Many years ago I worked for an older Greek Gentleman.  He was a carny, an old style carnival businessman.  For those of you who where born after 1970 this generally means he was a crook, a liar, a con man and just a bit of a rouge.  This fellow hired me to do yard work on his home, back then the pay, $1.75 an hour was great.  But the real value received from my employer was worth many times that paltry amount.  This old fellow was rather fond of his wine and after a few (or more) glasses he would call me over to “teach me”.   He would share stories from the days of old when he was still able to work the tour and since he was still paying me I listened. 

“Black goats are mean”, he told me one day.  OK, not real sure where he was going with this I figured I better listen up really close. He went on to tell me about this fellow he knew once a long time ago who raised goats, seems this fellow told him that in all of his years of raising goats he had determined that all black goats were mean.  My boss shared this bit of information with me so I could be wise like he was and stay away from black goats.  Being the smart lad that I was I had to ask him “the question”, “have you ever owned a black goat”, I asked.  Of course not, for as he told the tale “All Black Goats Are Mean.”

As I grew up and started traveling a bit in my life I found a lot more Black Goats in my life, stories of absolute fact shared by wise “older” persons.
“White Horses all have cancer.”  “Cats slept with will steal your breath.”
And on and on and on some more.  Black Goats are mean don’t you know.

I started raising Pacific parrotlets by accident.  On January 6th some years back a “friend” of mine asked me if I could take care of her birds for a while due to her illness.  (she never came back)  Being the person I am I took on sixty budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds and one lonely little Pacific Parrotlet hen, named Cricket of course.  This bird tolerated me, loved my wife and stole my heart.  Cricket would ride upon my wife’s hair bun all over the farm, out in the garden or in the sewing room, it did not matter.  As I did all the grooming, feeding and cleaning (they are your birds after all), Cricket came to accept me a bit more.

At a bird Expo I found my first pair, yes I wanted to be a “BREEDER”, I was not aware that that word was considered nasty in some circles.  I was unaware that all breeders were greedy money hungry monsters.  I did not learn these facts until I found the Internet and more Black Goats.

Squirt was our male, rowdy and a strong defender of turf, Little One our hen was as sweet as candy, she would snuggle my ear and chirp all night long if I would allow her to.  They gave us two clutches a year for several years before we lost Squirt.  Many of the Parrotlet folks up here in the Pacific Northwest have their chicks.  Little One is still with us, she has a new mate, but she still enjoys Dad tickles and bounds to the door of her flight to chatter and visit. (Squirt is gone now, but well remembered)

See, we did not know that Pacific hens are not good pets.  We did not know that they are territorial, we were unaware that the males were the best pets, we only knew that we like each other.

To often we as breeders or as pet owners get wrapped up in the “Black Goats are Mean” mentality.  We forget that each bird, each animal is an individual, each baby we raise, sell, buy or love is just that, a baby to be molded and loved just as they are.  We have a “few” more pairs of Parrotlets these days.
We have baby birds, not Black Goats.

Bob Wheeler
onemorebird.com
Bob’s Bird Barn
(By the way, we did indeed have a black goat, she was nice.)

Do parrotlets talk? It’s a bone of contention,
Discussed both on line and at every convention.
Some owners say “Yes!” and some owners say “No!”
And most of us just don’t know which way to go.

I’ve heard mine go peep and make a real funny sound
Like a card in a bike wheel that goes round and round.
A clickety sound that speeds so quickly by,
But I haven’t heard words and I can’t tell you why.

My friend has a green rump that says, “Hey there, boys”
But to me it just sounds like high frequency noise.
The rhythm is right, but that’s not the solution.
What the bird really needs is some more elocution.

I’ve heard that some parrotlets know one hundred words.
I’m sorry, but that seems just a little absurd.
Because one hundred words, ten times ten words in all
Just simply won’t fit in a parrot so small.

There’d be word overflow, overload on the brain
That would lead to the dreaded vocabulary strain,
A serious condition, quite dangerous, too.
Vowel pressure increases, A E I O and U.

Until, without warning, the unwanted occurs
And the parrotlet speaks with quite terrible slurs.
In an accent that’s Southern, and that’s simply the starter,
In its terminal phase, it sounds like Jimmy Carter.

