Parent raised DYHA

[KevH]

hi everyone I'm thinking of buying a parent raised DYHA would like people's opinions on wot there like as pets

 

[JerseyWendy]

I hope our 'henpecked' jumps in on your question as he would know (no doubt in my mind).

How old is the baby? Has he/she been handled at all?

 

[KevH]

There's only 2 babies there only 4 weeks old he's not getting involved with them leaving it all to parents he said he didn't want to split the chicks just in case the parents stop feeding the other chick so I'm unsure of wot to do

 

[JerseyWendy]

I'm not quite sure how long it takes when DYH chicks are solely parent raised. The breeder I got my Sam from (Magna DYH) pulled him at 3 weeks for hand feeding, and he came to me when he was 7 weeks (and still required hand feedings). The bigger Amazons 'usually' wean around 3-4 months.

Are you worried about the babies possibly not being 'good pets'? I would assume it's going to take a fair amount of work to gain their trust. But I also think it's doable.

 

[Kiwibird]

From my understanding, parent raised are similar to gaining the trust/training of a wild-caught bird. It is more difficult, but not impossible. People *used* to successfully socialize and keep both as pets. Of course, the modern standard is all hand reared or co-parented babies these days, but I am sure with some work, a parent raised chick would make a wonderful companion. My mothers DYH was wild caught as an adult bird, and she is a wonderful bird (my mom has had her for 40 years). She learned to step up, return on command, is an excellent flyer and is social with trusted humans. She has also never been sick a day in her life. We will never know for sure because he was adopted as an adult bird with no real history, but I strongly suspect my BFA was parent raised. His overall attitude towards humans is much more in line with my mom's DYH than any hand raised baby I've met. He is social and friendly because we worked to gain his trust, but he's not really into the cuddling business most (loved) hand raised adults birds are.

I have also 'heard' parent raised chicks 'typically' have stronger immunity due to healthy bacteria being passed from the parents to chick and also 'tend' to be more independent as adults because they were not raised with total reliance on humans. Of course, that is just stuff I've heard around, no experience or solid evidence to back it up. Best of luck on your decision.

 

[KevH]

Ye Jersey that's all I'm worried about making a good pet ano it will take a bit of work but I'm prepared to make it work

 

[Kyoto]

I had parent raised lovebirds that came around no problem, but not sure about a big bird like an Amazon.

 

[henpecked]

Parent raise zons can be tamed. I disagree with your breeder about separating the babies, but that has been my experience. The biggest issue is the amount of time you'll need to spend tamimg a fully weaned parent raised baby. The early period following weaning is the time zons learn the most. Instead of spending time socializing that baby you'll be taming it. IMO talking abilities, cuddleness,social skills , etc will take a back seat to you being able to handle/tame your new baby. I won't recommend it, unless you had a lot of experience with zons. Those babies would make better breeders than pets. IMO the breeder doesn't have the experience to turn out pet quality babies. The whole thing stinks and i'd advise avoiding this situation. No telling what other pet parrot skills he is also lacking. IMO a hand raised OWA (from a knowledgeable breeder) would be a much better choice than a parent raised DYH for a companion parrot.

Truth be known,, those babies in the UK would be worth more as breeders than pets. especially given the availability of DYH in your area. Just my .02 worth

 

[KevH]

Thanks henpecked for advice the breeder said if there was 3 chicks he would pull one out of nest and hand rear it but coz there's 2 he said the parents tend to or Mite get bored and stop feeding the chick he didn't want to risk it he hasn't advertised his birds for sale I got his number from parrot society magazine and rang him up he was going to use the birds for breeding programme but said he would sell one the chicks will be handled by him so that mite help plus arnt parent raised more independent and have less problems

 

[Birdman666]

I agree with most of what Henpecked said. And I would prefer the babies get pulled and hand raised at the end, just to save a lot of just the basic taming and training work for the person getting the bird. That's just how it's normally done... MOST BREEDERS DO IT THAT WAY.

BUT, up until about ten or twenty years ago ALL pet birds were parent raised... because they were captured and not captive bred. Those birds were captured, and then tamed down, old school style, so it's certainly possible to do it. There are some studies that seem to suggest that pulling the babies too soon has an adverse psychological effect.... (THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU DON'T PULL THEM EVER!)

ANY baby DYH Amazon you get, is going to have to be trained from square one. The job YOU DO raising the bird and socializing it, determines how "wild" the bird ultimately is. It has nothing to do with whether a parent regurged for it, or someone stuck a syringe in it's beak. That's a function of the trust, and bond you develop with YOUR bird over time.

If you possess those skills, then it's not a problem. If you do not, then the bird is likely to be difficult to handle. If you're not prepared for that, then get one that has already been tamed down, and socialized.

That has to do with handling, training, and nurturing the bird.

MY ADVICE TO ANYONE, ON ANY BIRD, IS TO NOT GO WITH THE GENERALIZATIONS, BUT TO GO AND INTERACT WITH THE BIRD. SEE FOR YOURSELF IF THIS IS THE BIRD YOU WANT TO TAKE ON FOR THE NEXT 80 YEARS OR SO...

 

[henpecked]

On a side note,,Wild caught zons,,, i have several wild caught zons as pets and also breeders. The pet birds i took from wild nest as young babies and hand raised to be pets.The breeder birds i bought after they cleared their 90 day quarantine after being imported. The most common misconception is that these birds are adults. The truth is they are harvested in the wild as babies then handfed until weaned and then imported into the host country. Then the 90 day quarantine period. SO , they are at best 6months old when they reach the consumer, and to the untrained eye may appear to be adult. When harvested in the host country it would take to long and be too time consuming to tame wild adults to the point where they could survive the 90 day quarantine. Yes it was done that way in the beginning but survival rates where so bad that folks like Howard Voren where sent in to find a better way and the harvest of young babies, unweaned babies is the preferred/profitable method. It's much cheaper to hand raise babies than tame down adults.

I also have parent raised babies that come from my own breeder birds. I have tamed one or two as pets but they aren't as tame as the handraised babies and quickly become better breeders than pets.

 

[Birdman666]

In Venezuela, they waited until the birds were close to fledging before pulling them from the nest. Then finished hand feeding, then did the taming and touch training. IT WAS A LOT OF WORK! And the pet quality probably was not as good.

Those are all really good points. I guess I really do kind of agree with that...

It's usually A LOT more difficult.

To me, the way you distinguish between a really good breeder, and one who just gives you a healthy bird, is the amount of basic socialization and training the bird gets.

HERE THE BIRD GETS NONE...

So, that kinda tells you all you need to know.

It doesn't mean it can't ever be done... it means that now you really have your work cut out for you going into it... and why, if there are tame, friendly birds who readily seek out human interaction, would you get one where you have to start out with a battle of wills to get the bird to interact with you...

(Because amazons aren't the least bit stubborn! )

 

[KevH]

At the moment it's my only option Gona give it a few weeks coz it's still early for more to be on sale I've got till August - September if not il buy the parent raised one I've got the patience and time to train it