Housing for breeding Congo african greys?

[Dms86]

Hello i have had my grey for over 2yrs now and he is brilliant, a real character and so recently i have been thinking of buying a proven pair to breed an get the hang of it and then get another pair and maybe more after that. When it comes to housing them whats better an outdoor avairy with nesting box?, (heated if need be) or in the spare room? Also lets say i eventually have 6 pairs, would they be okay all in one avairy with 6 box's? or would it be better to partition the avairy into seperate areas for each pair? I have the space for a large avairy so size is not a problem.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

Also i have found lots of info online about the diets and looking after the chicks so im okay for info on that front, im still researching for now but realy cant find anything about housing them.

Thanks in advance Danny.

[Michael]

Please don't breed parrots. There is no good reason for you to, you have absolutely no idea what you're doing, it will be bad for the birds, and you will lose a ton of money doing it.

Here are reasons you shouldn't raise chicks yourself.

Please, please, please get this crazy idea out of your head and find another hobby to do that won't be putting real lives in jeopardy. Thank you.

[pchela]

African Greys are amazing and I can understand the desire to raise them but please consider that by breeding them, you will be bringing parrots into the word that can potentially end up homeless or abused or neglected. There are not many people who have what it takes to properly care for a parrot. Add to that the fact that there are countless homeless parrots already in rescues or in a cage somewhere, never allowed out, with no toys or company, and I hope you'll see that breeding these birds is a really terrible idea. It is so difficult for rescues to find good homes for their birds - it's not a good idea to add to the problem by breeding more. Just think about how much you love your Grey and then imagine him in a home that is neglectful or downright abusive. Would you want that for him? Yes, some birds do end up in good homes, but I'd say the majority are doomed to move from home to home or end up in rescues.

Thanks for listening and I hope you reconsider.

[ginger]

Although I understand how cute and sweet Greys can be when they are young, I don't feel that it is necessary for a new breeder to get into business. Your sweet baby is only 2. Give him time to mature and grow so that he can get the attention he deserves. Since he is brilliant it would be better for you to concentrate all your efforts on him. Greys tend to be phobic. And he is still young. He will be five years old in October. Trust me on this, I know from personal experience. My Grey was raised by me, is also brilliant, but also phobic. I am lucky. Mine hasn't developed any other problems.

I have fostered several Greys for a local rescue. The rescues are overloaded with Greys that have all kinds of behavioral problems including plucking. There are so many Greys out there for adoption and for sale. You would better serve the bird community by taking care of the one you have and not adding more.

Please reconsider and do not breed anything, especially Greys. They are very difficult to breed, require tons of special needs, require separate quarters, diets, etc. They are certainly NOT for a novice. You may end up hurting the birds because of your lack of knowledge. I know that the internet is full of ideas and great suggestions about how wonderful it is to breed. That is NOT the case. Do yourself and the birds, especially the one you have, a huge service and DO NOT BREED!

[Dms86]

I have owned and bred other animals i have owned other birds this is my first parrot, he is not of breeding age, hence why i was looking at a breeding pair. When i decided i wanted an african grey I went to rspca looking to hopefully rescue a grey no luck and not often they go there, the women who worked there told me due to the value. I had to search and search to find my parrot due to high demand for them and after having mine for over 2 yrs now i can see why that is. They are clever, funny, socialize well with a family and other pets and fairly easy to train. So if i have the time, money and commitment whats the problem?

[Michael]

So if i have the time, money and commitment whats the problem?

The problem is that you have no idea what you're doing and going to ruin the birds. Seriously, no one is saying any of this to be mean or say anything bad against you. Way too many people try breeding or hand raising birds and end up killing or ruining them through their own inexperience. Many are well intentioned but inevitably fail.

Your grey hasn't even reached maturity. You're still in for quite a handful. Stick to working with your own bird for the next 40+ years and forget about making more of them when there are already so many unwanted ones. Keep your eyes open for rehome ads or rescues and if you want to have more or do something good then take in the ones that others don't want. Don't make more because they will inevitably be unwanted, especially coming from an inexperienced breeder. Breeding parrots is nothing like other birds/animals. Making mistakes early on can lead to lifelong phobias and psychological problems. It is best left to people who know what they are doing and have a bigger stake in the industry.

[Dms86]

It is best left to people who know what they are doing and have a bigger stake in the industry.

Maybe so but im sure they wasnt born experts they all got to start sumwer. You say there are re homing centers packed with cags? Maybe in the u.s.a but that is not the case in the UK parrots that go to rescues stay at those rescues in large aviarys as an attraction and they are often bred and their chicks hand reared after the first four weaks and then sold on to help pay for expenses.

[marie83]

I take it your in the UK due to you mentioning the RSPCA? The truth is the RSPCA don't take on many birds at all as they don't really know what to do with them, the bird rescues are full of them though, the national parrot zoo is so over crowded there are many many reports of them not being looked after properly. Tropical birdland is also full of ex african grey pets all in one aviary, clinging to the sides desperate for human attention. There are several bird rehoming rescues too such as birdline which are also always looking for people to adopt birds, particuarly greys and cockatoos.
If your looking after them properly and not overbreeding them there really isn't much money to be made in breeding them, you can't keep them all as pets yourself so why would you add to the problem of rehoming them to people who will mostly end up eventually giving them up because they cannot cope with them. The birds are the only one to suffer from this, both psychologically and physically.

That said I do believe there is room for a few breeders in the world otherwise there would be no pet parrots at all BUT please please leave it to the people that already have years and years of experience and know what they are doing and how to raise them. Theres a whole lot more to it than just shoving a pair together and hoping for the best.

Do you know about genetics for example? Look what people have done to dogs for example, in 100 years people have made the wrong choices with breeding them and changed perferctly healthy dogs into breeds which cannot breathe, have bad backs, heart murmers, fits, slippy joints amongst hundreds of other ailments. With some of the breeds they can be saved but in the case of the cavilier king charles spanial they reckon that breed is too damaged to breed healthy traits back into them. Do you really want to contribute to the same happening with parrots? Trust me its already begun with all the colour mutations available, people will breed for colour rather than good health and welfare because they are greedy for money and rare colours fetch more money.

[marie83]

It is best left to people who know what they are doing and have a bigger stake in the industry.

Maybe so but im sure they wasnt born experts they all got to start sumwer. You say there are re homing centers packed with cags? Maybe in the u.s.a but that is not the case in the UK parrots that go to rescues stay at those rescues in large aviarys as an attraction and they are often bred and their chicks hand reared after the first four weaks and then sold on to help pay for expenses.

Have you seen those rescues that keep the birds in aviaries? Most of the birds are so stressed out because all they want is human attention, not a big aviary with loads of other parrots because that is how we have bought them up. Not to mention alot of them are so badly plucked from psychological problems they spend their winters shivering in the corner because these shelters have no heating and barely adequate shelter for the amount of birds they house. Seriously go and visit one of the ones I've mentioned above and see the conditions they are living in. I can't speak for the parrot zoo but I have been to tropical bird land many times (summer and winter). The majority of the birds are seriously not happy there and get fed an inadequate diet of seed, monkey nuts and fruit......

[ginger]

It is really too bad that you aren't taking the great advice that is given to you here. I see by your posts that the underlying reason for your breeding interest is money. That is so sad. Greed is such a monster and the birds will suffer mightily for it. I urge you to find another way to earn money that doesn't take into account lives of birds.