So keep the debate going, don’t let it subside,
But at the same time let’s keep the margins quite wide.
What’s important is not if our parrotlets speak,
But the kisses we get from that cute little beak.

“The problem is there are not enough rescues, sanctuaries.”

You know I just do not see that as true. Not with Amazons. There was a rehoming survey done a bit back that caused a lot of ruckus, the one that never got all the data out. The young lady collating that data was at a Gabriel Foundation Seminar here in Portland Oregon, we had a chance to chat and off the record I was able to get a few bits of information, the numbers were not as big as were expected and the big “rehome” populations were the smaller Teils and Budgies and Lovebirds. (this is just hearsay because the actual data collected will never see the light of day, does not fit the original agenda). Amazons were in the lower numbers reported as rehomed.

A lot of talk out in cyber space about “unwanted birds”. Are birds sitting in rescues unable to find “proper” homes, “for ever homes”, homes that meet the rescue’s personal standards? Yes I think there might be, but why is that? I can think of several reasons, one unrealistic expectations-“you must donate six months of free labor to my rescue before I will consider you to adopt”. (yes, there are those). How about this one- “I will never place a bird in a potential breeding situation” (even if the bird desires to breed).

One Eye Jack, lost an eye when he was being smuggled across the boarder, the USFW service sold him at auction.

A few years back the Oregon Humane Society took on a large lot of birds in an emergency situation, I will not get into the down and dirty details of that situation but I was involved enough to know more than most folks. Anyway, the call went out for assistance, one rescue/sanctuary jumped in and helped out, a lot of breeders locally got feed, supplies, cages and cash together to help care for these birds. When the time came to place these formerly breeder birds it was clearly stated that, “no one who is considered a breeder will be considered for placement of these birds.” I did not stick around to ask why the Society could accept breeder aid but could not place birds with a breeder.

I do not rescue birds, I do not “take in unwanteds”. The birds I take on are very wanted, by me. Rehoming happens for a lot of reasons, most are not negative when done the right way. This fantasy folks have about “forever homes” is very upsetting. Even humans do not have “forever homes.” We may be raised in a home with loving parents, go off to daycare and school, move on to other accommodations-roommates, college, military service. We go find a mate-if we are real lucky we find “the mate” if not it may take three or four attempts to find the right mate to bond with. We start growing and maybe we buy a starter home, sell it buy a bigger home-new neighbor hood, new folks to interact with. Then we age and heck I really do not want to go there. Our birds do much the same, some times, they are a lot more flexible than we give them credit for. Problem is when folks, in the name of rescues become “hoarders” and refuse to make appropriate placements into new homes. “No one can care for them as well as…….” The rescue fills up and gee “we have a crisis”. There are those to who have created a method of making a damn good living begging for donations “to save the birds”, while traveling the world and vacationing in exotic locations.

Doodles was purchased with Tasha they were living in the back bedroom of a trailer in the dark.

When I take on a bird or birds in a rehoming situation I advise the folks VERY clearly that if and when I feel the birds will be better off in an alternative placement they will be given away, traded or sold as I see fit. Many have gone to better situations over the years and many keep in contact with me, some went into breeding homes, some into companion situations others are aviary birds for their pleasure and that of the new home they were rehomed into.

Yes I breed birds, yes I sell birds, and the birds that breed frankly support the other folks out here on the farm. But bottom line I am still and most likely always will be a breeder, I like raising parrots, the people I SELL the birds to like having parrots and God willing we will all continue to enjoy the companions we call Amazons.

Bob Wheeler

When asked to tell “Raggityman’s” story I was not sure I could do him justice. See we do not know his back history. We do not know if his demeanor was created or if he was simply an “old bronco”.

What we do know I can tell:

Raggityman when he first got here.

Raggityman came to me named the “Junkyard Dog”.
A double yellow head Amazon he had plucked his chest and legs naked (they will never grow back). A big bull of a bird he has the look of a killer, meaner than snot for sure. He was saved from death by my vet who thought maybe he would be a good mate for a little lady she had in her flock. Did not work for her so she asked me one day if I might want this tough old male. I thought about it for, oh maybe ten seconds, and said hell yes. Thus the journey begins.

