In-laws bought parrots, they have no idea what they are doing. (vent)

[Pugtato]

*sigh* This week has been one heck of a week, my dog broke her leg quite badly on Thursday night, she gave me a lovely puncture wound in my hand, and we moved in to the new house officially (yay!). However, right as I was about to settle down relax a bit I got a very excited text from my future in-laws letting me know that they had just bought parrots! Yay!!

Well... not quite.

A) They bought breeder birds from two old women at McDonald's who were planning on driving with the birds in the back of their pick-up truck over 150 miles in light rain. There is no history on the parrots, and the women sold the parrots to a couple who they knew for 5 minutes, who have no experience with birds (they can't keep chickens alive).

B) My in-laws are not in the best financial situation, which makes me very uncomfortable to say, but it is a factor in this situation. I can't offer much in the way of supplies right now as my dog's vet bills are enormous, and ripped right through my savings (she fractured her front radius and ulna). Otherwise I would be running over with a care package and setting them up properly.

C) They have absolutely no experience with birds or parrots of any sort and they have done no research into the care of them. They are feeding seed, keeping all the birds together in on cage, and a few other choice things.

D) There are 9 eggs in the nest box whom the women said belonged to the Cockatiels, but the lovebirds are constantly in the box. No one knows who the eggs belong too, or why there are so many.

For an example of their pet keeping skills, they bought 15 something chicks in the spring, and only 5 are still alive. And they do LOVE their chickens, but keep them pretty poorly.

Now I don't want to make them out to be bad people, they are good people, they just don't always think things through and have paid the price for that numerous times before.

I just posted as a vent, truly, I just cant stand when people buy animals they are not going to properly care for.

 

[Nocturnal]

To me it sounds like the biggest reason they bought the birds was to save them from being driven 150 miles through the rain in the back of a pickup truck. Sounds like the were trying to do a kindness.

I think if you kindly and respectfully offered advice on the care of the birds they would figure things out. They are probably feeding them seed because the previous owners were. You can't switch to pellets overnight.


I'd say lay off on them some. Try and offer help rather than judgement.

 

[henpecked]

Why not get them to join the forum? That's what i'd do. To be sure they at least want to protect their investment.

 

[BillsBirds]

As responsible bird guardians ourselves, we owe it to any birds to try to educate their owners to become responsible bird guardians, as well. You can maybe help them learn by your example and instruction. Be tactful, persuasive, and genuinely concerned. Use your own birds and experience as examples.

 

[weco]

How many pairs of what did they purchase? Whoever does it, needs to try to figure out which hens are sitting/want to sit eggs and maybe separate some of the eggs to each interested hen, though I would go carefully here as the hens have been moved around, with eggs & may not have been nesting the eggs properly.....get them upset & they could abandon the eggs, crush/eat them, abandon the chicks, not properly care for them and/or kill them.....

Worry about determining specie after they hatch & start looking like their parents.....'tiels may lay 8 eggs in a clutch, so the extra one may be just that, an extra.....the extra cupcake because too much batter was mixed.....

I would also do some fast reading on hand feeding...just in case.....

You may have to set up 2 nesting cages, because different hens claiming eggs as their own might be trouble...or...they might decide to co-parent, though I doubt that.....but splitting the eggs between the hens & closely watch the goings on could be your best bet.....9 eggs for one hen is an awful drain on her & her mate.....

Good luck.....

 

[JerseyWendy]

You've gotten some fantastic feedback, Pugtato.

I'm SO very sorry to hear about your dog. What kind of dog is she, and how did he break both bones in the front leg? Did she bite you because she was in so much pain? Poor girl! I truly hope she heals quickly and completely.

 

[Pugtato]

I see I did not explain myself fully, its been that kind of week. However, I think it is incredibly difficult for me to not be judgmental knowing these folks as I do. They are my in-laws, and I have always found difficulty in accepting the ways in which they keep their pets. This is not the first instance of "Are you kidding me?" I have experienced. As for the parrots, they have been secretly planning on buying parrots for a while (didn't know that), but really, honestly, and truly don't need them in any sense of the word. It is so difficult to explain their situation without being condescending and rude, which I don't wish to be because I do care for these people. They are some of the nicest people, but they have a notorious history with pets. When they met my bird, even after careful intorductions they terrified her. Getting right up to the bars of her cage (she would NOT come out) and prodding her, and pretty much yelling at her. They meant well, but they are VERY hard people to communicate boundaries with. Their idea of something being right, is the something in question not being dead.

