Driving 250 Miles for my new baby :)

[MikeyTN]

Ok I just viewed the second video....There's absolutely nothing wrong with the babies with the wing twitch or the head bobbing. All I see is them getting a bit nervous and it is caused by strangers that they don't know well enough yet so they're rather cautious right now. I see macaws do it quite often actually. Just have the one your getting examined by a avian vet and I am pretty sure you'll be just fine.

With the hand feeding part, when they're reading to feed with the crop open you can squirt them down pretty quickly. But of course must be cautious when you do that. They seem to know what they're doing during hand feeding from observing it from the video.

 

[GW.Joe]

Dude, seriously?! I think Garfunkle's a find!

Outgoing, confident, already a good flier, curious, gently stepping up and giving kisses for strangers... so totally people oriented...

The bird is healthy, socialized, and already bite pressure trained. There isn't a lot more you can ask of a breeder.

Yes Mark, completely agree, We would take Garfunkle in a New York Second.... BUT... that would require me to TRUST this Breeder while they finish weaning for the next X number of weeks, and I just can't bring myself to do that...

Joe what a fun (if not exhausting) day you had! They're both super cute!!
I'd beware of the head twitch. I didn't really see much on the vid, but you know what you saw...

I PERSONALLY was much more impressed by the website for M&D Bird World. Hard to always tell by the look I know, but looks professional, and fwiw, at the bottom of the site it states their awareness about deadly viruses which is really more important than many people realize.

Can't wait to hear later today what you found at M&D to compare experiences.

LOTS OF MILES Julie LOL

It was 550 miles to CT and Back to PA, Then another 270 miles to DE and Back to PA.....820 miles in 2 days....

M and D was a GREAT experience (New Thread Time )

Thanks Everyone !!

 

[GW.Joe]

One Last Thing, in trying to decide the best way to find our new baby it seemed like we had three options:

1) Get a baby un-weaned, taking control in the very beginning to protect and raise the bird the way we thought was best

2) Get a baby from a small breeder, getting a bird from a loving home, raised in a "family setting"

3) Get a baby from a more commercial breeder, getting a bird from a professionally controlled environment

Well after thinking about it (and driving 800 miles ) I realized that "if" I could find the right commercial breeder it might be better

Seeing what I thought were a lot of "bad" things going on in the small breeders home was the END....

Going to M and D bird farm really convinced me of this, here is my experience:

When you walk in to see a bird they immediately take you to the washroom and make everyone scrub their hands with soap, then they make you use a hand sanitizer, THEN they make you put on a freshly cleaned "hospital" gown

This really impressed me, at least they are "trying" to control contamination
No one is allowed inside the nursery AND the nursery is on a separate HVAC and ventilation system to keep air from other areas getting into the nursery

Another thing that impressed me were the employees or should I say their job classifications, employees in charge of feeding just do feeding, other employees in charge of cleaning only do cleaning, I'm sure that goes a long way to help keep the birds food as clean as possible

Anyway, The decision came down to I'd rather have a bird that is in a professionally controlled environment because of the less probability of injury, sickness, and of course the professional would be less likely to let the bid be completely uncontrolled and do what it wants...

Well at least that is ALL OVER NOW.... says Joe as a NEW Thread "magically" appears, THE SUBJECT LINE ????

 

[JerseyWendy]

I personally spoke to Joe right after he walked out of the breeder's home on Saturday, and he told me a few things that are not visible in any of the videos.

Most importantly, Joe was quite distressed, upset and VERY uneasy. How many of us would pick a bird with that particular feeling in our gut? I know I wouldn't.

I told Joe to listen to his heart. I also told him that once he finds the right bird, he would know it, and he wouldn't have that uneasy, queasy feeling with doubts - but instead he'd feel GOOD about the decision.

 

[GW.Joe]

I personally spoke to Joe right after he walked out of the breeder's home on Saturday, and he told me a few things that are not visible in any of the videos.

Most importantly, Joe was quite distressed, upset and VERY uneasy. How many of us would pick a bird with that particular feeling in our gut? I know I wouldn't.

I told Joe to listen to his heart. I also told him that once he finds the right bird, he would know it, and he wouldn't have that uneasy, queasy feeling with doubts - but instead he'd feel GOOD about the decision.

I was a complete wreak.... The Black and Blue beak and the darn twitch that I couldn't get recorded really bothered me, Has anyone here every seen a Black and Blue beak? The blood inside the beak Very Clearly visible, I just kept thinking "who lets a macaw use their head over and over as a launch point?" I have always had a distaste for "bad" parenting of children, so seeing everything this mom did with her Macaw was an instant turnoff

Its sad, cause IF I could have walked out of their house on the spot with Garfunkel It would have been a done deal

And you know what? It didn't take more than a half hour at M @ D to feel good enough about it to plop down the 1K deposit !!