Raggityman hates everyone and every thing. He has no interest in humans and damn little interest in his own species. We watched him for a while and attempted to find him a mate. Pretty little Keiko was introduced and we thought just maybe….. Watching him close we noticed that he was not allowing her into the nest box, not allowing her to eat unless we were standing right there. Keiko was not looking good so out on her own she went. (She has a big bull of a buddy these days who calls to her, in a little girl voice, “hi big girl” might be the one hey?)

Keiko when she first got here.

Anyway once again Raggityman was alone. I feed most of my Amazons almonds on the shell by hand. Most of my birds take the nut with class and head back to enjoy the treat, not Raggityman, he will take the nut but he eyeballs them fingers with the overt desire to get a little fresh meat. Just plain mean. Over the years we have come to an understanding, I like him, he is what he is and will continue to be who he is. He has a large flight cage (smaller than I would like but it will get bigger), he is fed well and he still hates everyone and everything.

I find some folks who do not understand the relationship, heck even my Vet offered to put him down.

She said and rightfully, “he has no redeeming factors”. He has no value to the avian world as we know it. He is never going to be a pet, he will not be allowed to breed. In a perfect world he would be fully feathered and kicking Amazon butt in the Amazon jungle but this is not a perfect world.

In the avian community we seem to have a lot of “broncos” some are avian and some are human. If we put down the human “broncos” we would have a boring life. Even the mean old men of the world have value; just stop long enough to see it.

Raggityman is my friend, he will have a home until the day comes that he or I take the final journey.

Bob Wheeler

As a breeder and vendor I usually operate with a different mind set.  I see things from the other side of the table.  But everseeking a challenge I will endeavor to share some ideas and maybe even entertain a bit.  On nearly any given weekend in most areas there will be a bird sale, expo or fair.  Many are reported in the Bird Talk magazine some the local newspaper and they can be found on the Internet by asking in any bird related newsgroup or e-mail list.

For many the fair is a chance to catch up with old friends, seek new toys or supplies, or just to hang out with folks who really understand why you could care less about the bird poop on your left shoulder.  But for the hard core addict, the person who has suffered from MBD (multiple bird disorder) for an extended period of time we seek to buy, adopt, acquire or obtain birds.  So on with the lesson:

Before the bird fair the potential buyer should really do a bit of exploration.  There are some really important issues to look at.  What kind of bird do I want?  Do I have space, time, energy for an or another bird?  Flight cage or pretty cage?  Other people’s opinion (like husband, wife or kids)?  Do I want a companion or an aviary type bird?
Do I have rental agreements, covents, neighbors who sleep during the day?  Are there other animals in the house (dogs or cats or snakes or rats)?  A lot of preparation needs to go into the decision to add a bird to the family.

There are a couple of ways to buy birds at the local bird fair.  The cash or the trade method.  Both are most acceptable but both require a proper level of etiquette.   If you have done your homework, know what you might want, have a clear understanding of what all is involved in sharing the next 10-80 years of your life with a bird you might be ready to head out to the bird fair.  Notice I did not say you were ready to buy a bird yet!

When you finally get to the bird fair there are a few different ways to start your process.  Many folks do the “one quick” pass of the building, looking at everything and not really interacting with any individual vendor.  These folks may just be the most careful buyers.  They make mental note of which vendor has what and remembering where the good stuff is they begin to implement a game plan.  A cup of coffee or soft drink at the snack bar is always wisely followed by a trip to the bathroom.  Double checking the wallet, cash here, check book there, credit card (the one with the best balance remaining).  Now the buyer is ready to do the stroll.  Casually working their way around the room again stopping to actually look at specific areas of interest slowing approaching “THE VENDOR” with the bird you may want to add to your flock.  A couple of notes of interest before you get to the booth.  Number one, most vendors prefer cash, (no they are not tax evaders) checks bounce and credit cards cost both the buyer and seller.  Number two, the vendor is there to accomplish two things-find a good home for their birds and sell their birds, simple.

