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Looking for a Poi breeder in Ontario (meyers/brown headed)

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Looking for a Poi breeder in Ontario (meyers/brown headed)

Postby Akowalczyk » Fri Mar 27, 2020 1:12 pm

Hello all,

My husband and I have recently begun searching for a Poi to add to our family. We've both grown up with birds all our lives (him budgies, and myself a little green cheek conure), but it's been many years since we've owned one now. After countless months spent researching to ensure we pick the right species, we have landed on the Poi family, specifically the Meyers and the Brown Headed Parrot. We will be moving out of our small basement apartment to a large home we've recently purchased, and as such are not looking to bring home anything until June, as we'd like to get settled into our new home before bringing in a new pet.

Does anyone have breeder recommendations for either then Meyers or the Brown Headed parrot? We are located in Ottawa, Ontario, and willing to drive up to 5 hours in any direction, including Quebec. We would prefer not to ship, unless it's a really reputable breeder, in which case we would be open.

We appreciate any recommendations :)

Thank you everyone!
Akowalczyk
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 4
Number of Birds Owned: 0
Types of Birds Owned: We do not yet own a parrot, but will in the coming months
Flight: Yes

Re: Looking for a Poi breeder in Ontario (meyers/brown headed)

Postby Pajarita » Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:10 am

Hi, Ako, welcome to the forum and thank you for doing your research before you acquire the bird!

I would love it if you would consider adoption instead of buying a baby... Several reasons:
1) unless you are a stay-at-home or a work-from-home person, getting a baby is not recommended because, just like any other baby, it cannot be left alone for hours and hours. It is extremely stressful for them (parrots evolved to live all their lives surrounded by their family) and not really healthy as although breeders always tell you the babies are weaned, they never are -and that is a fact and not my opinion- so you need to be home to feed it during the day.
2) unless you have plenty of experience and knowledge, it's risky. Studies show that baby birds that suffer stress (and this is either physical or emotional) when very young grow up and remain high-strung for the rest of their lives.
3) a baby bird is a lottery. You never know how it's going to grow up because you simply do not know the conditions the bird was bred under (all breeders tell you they LOVE birds, an obviously lie as you do not sell something you love to whoever has the money to pay, but, to them, they are merchandise) - what they show you and tell you is never the truth, they are sales people...
But, when you adopt an adult, what you see is what you get in terms of personality. Plus, it survived infancy (most pet parrots die before they are 2 years old) and you are dealing with a bird with a matured immune system.
4) it is simply NOT true that only baby birds bond with their humans. This is the same fallacy we had to deal with for many years in dog and cat adoption - people have come to realize this is not true for them but, for some reason and unfortunately, they continue to believe the lie when it comes to parrots.

I do not know of any breeders so I cannot help you. I only rescue/rehome/adopt. I love animals and the huge overpopulation problem with have with pet parrots is something that worries and saddens me so I always recommend adopting instead of shopping. But I also do it because I do believe from the bottom of my heart that, for somebody with little experience, the chances of success increase when they take in an adult. All my birds came from somebody else and, although not all of them have chosen me as 'their' human (there is one that prefers my husband to me, one that is a parent-raised bird that never imprinted to humans and was not treated right by the breeder, two that 'reverted' to wild ways due to severe abuse and negligence), they all trust me.

But, if you have your heart set on buying a baby and have the experience and time to hand-feed and wean correctly (and this is not as easy as it sounds, either), please do not choose a breeder that ships because those are always the worst ones (they are almost always the ones that breed large scale and never have the time or enough people to handfeed and raise a baby correctly). Choose a medium size... somebody who has just a couple or so pairs, who stays at home and has been doing it for many years. Don't choose the little ones that breed their pets, either, they don't usually have the knowledge, experience or expertise to do a good job with the babies.

One more word of advice, if I may: don't get stuck on one specific species or genus of parrots. They all have different personalities and although the species have characteristics, they are VERY general and, in truth, with them is more a matter of who clicks with whom than the actual species or genus. I have four pois: a male/female Senegal pair and a male/female Redbelly pair (I also had Meyers but never a Brownhead) and can tell you without the shadow of a doubt that all four of them are completely different in temperament and personality.

What I would urge you to do before you make up your mind is to visit a couple of rescues. You don't have to adopt from them but it will give you an idea of what different species look/sound/behave like and... who knows?! You might find an amazon, a GCC, a quaker, a sun conure or whatever that falls in love at first sight with you or your husband and who will end up being the love of your or your husband's life (because, mind you, even if you get a baby bird, it will not 'belong' to you and your husband, it will be one or the other because all parrots are one-person pets once they reach sexual maturity).
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Looking for a Poi breeder in Ontario (meyers/brown headed)