Hey Guess What? What are we all doing over here? There are PICS !!

Gone............

 

[Anansi]

I told Joe to listen to his heart. I also told him that once he finds the right bird, he would know it, and he wouldn't have that uneasy, queasy feeling with doubts - but instead he'd feel GOOD about the decision.

Sound advice, Wendy.

 

[Kiwibird]

I guess you have to do what you feel is the right thing. Regardless if the birds were or were not 'fine', YOU will have a much easier time working with a bird you feel confident where it came from.

 

[MacawLoverOf3]

Do they sanitize your shoes too? All the hand washing and putting on a gown isn't going to help if you walk into their place and there are diseases on your shoes to spread around, especially after visiting 2 babies the day before.

Only way to hopefully prevent diseases is to have people take a shower, wash the hair, scrub under the finger and toe nails, clean the ears and even blow your nose. After all that, put on other clothing and footwear supplied by them that was not 'contaminated' from your home.

Look past the sense of security they gave you and think on it a bit more.

 

[Anansi]

Do they sanitize your shoes too? All the hand washing and putting on a gown isn't going to help if you walk into their place and there are diseases on your shoes to spread around, especially after visiting 2 babies the day before.

Only way to hopefully prevent diseases is to have people take a shower, wash the hair, scrub under the finger and toe nails, clean the ears and even blow your nose. After all that, put on other clothing and footwear supplied by them that was not 'contaminated' from your home.

Look past the sense of security they gave you and think on it a bit more.

While you do have a point about complete disease prevention, Joe did point out that, "at least they are "trying" to control contamination." I don't think he is under any illusions that the precautions taken would be absolute proof against contamination.

The sad reality is, most places aren't going to have the resources available to take the measures necessary for that level of protection. Better these admittedly incomplete measures than none taken at all, no?

 

[MacawLoverOf3]

While you do have a point about complete disease prevention, Joe did point out that, "at least they are "trying" to control contamination." I don't think he is under any illusions that the precautions taken would be absolute proof against contamination.

The sad reality is, most places aren't going to have the resources available to take the measures necessary for that level of protection. Better these admittedly incomplete measures than none taken at all, no?

You are correct, unless you buy from a breeder that has a totally closed aviary, there are risks and a lot of people don't take those seriously thinking 'it won't happen to them'. I have seen elsewhere where people have formed these 'trains', getting a bird from point a to point b (one time the origination was a rescue to boot) and it sent shivers up me thinking how many people that bird passed through the hands of and possibly been exposed to and exposing to the birds the people owned. Scary

 

[labell]

I too think you should always follow your gut and it sounds like you did.

I wanted to add I also agree that was indeed power feeding and I hate seeing that, I just cringed watching him shoot that food in! I also agree with what Wendy said, none of my babies are allowed to fly or play out of the cage right after feeding when their crops are so full. They are always given an hour or two so they can properly digest some of that before playing!

As for flying, I am always a nervous wreck when mine are first learning to fly and while I try to make it as safe as possible I have had them crash into curtained windows, walls, you name it. As nerve wrecking and sometimes dangerous as it can be for them to learn to fly in the house I would rather a breeder did it then the ones who opt out for their own convenience. Later clipping is something I always felt was a personal issue and something people have to decide on their own but clipping before a baby really learns and I mean really learns to both fly and land imo is always harmful to the babies well being and future development.

 

[RavensGryf]

I think I'm probably known as the most disease conscious freak on this forum lol, but seriously, you're right about the shoes... and even with a totally closed aviary, it's maybe not 100% possible for a guarantee of complete biosecurity which we hope for. After all, no guarantees in life! I DO like that they make about as good an attempt toward it as an avian vet office though (and I'm sure better than many). I had to laugh about everything down to blowing your nose. If we want to get scientific, sad but it's true haha.

Do they sanitize your shoes too? All the hand washing and putting on a gown isn't going to help if you walk into their place and there are diseases on your shoes to spread around, especially after visiting 2 babies the day before.

Only way to hopefully prevent diseases is to have people take a shower, wash the hair, scrub under the finger and toe nails, clean the ears and even blow your nose. After all that, put on other clothing and footwear supplied by them that was not 'contaminated' from your home.

Look past the sense of security they gave you and think on it a bit more.

 

[GW.Joe]

Hello, text from other thread about shoes

The New Thread:http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/44860-please-welcome-our-new-baby-greenwing.html

"He told me they can't take off everyone shoes because of insurance regulations BUT the birds are not allowed on the floor, he said if one makes it to the floor they immediately go and clean the bird

He also said employees have to go through a "clean room" to get the nursery"