Are bird farms okay?

I plan on getting a Green Cheek Conure soon. I know not to get a bird from a pet store, but was wondering if bird farms were okay. I visited the Sugarcreek Bird Farm a month ago. I thought the place was clean, and their birds looked healthy (expect a couple were plucking). They had a huge outdoor aviary for their birds. What do you guys think? The bird farm is located in Ohio. They have a website if you want to check it out. Sugarcreek Bird Farm Shoud I have posted this in the Questions and Answers? Sorry if so.


-Ariana

Well at least their an open aviary, meaning open to public view, and you've inspected it and seem to have found it satisfactory, seeing plucked birds in a breeding situation is not out of the ordinary, looking at their website they seem to be well orginized and the prices are fair, I don't see anything that jumps out and says don't buy from these folks.....you may also ask them if they have customer referals and vet references

If I may, it is not good to have an open aviary. That means that clients who have brds at home can interact with babies. They can easily carry infectious contagions on thier clothes and hands and infect babies that you may buy. Trust me, I've seen it. Also, most breeders do not allow people to view thier breeders. It can be very stressing when they see strangers which can cause them to destroy eggs and babies. I bred for 15 yrs and followed a closed aviary protochol. It is much safer for all concerned.
If you are interested in GCCs I can recommend an excellent breeder with a closed aviary who does an excellent job of socializing her babies. PM me.

What about adopting? Is there a rescue any of you would recommend? I live in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan.

Try adoptapet.com you can look in your area and also broaden your search to surounding areas.........

Thanks Bobby34231!

If your not looking for a couple of bad habits then I wouldn't adopt a parrot. Keep looking into good breeders, I think you'll be happier. Here's are some really good small time breeders www.pamperedpeeps.com. Hope this helps!

Mrspy said:

If your not looking for a couple of bad habits then I wouldn't adopt a parrot. Keep looking into good breeders, I think you'll be happier. Here's are some really good small time breeders www.pamperedpeeps.com. Hope this helps!

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Birds in rescues are not all there because of behavioral problems, just as all birds in pet stores or from breeders come well beahaved without problems of their own, buying a bird from a breeder is no guarantee of getting a better bird than adopting one from a rescue, if you want the perfect bird, get a stuffed toy parrot, doesn't eat, doesn't scream, doesn't poop, its only bad habit is it collects dust........

You're right there Bobby. Still, there probably are a couple of benefits to buy from a breeder. The bird might be healthier than a rescued parrot.....

Mrspy said:

You're right there Bobby. Still, there probably are a couple of benefits to buy from a breeder. The bird might be healthier than a rescued parrot.....

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In some cases that may just be the opposite, the couple of rescues that I work with start by quarantining all birds that come in, then get them avian vet checked, if anything seems out of the ordinary they are further tested, while there are some breeders that do get their babies vet checked, most don't...............

Don't write-off rescue birds, my too is a rescue. She's plucker and has a few hang ups which I was told about when I got her but she is also amazingly afffectionate and gives me just as much joy as my expensive breeder-bought eclectus. I don't think there is anything more rewarding than building a relationship with a "broken" parrot and whatching it come out of it's shell and thrive.

Parrots can live for a very, very long time so it's not uncommon to see one in a rescue who is there simply because situations have changed and owners can't care for them anymore. They may not have any issues whatsoever.

I'm going by my experience. I once adopted a Nanday Conure who had a plucking problem and I had a couple laughs but it didn't turn out. Maybe some of you got lucky but I got unlucky. .

Mrspy said:

I'm going by my experience. I once adopted a Nanday Conure who had a plucking problem and I had a couple laughs but it didn't turn out. Maybe some of you got lucky but I got unlucky. .

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I got unlucky with a breeder once so really there are good and bad with both. Chicka is a plucker, and looks like she always will be. I knew this when i got her and can live with it since with her it's only cosmetic.

