Orange-winged amazon vs. other species

[larek]

Hi,
Could you please advice? What other species could be kept with orange-winged amazon? I mean, i have OW parrot and I'd like to try with a breedeing couple of any other specie. Is it possible they could live without any fighting, or something?
Thx for help,
Marek

[marie83]

Hiya, why do you wish to breed?

Please take a look at this thread started by someone wishing to breed greys. It is an informative read.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8534

Thank you.

[larek]

It's just for hobby. I need to be sure, birds won't kill each other...

[cmaygar]

If you get a bonded pair of any parrot species your OW will not be able to intrude on them at all. Bonded breeding pairs aren't pets and usually are kept in cages apart from all other birds. You'd need to keep your OW separated from a bonded breeding pair because they'd probably kill him.

[Shelby]

It's just for hobby.

Breeding birds is not something you should do for a hobby! It is extremely important that you have a solid understanding of genetics and parrot psychology, and be well versed in the behavioral nuances of whatever species you are breeding. You also need to know about proper parrot nutrition, proper handfeeding in case the parents reject the chicks (which is incredibly important to get correct, and very dangerous if you get it wrong - which is easy to do!) and how and when to wean the baby and onto what foods.

There are many, many more risks for the chicks but also risks for the parents. They have to be in good health or their chicks may be unhealthy too. Sometimes mated pairs can get aggressive and one can pose a threat to the other. Some hens suffer from egg binding - the inability to lay an egg once it has formed. This is life threatening for the hen! Others risk becoming chronic egg-layers and can literally egg themselves to death! Sometimes one of the parents will destroy the eggs, or kill or maim the chicks. Some parents won't feed their chicks and then it's up to you to make sure you properly hand feed. You also must know how to set up the nesting box to prevent splayed legs and other deformities in the growing chicks.

As if all this is not difficult enough, there are countless other problems which may arise that I haven't mentioned here (because I'm not a breeder and so I've never encountered all the problems you can have). But if anything goes wrong, you have to know how to care for the birds in an emergency until you can get to the vet. Avian vet care is NOT cheap and a non-avian vet won't be able to give you all the help you need. You could easily rack up thousands of dollars in vet care in a single breeding season!

And what will you do with the chicks? Some birds may not lay every year, but some birds can breed more than once a year. Breeding birds is not something you can profit from as a "hobby breeder". If you do not take it absolutely seriously, you can do irreparable damage to the mentality of the chicks and they will later end up as unhappy birds in a rescue somewhere.

I do NOT want to cause offense or seem mean, but the breeding of birds - or any other animal - is a very serious thing. I only want to prevent you from doing something for which you are unprepared. Instead of breeding birds and bringing more chicks into a world where they may not be properly cared for, why not adopt an adult bird from a shelter and give it a happy home?

[Polarn]

As for damages that can be dealt to the hen... I got one of them here right now. She has been beaten, plucked and abused by her former "man". And as mentioned above there are plenty of birds beeing bred/rehomed etc as it is.

Another thing to consider is that a lot of the bigger birds won't really breed in a cage, and even if they do, to small of an area is sometimes a cause of other problems. For you to have best possible chances to succeed you not only need tons of knowledge, you need the right birds, the right amount of space and time, and this is normally not time spent with the birds rather prepare sufficient nutrition etc.

And as someone said feeding birds aren't really pets they usually need to be left alone. Normally needs to be parentfed aviary birds. Otherwise they have no idea what todo once the eggs are hatched.

Won't tell you not to breed, couse there will always be breeders. But breeding birds aren't the most fun to have around normally. Only way I personally were to consider having birds and let em breed were if I lived somewhere I could keep em outside all year around and then net the whole garden and keep em wild in the garden so to speak. But even that wouldn't feel to me like keeping the birds as I want. Would rather have that 3000m2 aviary to safely free flight my tame birds.