Breeders,Handraisers,&stores Oh MY!?

[feathermum]

I don't see where this would fit, so i'll try here~

what do you prefer when getting a BABY parrot? going directly from breeder? what do you think about Handraisers? & what about the( usually awefull) stores? This is something I have been thinking about a lot, due to the fact that I love handraising, & work in a store. I will say the store I do work in is not like most pet stores,so I like it. but there are drawbacks, as I Don't get a lot of say...but I have learned a lot!! good & bad. I thought I wanted to breed, but lately I don't feel that way. And when I look for breeders, I find many things that I would do differently, or I find out the "breeder" is not a breeder,but a hand raiser. Infact the more I look @ all the above, esp. the inside workings, the more I want to change things,or the more I see things being done wrongly. This is a bit of a rant I guess, but I honestly wonder what do others think?? does it make you cringe when u walk into a pet store & birds are all in cages, dirty water,yucky food, un-clean rm?? once I went to a place where the birds weren't allowed to have toys in their cages!! I freaked out & repoirted that store. I'v talked to the Breeders around my area, and wonder: how can you raise 5 macaws,3 toos, 2 eckies & more smaller birds @ 1 time plus your own birds, and give them all the attention,love, training ect...when you'r 1 person????!? no really, HOW? idk.....I still have not found an ideal any where around here...everyone i'v come across is very aginst flighted birds....sad! so, after that little run-on rant, where DO YOU prefer to get your BABY parrot? i'll try attach a poll!

[Eric&Rebecca]

I would ideally prefer a rescue centre but as there's not many in this country I prefer to seek out a registered and good breeder I can visit and see parent and baby birds with a paperwork history.

[Brittanyv326]

I got my Sennie from a storefront. The lady works with breeders & rescues. Since it's a SMALL business, she is able to keep up with checking on all of the breeders that she has partnerships with. She is the only place in this city that sells pellets as well and I have personally heard her refuse to sell a bird to people on several occasions when they're buying for the wrong reasons or on impulse. So I would say all three since Sadie came from a breeder, was hand raised by first the breeder then the woman who runs the store, then she ended up in the store. It's awesome that she works with rescues now too - I'm not sure how their relationship works, but she has 3-5 rescues at any given time and the rest are all babies. She feeds them, loves on them, cleans all the cages daily, and is a superhero to birds. Not to mention an educator to parronts. Not ALL stores are bad, but I agree that the large chains and people out there for greed are awful. The name of this store is actually "It's For the Birds" and she lives by that, which I think is awesome. Three years later & I still shop there & have an awesome relationship with her. She also boards & grooms Sadie, so it's really a one stop shop! It is so nice to have someone I can trust with Sadie.

[feathermum]

I got my Sennie from a storefront. The lady works with breeders & rescues. Since it's a SMALL business, she is able to keep up with checking on all of the breeders that she has partnerships with. She is the only place in this city that sells pellets as well and I have personally heard her refuse to sell a bird to people on several occasions when they're buying for the wrong reasons or on impulse. So I would say all three since Sadie came from a breeder, was hand raised by first the breeder then the woman who runs the store, then she ended up in the store. It's awesome that she works with rescues now too - I'm not sure how their relationship works, but she has 3-5 rescues at any given time and the rest are all babies. She feeds them, loves on them, cleans all the cages daily, and is a superhero to birds. Not to mention an educator to parronts. Not ALL stores are bad, but I agree that the large chains and people out there for greed are awful. The name of this store is actually "It's For the Birds" and she lives by that, which I think is awesome. Three years later & I still shop there & have an awesome relationship with her. She also boards & grooms Sadie, so it's really a one stop shop! It is so nice to have someone I can trust with Sadie.

that is amazing!! there are places like this that do exsist!! just very hard to find!! where I work I love most of what we do for birds, but there are a few things that I would do differently. I do like that we do take in un-wanted birds all the time, we also raise many babbies w/ a lot of out of cage time, and I like that they are all disease tested,& we have turned many away for not wanting a parrot for the right reasons. so in a way, I would agree w/ u...BUT, being on the inside I have determind that the things I DON'T agree with( ie. clipping right away,not enough time when we have a high amount of babbies... ) I would like to in the near future start handraising myself @ my house. I would like to only have no more then 3 handfeeding babbies @ a time, so they get "real" qulity time & love. Also to raise so they are always flighted. I have been lucky in getting to raise 1 of my fids @ home since he was 4wks old, and I LOVED it!! I would love to speacialize in getting & raising parrots that ppl already want, so they can be in the mix from the get-go

[Strawfrawg]

My breeder is fantastic, but I've heard about others that aren't nearly as good. I guess it depends on the individual seller. I do know of a pet store that takes excellent care of its birds and is thoughtful about who they sell to, but in general I think being on display all day with strangers staring at, talking at, and poking at you through the cage can't be a good way to live, even briefly. I don't know of any pure hand-raisers, but not knowing your parents at all doesn't seem like a healthy start in life, either. I would think it could cause an identity crisis!