I strongly believe that their story was a bit embellished as to lessen the "Why would you do that?" question they were sure to get. They are yard sale and flea market hunters and I am pretty much sure the birds came from something like that.

They are unable to/unwilling to add another cage, and the cage they currently have is a rather large cage, which was nice to see. However, I am 100% certain that they would not be willing (or able) to buy another cage. When they had called me I had assumed it was to ask for some help getting everything started (they had sent me pictures moments before), however, it was more to brag that they had the birds.

I spent an hour on the phone with them trying to slip in helpful hints on care and maintenance, only to be told "Oh, there fine. Not fighting at all, OH the green one's are chasing the grey ones but they just run away!" *facepalm* I will continue to attempt to offer help, and I even offered to give them some of my birds old toys (sanitized, of course) but they completely ignored me for the most part. Hopefully, they will listen to their son, but it really upset me knowing that they bought animals they are completely unprepared to care for.

 

[tiedyed]

IDK it rather seems to me you might need to take a more proactive approach. I'm certainly no expert and others in this forum are far more qualified than I to advise on diet, handling, breeding, etc. However, even I'M well aware of the level of care needed to keep happy parrots. I knew enough about them to make an informed decision when I got one on short notice, yet STILL did much research which brought me here. Now, your mileage may vary depending on many factors, like species, which I couldn't find mentioned anywhere. But no matter which one it still seems they're completely oblivious to even the basics when they can't even keep some low-maintenance free-range (more or less) chickens alive. That does NOT bode well for the parrots. You know these people to be good hearted. Perhaps, but still wrong-headed. At least YOU understand that they're not just ornaments, and your concern landed you here. You'll find a bunch of knowledgable people here who ARE genuinely concerned and willing to help. On your end, you may have to take it to the level of dragging them to the computer, and forcing the information into their faces. Get another cage if they're fighting, and it seems they are. You may have to be blunt and come right out and say, "If you don't do it, they're probably gonna die." It's one thing to advise them if they ever talked about getting a parrot. Then it's easy to kind of gently discourage it if you don't think they could handle it. But now they're all-in and drastic measures may be necessary for the birds' well-being.

 

[Pugtato]

You've gotten some fantastic feedback, Pugtato.

I'm SO very sorry to hear about your dog. What kind of dog is she, and how did he break both bones in the front leg? Did she bite you because she was in so much pain? Poor girl! I truly hope she heals quickly and completely.

Thank you Wendy, she is a Plott Hound (big, lovely, dumb, coon hound). She was laying on my bed, which she knows is a huge "NONO" in my house and saw me walk through the door into the bedroom. She went to jump off the bed and somehow her front right leg slipped between the mattress and the foot board of a massive iron bed-frame. So she flipped right over the foot board snapping her leg and then (screaming like I have never heard before, for a darn good reason) dangled from her broken leg. I was running before she flipped, and grabbed a hold of her good front leg and her back legs and flipped her back over onto the bed to free her leg. When I had grabbed her front leg, she bit me out of fear and pain. She was terrified, and is a naturally shy/nervous dog.

I realized that she had plum got me good when I looked down at my hand. I left her sitting on the bed and ran to the kitchen for a paper towel. My house was covered in blood, the floor, the walls, the doors, everything. I could not drive, and had to wait for my fiance to drive up from his internship two hours away to drive her to the vet so I parked my butt on the couch and waited (I was not feeling good). Somehow my amazing loving dog jumped off the bed on three legs, and limped over to sit with me. There was no way I could have lifted her off of the bed. She refused to leave my side until she got to the vets office, and would follow me around the house on three legs sticking to me like Velcro.

We are now calling her our VERY expensive shelter puppy and we are both healing up just fine. She even beat up the Pug today (she swings her splint like a club, poor guy), and seems to be mentally on the mend as well.