Loaner Parrot

[Michael]

As I'm brainstorming a list of ideas for benefits of membership for my proposed ny parrot club, I thought about having a parrot owned by the club (assuming the club is successful and large enough to merit this concept). I want to test the idea out here and see what you think about it.

It would definitely be a rescue or rehome parrot in need of a home. There would be a primary care taker and legal guardian assigned for the parrot but it would get to come to all the parrot club meetings and would be used to demonstrate training, taming, and nutrition concepts to other members. So for instance at a club meeting a trainer can show everyone the training technique for a particular behavior and other members can participate in training it as well. They can develop handling skills under guidance from more experienced members (and bring these techniques home to work with their own birds). Between meetings, members would have the opportunity to "borrow" the bird for a month and take care of it, continue teaching it whatever behavior it had been working on. Of course there would have to be some policies in place about how long someone has to be a member and so forth (I'm not really concerned about the details right now). While it is rough on a parrot that is used to being in one home all its life to move to a new home. One that is accustomed to many many different people at meetings and living with different people wouldn't be so stressed about such changes.

The benefits of this would be that club members can experience a species they may not have otherwise bought, get to handle a very tame bird and build confidence to work with their own, get to practice fun tricks/behaviors with a pretrained bird and get the motivation to teach their own, etc. Also if anyone joins the club in preparation for owning a parrot and can demonstrate trustworthiness, they too could sample parrot ownership for a little while before committing to the real deal.

So the reason I bring this up is I'm curious if you think this is a good idea? Do you think this is cruel? Do you think it's a valuable benefit to members of a club? Do you think a parrot can become accustomed to such frequent change? What genera of parrots do you think are most suitable candidates for such an endeavor?

[Azure Hanyo]

The only problem I forsee is if this parrot in question develops a very strong bond with a certain individual; it would be cruel to take the bird away from them. If the bird is very social and loves everyone and is an adaptable, easy-going sort, then no problems at all and a WONDERFUL idea!!!

[Azure Hanyo]

One more point I guess... Another concern would be safety for the bird, as maybe it could pick up a disease from one of the other people's birds. Careful screening of who is allowed into the parrot club would be a must, and probably vet-records of their own bird's health should be asked for if they are interested in taking the bird home for a month.

[Michael]

Yeah, the club would definitely have a vet sign off policy for anyone that has active bird participation in the club whether it's bringing a parrot in or borrowing a parrot to take home.

If there is enough membership I'd try to make a deal with a single vet so that members are required to go to that vet only but they get a discount yearly check and that satisfies their club requirement.

[Azure Hanyo]

This sounds fun then! What species do you have in mind? I know you have a well-rounded general knowledge of species, but may I suggest the following, as they strike me as the most social, easy-going birds:

Cockatiel
Budgerigar
Lovebird
Conure (Green cheeks in particular; they always seem to love everyone! At least the ones I know personally. )

[Kim S]

I think its a bit risky. Not just for the health of the move-along-parrot, but for the parrots of other members as well. A virus or disease can be picked up very easily, but can take years to show signs and be discovered. If that happens, all the members parrots could be infected one by one. This can only be prevented if all the members of the club would test their birds every so often (lets say twice a year). That could be pretty costly, even with the vet-contract.
Even if I could be a member of your pc, I would not participate in this, for the healthrisk to my own birds.

I do however think it is a good idea to have a bird that can be trained and taken to meetings to be a training-bird to others and have 1 on 1 traininsessions with an already trained bird.
The idea of a collective vet sounds pretty good as well.

[Michael]

Well if (approved) parrots are being brought to meetings and fly days as it is, then how would a loaner parrot amongst the same members make things any different? Essentially there would be two types of members: bird approved and not. Without vet checks and precautions, they cannot loan a parrot or bring theirs to meetings. But if people are bringing theirs to meetings and indoor flying events, how would that change? Mona had created this kind of flying club in the US North west with major success.

[HyperD]

Michael, I think this is a great idea. I wish there were more parrots in my area to do it...

Having a bird dedicated to the demonstrations is good, it will allow for consistency and hopefully people would see the improvements over time...


However, I would try and find a new word, loaner sounds exactly like loner!

[Kim S]

To me, theres a difference in having your parrot be with a group of strange parrots in a large area for a short amount of time, and having a strange parrot in your livingroom next to your bird 24hr a day for a whole month.

Most diseases (as far as I know) are transmitted through featherdust and poo. Chances of breathing, eating or otherwise getting these things into your birds system are a lot larger during a one month stay than an hour flight.

[Giantmoa]

hmm, be prepared for people to fall in love with these "loaner birds" and want to keep them =) I like the idea of being able to keep a bird and getting the full "parrot experience". I personally wish I had the opportunity to keep some of the larger birds out there for a period of time to gauge if they would ever be the right kind of bird for me, as all the research you can do sometimes doesn't always prepare you for the reality of it. Though I think with this kind of program, the smaller the bird the better to avoid issues developing with the bird as a result of constantly moving around (I'm not sure how a bigger parrot would react, maybe some would thrive, maybe some would suffer from the constant change? )
Its a cool idea if you could pull it off, as long as the bird's well fare is the top priority and it sounds like it would be.

you could also start up a loaner parrot system where birds who need homes are "loaned" out to people until they find their perfect match. or something like that... I just like the idea of finding permanent homes instead of constantly moving around and yet I would love to have a program like this around where I lived so I could get more hands-on knowledge concerning a wider variety of parrot species, which is why I'll most likely become a foster parent (parront? ) in the future.

also, keep in mind, you could even have a couple of canaries or doves (though I've owned neither) for perspective bird owners to "loan" (this still sounds very... weird) and that might give em a better idea of avian mess and basic care. As an actual parrot I think a well-adjusted green cheek might do well with this since they don't tend to bond to one person and can be pretty outgoing.