Purchase of unweaned chicks

[pchela]

Completely legal here in the U.S. unfortunately.

[Michael]

No. We don't want any kind of government regulation of the parrot industry. Pretty much whatever comes from them, they mess up. The best way is by spreading knowledge and demonstrating good practices. If it becomes run by the government, a whole class of capable hobby feeders would get shut out and then some no-brain employees of parrot mills will apply for licenses and be allowed to do it. Creating responsibility doesn't come from laws but from good information.

[Ark]

Hasen't California already made it illegal to seen unweaned chicks.

http://www.internationalparrotletsociety.org/AB202.html

[pchela]

Nice. Thanks for pointing that out Ark. I wasn't aware of that law and I wonder if any other states have it.

[Bear]

It is very rare to see weaned babies advertised here. (SA) Usually if you see a 5-6 month old bird advertised it has already being sold once by a breeder, and the buyer is reselling. Even pet shops here like to sell birds that aren't weaned. Especially CAG's as it doesn't take them long to decide who they do and don't like!

I've hand raised my CAG and am hand rearing my baby U2, the only birds I haven't handreared are my Eclectus pair as they were mature when I got them. I wouldn't receommend someone who hadn't read up, watched it and practised under supervision, but if you've done your research and are sure you want the commitment I don't have a problem with it if it's done responsibly. Afterall, if a human has a baby, they don't get it at 2yrs old, and there is no practice run, you learn by experience, how else can you learn?
I'm not saying just try it and see what happens, but I am saying you can prepare for the responsibility quite easily by learning from breeders and doing a lot or research. It is a very rewarding experience and I do think it helps create a bond as a chick knows you are always there when it needs you...and what do they need more as a baby than regular good food. I would always choose an unweaned bird over a weaned one. My U2 is only 8weeks old and I've not had a single problem with her nor do I expect to.

[Titanius]

This is a hard one to answer. Since I got Diamond young she was pretty much on the edge of going off formula and onto seeds. The breeder just offered the formula to me if she didn't feel comfortable eating seeds or the millet in her new environment. I only fed her formula a couple days after and then she just stopped taking it and preferred the seeds strongly. But in my opinion(possibly hypocritical) I don't think the casual bird owner really knows what they get themselves into when they get very young unweaned chicks from the getgo.