I am an animal rescuer so, to me, any commercial undertaking that breeds animals that are in overpopulation is not good but, aside from my personal feelings and the fact that I would always recommend adopting instead of buying, large establishments miss a lot. Keeping parrots healthy is a HUGELY time consuming job. You need to observe them closely, at least, twice a day when they get their meals served and check for anything out of the ordinary because, by the time you see something not quite right, the bird has been sick for days and days, sometimes even weeks - and breeding farms don't do this. They can't. It would be impossible. They would have to hire a huge number of people and their overhead would go through the roof making their prices unmarketable. Breeding farms just put food and water out once a day and that's that as far as they are concerned so you are risking getting a baby bird from a bird that is not 100% healthy. Contrary to what most people believe, sick birds will breed. Depleted and overbred birds will also breed. And what they have in common is that they will produce sickly babies. You will not notice anything different, the baby will not look or act sick but he will have a weak health and he will be prone to a million things than a baby produced by a healthy pair would not.

The good thing about adopting a bird (and I do wish you would seriously consider it) is not only the incredible personal reward from having saved a life, it's also that what you see is what you get, something that doesn't happen with babies. And Ben and Mel are 100% correct, you can find excellent birds in rescue and much healthier than from a petstore or a breeder (we had a local breeder selling babies with polyoma to a local petstore two years ago and neither the breeder nor the petstore took any responsibility for it). All my birds are rescues and although most are not pet material, this is because I take in the unadoptables from other rescues. But I have several that are everything anybody can hope for in a companion bird: smart, funny, beautiful, loving, etc. I ended up with them because their owners begged me to take them in and I gave in because of special circumstances (one lady was actually going to euthanize them if I didn't take them).

So, no, not all birds end up in rescue because of behavioral problems but, even if this was the case, none of them started off with these problems, they were all also sweet little babies bought from a breeder or a petstore - and not all their owners were bad owners, either. Some of them were very good and still ended up with a 'problem' bird. It's a lottery.

Mrspy said:

If your not looking for a couple of bad habits then I wouldn't adopt a parrot. Keep looking into good breeders, I think you'll be happier. Here's are some really good small time breeders www.pamperedpeeps.com. Hope this helps!

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Not really looking for a fight, here, but I think your attitude on this is incredibly unkind, bordering on cruel. This statement sounds as if you're saying that any pet or cage bird that loses it's home doesn't deserve another because it might have some bad habits? So, these animals are no longer "useful" and their lives don't count.

Okay, so I'll just write to my local resuces and let they should just get the euthenasia injections ready for the incoming pets since no one wants an animal who's only desire is to have a loving home. Because it was their fault they were born and given to people who's intrest quickly waned or didn't understand the time, money and effort necessary to keep a pet.

Seriously!

Rescues are wonderful places to find companion birds. The cost is often less than a breeder and as Bobby said, most have been given the necessary health care. And you're giving a loving home to a bird who truly needs you.

HRH Di said:

Mrspy said:

If your not looking for a couple of bad habits then I wouldn't adopt a parrot. Keep looking into good breeders, I think you'll be happier. Here's are some really good small time breeders www.pamperedpeeps.com. Hope this helps!

Click to expand...

Not really looking for a fight, here, but I think your attitude on this is incredibly unkind, bordering on cruel. This statement sounds as if you're saying that any pet or cage bird that loses it's home doesn't deserve another because it might have some bad habits? So, these animals are no longer "useful" and their lives don't count.

Okay, so I'll just write to my local resuces and let they should just get the euthenasia injections ready for the incoming pets since no one wants an animal who's only desire is to have a loving home. Because it was their fault they were born and given to people who's intrest quickly waned or didn't understand the time, money and effort necessary to keep a pet.

Seriously!

Rescues are wonderful places to find companion birds. The cost is often less than a breeder and as Bobby said, most have been given the necessary health care. And you're giving a loving home to a bird who truly needs you.

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It sures sounds like you are. I'm intitled to my opinion and that is what I think. And actually I never got the bird from a rescue, I got him from a family and I would have been the 4th new owner. And maybe your right, rescues might be a wonderful place to get a bird. I'm not trying to Degrade Ariana for wanting a rescue, i'm trying to tell her that you should be prepared for a couple of "unpredictable" habits, some really good, others really bad.

I personally would rather start fresh and not have a bird that's been through ton's of family's, I never said they are worthless birds that shouldn't go to homes, I was only trying to help.

Gimeny Christmas!

You are entitled to your opinion, as I'm entitled to mine.