isn't the best choice as a pet..

He wouldn't be that friendly type? Hence they said if i wanted a girl, it would be a better option.. Fargo might just be better for breeding..

And he hated his harness, so might not be able to be harness trained.

They were just looking out for me.. Hesitant because of my age as well..

But, I wanted him anyway, and as you can see, he is now the friendliest and cuddliest macaws ever :09:


It also probably worked out better because of how independent he is, he has fit into this lifestyle, because he is an only bird.. and he doesn't have an issue with that because even at the breeders he was the quietest..



It is nice to see breeders who try and match up birds with owners though, and see who they think would suit..

I've had different experiences with different breeders. Some good, some not so good.

I've gotten more than 3 birds from breeders, but I'll just tell you about Raven and Griffin, then I'll tell you about the worst one.

Both Griffin (Ruppell's parrot) and Raven (Bronze Winged Pionus)

* RAISING - Both spent the first several weeks (not sure exactly how long, but a good while I think) with their parents before being pulled for hand feeding.


* ABUNDANCE WEANED - and breeders of both birds did not give me the bird until they were completely past weaning and made sure there were no issues.
Griffin was weaned onto fresh foods and seed mix. Raven was weaned onto fresh foods and pellets.

* FLEDGING/CLIPPING - both breeders let the babies fledge, then either clip or leave flighted depending on what the customer wants.

* GUARANTEE - had health guarantee (bring to vet within 72 hrs). Also 'closed aviary' to reduce risk of disease contamination.

* GIVING BIRD BACK - Long story short about Raven, unforseen complications which has cost me tons of $ (and still not done) from an injury that happened at the breeder's house (not the breeder's fault - it involved Raven's sibling), she ended up giving me 1/2 his purchase price back. She said either that or full refund and give him back.

With Griffin, he's from a bigger operation, and I do believe the policy is no returns. However, maybe they'd make an exception being a rare species since they are mainly focused on breeding Ruppell's parrots for propagation and only raise one for a pet if someone specifically orders one.

_________________________________

In 2006 I got a Slender Billed Corella (Cockatoo). The breeder was reputable in the business of Australian Toos. Unfortunately, she started using this woman as her hand feeder (the babies to be hand fed and sold were at this hand feeder's house, not the breeder's by this point).. This hand feeder not only had a horrible personality (in terms of customer service), but she left a bad impression on me regarding my bird.

At the time the hand feeder called me to say she wanted me to come take the bird, it was a bit earlier than expected. My cage still hadn't come. This woman was literally bugging me everyday to take the bird NOW. I was even surprised to hear that she was already fully weaned (I don't remember how many months, but it struck me as pretty early for this species). Anyway, I was so irked that I had no choice but to buy a smaller temporary cage. She was okay in it for a little while because she was so young. Miraculously, I didn't notice any regression issues at all (whew), I think she was weaned onto thawed frozen veggies . She was all stained from old blood... they said she broke several blood feathers and she couldn't wash it all off. She also was clipped probably from the moment she had wing feathers. She never fledged. All the woman wanted to do was hand feed and push them out the door the moment they ate their first bite of regular food. I'm not sure if the breeder still uses this individual to hand feed for her, but probably not because I'd heard that I wasn't the only one complaining. The breeder certainly had a good reputation, and this hand feeder was not even close to representing their standards of quality. It was a shame.

Oh wow! She sounds like a nightmare!

I got both my tiel and GCC direct from the breeders. The tiel was an adult when I got her, and sold at a bird show for cash. I do know Phlox was weaned on to pellets/seeds/fresh foods but was clipped, and all her birds were clipped.

No written contracts for any bird I have and as Weco said, they aren't all that binding anyway because state laws will always prevail.

Though I think ethically its important to try to sell only to people who appear to be with it and to make sure you provide as best info as you can, as a breeder you are running a business and there is only so much you can do to make sure they only get good homes.

I would say I'm a pretty good bird home, but I get really turned off by a lot of rescues and overly protecting breeders. It might be easier to adopt a human being than some of these parrots, to be honest.

-Hand feed and abundance wean
-hand feed and reduction wean
Birds are hand fed and abundance weaned.

-wean into fully or mostly fresh diet
-wean onto fully or mostly pellets
-wean into fully or mostly seeds
I can't speak for birds like their conures, but my ekkie was weaned fully onto fresh foods and my macaw has been weaned onto fresh / nuts.

-co parent (interact with the chicks but let the parents keep them and feed them)
-parent raise and then tame
-parent raise and sell wild
Birds are left with the parents for 3-4 weeks provided they can be, although interacted with. My macaw, for example though, had to be pulled almost immediately.

-allow for full fledging (no clipping before at least four or five months old)
-clip after first few flights
-clip before fledging begins
Birds are fully fledged before they go home, but they'll clip before you take your bird home if you wish.

-sell outright, no returns
-sell but say the bird can come back
-sell with contract saying the bird cannot be rehomed
-lease for life rather than sell
I don't have to sign any kind of contract. If you are unable to keep the bird, they encourage you to contact them so they can help you find suitable placement.

-anything else you found interesting
They will trim wings and nails for free for life and will board your birds if you are going away. They don't trim nails on any young birds, to make it easier for them to keep their balance.

Thanks for everyone who has responded so far

I a actually am in the process of seeking legal counsel on my contract, because I know if I am not careful it will not be binding, and this is the first time I have had one.

Tab, that reminds me somewhat of how I got my dog. He was the only puppy who barked at us and wouldn't come say hello, and the shelter lady said it was a "bad sign."