Postby Akowalczyk » Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:44 am

Alright, I've read your message and you should have just not responded as you did not in any way answer any of my questions. Instead, you've provided me with fase blanket statements and fear. For starters, I work from home, so I'm home all the time. We have plenty of time to give to a baby. We are dead set on a baby, though I appreciate your attempt to convince us otherwise. We've given this many months worth of thought and research and have spoken with numerous experienced bird owners, so we are sure of our decision.
Second, I'm not sure where your information on babies coming unweaned comes from, but all 4 of the breeders we are considering refuse to sell unweaned babies and they abundance wean their little ones. They remain with the breeder until approximately 10-14 weeks and sometimes longer depending on the species. Not every breeder out there is bad and will sell you an unweaned chicks. These are all exceptional, well established, experienced breeders who care about the welfare and lives of their birds. I'm sorry but your message seems to just being trying to scare us into adopting. Adoptions don't always work out just so you know. I've worked in rescue for the past decade and a half, and I see how many adopted animals are returned, or sold/given away, or simply just released outside. So not every adoption works out.
Additionally, I disagree with your blanket statement that all breeders are terrible, all breeders lie, and all breeders claim they love their birds but really don't. I'm sorry but you've now just angered the shi* out of me. All you are doing here is trying to spread fear and misinformation. There are plenty of breeders out there who care a great deal about where their animals go, and won't just sell them to anyone who has money as you claimed. We own two purebred australian shepherds from two different breeders, and each one had us fill out lengthy applications, and each one had requested a phone call in which they asked us even more questions. Furthermore, they are extremely involved in our pups lives, even now when our eldest is 3 years and youngest is 1 year. We regularly visit with them, they have facebook pages for their owners to share photos and updates, and they genuinely care a great deal about these animals and make it very difficult for anyone to just pay for any dog. The breeders we have spoken with re: birds have all asked us countless questions and they don't allow just anyone to come in and buy one of their birds. You are filled with nothing but misinformation and I do not appreciate it on my post. I was asking for breeders for a reason, and it is not okay for you to come on here and bully me into changing my choice by presenting me with countless amounts of information that is incorrect. I do not appreciate that one bit. Additionally you are working under the assumption that I have no experience with birds and you are sadly very mistaken. I have many years experience with birds in fact, both my husband and I and grew up with them all our lives. I also grew up in rescue and rehabilitation all my life and trust me when I say there are countless, countless numbers of animals that are returned to shelters AFTER they've been adopted out. And it is my experience that not all shelters/rescues are created equally, some are only interested in your money and act more like pet stores. The same can be said about SOME breeders, not all. You're creating blanket statements across ALL breeders and that is beyond wrong. You have a very one sided opinion, and it's not even an accurate one. You claim it's all fact, but I can prove otherwise. You cannot lump every single breeders into the same pile. There are plenty of garbage backyard breeders, but there are also plenty of crappy rescues and shelters.

Please do not respond again. Your message has caused my anxiety to become heightened, and I do not wish to argue with someone who uses blanket statements to describe an entire grouping of people. You sound like a racist tbh, stating that all breeders are horrible, money hungry monsters who don't give a damn about their animals. You couldn't be more wrong about that, but you continue thinking whatever makes you happy. And then next time someone posts a question stating they've done all their research, they have the experience and time to give, and they're looking for a breeder - unless you can answer the question that was asked, your opinion is not wanted nor needed here. I refuse to give my time to someone that discriminates against an entire grouping of people.
Akowalczyk
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 4
Number of Birds Owned: 0
Types of Birds Owned: We do not yet own a parrot, but will in the coming months
Flight: Yes

Re: Looking for a Poi breeder in Ontario (meyers/brown headed)

Postby Pajarita » Mon Mar 30, 2020 9:30 am

WOW! You need to read things more carefully and without applying your own twist to what is written because I did answer your question and I did not 'bully' you in any way. I did give you my opinion without you asking for it but that is what you will find in bird forums - and trust me when I tell you that you will need to belong to one because keeping a parrot is full of problems that breeders cannot help you to solve because they do not keep pets but breeding stock.

I can assure you that I am not talking without experience, my dear. And I am afraid you have been misinformed. There is no such thing as a 14 week old baby parrot that is completely weaned. Not a single species! Even budgies take longer to completely wean... Canaries come out of their nests when they are only 3 weeks old and they still need to remain with their parents for another two months - and they are not as altricial as parrots, they are territorial, not social, AND they are instinctual feeders (which parrots are not). As to breeders loving or not loving animals... well, you and I are obviously coming from two different ends of the spectrum and do not understand love for animals the same way. I am not criticizing you, I find that most people are confused about the difference between what it means to be an animal lover versus an animal enjoyer (not that being an animal enjoyer makes you a bad person or anything like that, I am the only animal lover in all of my family of animal enjoyers, it's just that it is not the same thing as being an animal lover) - you bought purebred puppies from breeders while all my dogs, cats and birds are rescues, adoptions or rehomes. I did rescue full time for 6 years (VP of dog and cat rescue group as well as manager of the shelter -and no, we hardly ever had a failed adoption, I only remember one as a matter of fact- and ran my own bird rescue) so I am well aware of the overpopulation problem and who contributes to the problem and who helps solve it. In a nutshell: if you love them, you contribute to the solution and not the problem.

I can see that you are not an adopter so I suggest you do more research before you make up your mind - but the right kind: scientific. Asking breeders and owners is not really research because what you get is opinion and not fact - opinion that might not be well-informed and it's either anecdotical and/or biased or self-serving.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Looking for a Poi breeder in Ontario (meyers/brown headed)

Postby tonyadams » Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:43 am

You can try searching for breeders online and reading reviews or testimonials from other bird owners. Look for breeders who have a strong online presence, io games including a website or social media accounts that showcase their birds and breeding practices.
tonyadams
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1
Number of Birds Owned: 0
Types of Birds Owned: parrot
Flight: Yes


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