My breeder leaves her chicks with the parents until they are about four weeks old, then brings them inside for hand-feeding and socializing with other chicks. Marvin's bunkmate was a baby AG a week younger than himself, and just before I brought him home he was playing with other babies, too (supervised). Based on his behavior since I've had him...his shockingly calm and confident demeanor, and how open he is to other living things...I'd say my breeder is doing something right. At first I didn't know what I thought of the idea that she had "pet" birds inside and "breeder birds" outside in her bird barn, but when I saw the cleanliness, warmth, space, and stimulation she provides for those outside birds and the way they interact with her, I felt good about supporting her business.

An interesting question would be to ask people here how they feel about buying a bird sight unseen and having it shipped from a long-distance breeder. I don't think I could ever buy an animal (except a rescue) if I didn't know exactly what it came from, and I know I personally couldn't put a bird through the trauma of being shipped. I don't mean to insult anyone here who has bought a bird this way, but you have to admit, it's not ideal.

[Pajarita]

Every single bird I have (with the exception of the purebred Spanish Timbrado canaries which come from breeders who show themselves -meaning, they don't raise just to sell the babies- and were personally recommended to me by a trusted source) is a rescue or a rehome. I would NEVER buy a baby bird the same that I would never buy a puppy or a kitten. I would not put money in the pocket of somebody who exploits animals.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Well not every breeder exploits animals and not everyone has access to a rescue centre... it doesn't mean people are wrong and encouraging people. There are many good breeders out there that aren't exploiting them. Just because they sell their birds doesn't mean they terrible.

On the other hand pet shops, YES. They do exploit animals and I wouldn't even buy so much as a toy from them!

[feathermum]

i have to agree, not all breeders are bad, not all handraisers are bad, and belive it or not , not all stores are evil. and not all rescues are great either. I went into a rescue, and they had a couple conures, lots of doves and 1 . guess what they were all being fed? cockitial seed. when I asked about it, the woman replied that it was cheeper, & easyier to feed all the same


Obviously, I do NOT think of most rescues like this. This was a all animal no-kill shelter/rescue. but anyways, my biggest point..everyone wants to condem ALL breeders, but guess what? w/o breeders, WE wouldn't have OUR fids!!! I got 2 of mine as babbies, so they came from Breeder to store & breeder to handrraiser. my rescues came from a BREEDER @ some point. I do wish that they would have some more regulations in ALL states though for Avairys, to make sure that they are not over a capacity & clean, fed right ect..... . too many of these amazing winged creatures are very close to extinction. some are only rare in the wild, either way WE should have MORE speacilized breeding programs in place. we should NOT have to see another parrot go extinct

[Pajarita]

I am sorry but for one thing the definition of exploitation IS to make money out of another being so yes, all breeders exploit their animals UNLESS they give the babies away for free. And, for another, do you honestly believe that an animal that is bred to be sold will not, eventually if not from the very beginning, become just a merchandise to the person who sells it?

Now, if you are talking about a hobbyist breeder who just has a couple of pairs which are also his/her pets, keeps them fully flighted in an aviary or a birdroom, has impeccable husbandry, only allows them to breed occasionally and gives away the babies for free after thoroughly investigating the prospective home and would take every single baby bred back if the owners can no longer take care of it, then that's another story. But I've never met a breeder like that and nobody I have ever posed this question to has been able to provide me with a single name.

[Eric&Rebecca]

I didn't pay money for either of my two as birds. I paid the bill for them to have vet checks and that's the only payment taken from me. Yes it came from a breeder but I didn't pay money for the animal I paid for its screening and vet checks. The food, the cage in one instance all came free. You pay for the checks and paperwork essentially which is non profit.

It's a small hobbyist breeder in the UK, I've been to the aviary and they have 3 breeding pairs. They have 2 clutches per year only and all blood lines are unrelated. They give them all away providing you pay for screenings and vet checks of that chick. The parents are screened at the breeders expense. So yes I paid money but it was for the health check of the bird. A good way to vet owners I think because they won't let you have them if you don't pay for vet checks or have previous experience. We wrote the breeder, went to see them and then was offered to get a bird. George was offered after we lost Percy from a sudden cardiac episode although this was another breeder whom I would never go to again. The breeder knew us and had one chick left at his brothers who also operates a similar policy where you pay the birds health expenses not for the bird itself. They only charge for bird sitting which is how they make their money. They don't have a website or anything I just happened to hear through a friend of a friend. All the business, if you can call it that, is done by word of mouth and networking.

So no I paid for the health check of the bird which I was provided exact breakdowns from the vet so no money was made from that. They only care about good homes, this is the closest to a rescue centre I can get. If there was one I would go there but there isn't. I don't feel that should stop me owning a bird because I can't rescue one. If there was a rescue of course I would go to them first but this doesn't exist where we are. People who want to rehome even charge and I don't agree with that either.

I do not go to pet shops or breeders who breed for profits. That's wrong to charge £150 for a cockatiel. I paid less than that in vet costs for both of mine.