Look over the booth area, is it clean, do the birds have comfortable cages (understand sale cages will be much smaller than normal)?  Do the vendors take the birds out and handle them?  Are there toys in the cages?  Clean food and water?  (many vendors will forgo the normal veggies and fruit during fairs due to environment)  Do the vendors stop and chat with folks?  Are they clean?  (shocks me to see vendors in dirty tatty attire)  (bird poop is acceptable if spot cleaned)  Are the birds clean, cages clean?  In general does the booth look like somewhere you would like to sit or hang out in for eight to ten hours?   If not I recommend you look else where, really.
I had to joke with a lady some years back.  She was oh so wise, she said that she could tell how a bird breeder raised his or her birds based upon how they set up their fair booth.  Told her she was less than sane as anyone can clean it up and look nice for a day or two.  She replied that if they can do so for the fairs more than likely they can and do so at home.  Made sense to me.

Ok, the booth and the humans look good, lets look at the birds.  Are the birds clean, bright eyed, eager for social interaction?  The crowd and unfamiliar surroundings stress some birds.

Are the birds being handled?  Do the vendors require each handler to use a sanitizer?  Look the birds over; look at their feet.   Are they clean, see any red spots on the bottoms, flaky toes, funny looking nails?  This can indicate an older bird.  Are the wings trimmed (any vendor worth dealing with will not bring flighted birds into an unfamiliar situation)?
Feathering clean properly preened?  Are there stress bars, (black markings on the normal colored wing or tail feathering can indicate a lot of things number one is stress and poor nutrition)?  Look at the poops, yes giggle giggle, but you can tell a lot from the poop.  You might want to avoid a bird that is too runny and has a messy vent. (Nectar eaters are different)

If you are seeking a companion bird understand a couple of things, you must hold and handle this bird.  If the bird is friendly, cozies up to you maybe you have a good match.  But even if the bird is shying away and flutters this does not mean the bird is not a good match, remember this situation is stress full for the birds.  Wait until the vendor is not buried in people and ask to handle the bird you have picked out.  Expect to have the vendor require a hand washing with a sanitizer.   Do not be offended rather run if the vendor does not require sanitation.  To many birds and people walking that room for folks to “NOT” be carrying germs.  Listen to the vendor, he or she will most likely be willing to teach you how to handle this bird the way this bird is most comfortable.  Some young smaller birds feel best if cupped others you must maintain an Egyptian grip with (index finger out, thumb and other finger tucked, arm upright with your elbow tucked) I teach most of my Amazon babies to expect a thumb on their foot when picked up, but this is not acceptable with many Parrotlets.  So ask then listen.
If you have a good vendor you are going to be asked a lot of questions.  We do this casually by just chatting up the folks looking at our birds.  Do not be offended or less than candid as we are attempting to find out if maybe this bird will be good for you and your lifestyle.  You should be asked questions like: Do you have children?  Do you have other pets?  What kind of pets do you have?  Does your spouse want a bird?  Do you live in a house, apartment, out in the country or in town?  Are you aware that birds make messes?  Make noise?  (some birds make less than others and for example an apartment dweller might be happier with a Parrotlet rather than say an Amazon) 

The vendor should either tell you or give you written feeding rules. (no milk, avocados, onions, mushrooms, raw potatoes etc……)  A vendor might just tell you that you need to rethink buying a bird based upon his or her opinion of your lifestyle.

Let’s talk buying.  Most vendors will have a price posted on the table.  Some will say X number of dollars-OBO.  OBO means “or best offer”.  Do not be afraid to make an offer.  If your offer is to low the vendor will most often counter your offer with another price.  If the vendor does act offended, buy elsewhere.  We all know we need to negotiate.  Some vendors will mark the price as “firm”, sometimes firm means “firm” sometimes it means firm unless you offer a realistic price.  Make the offer it can not hurt. 

Trading is a different kettle of fish.  Most vendors will have a “this is what I am looking for” list posted if they are looking to trade.  Offering a bird is acceptable but understand that is not the primary reason they are at this fair.  Also understand that the sweet baby you bought four years ago who has developed some really nasty habits and or wants a mate so bad he or she has chewed the house down around your shoulders might not be of the same value as what you paid four years ago.  You also have to be aware that most vendors are breeders and if they are seeking trades they are seeking very specific birds for their breeding program.  Make the offer though can not hurt, just do not be upset if you get a lot of “no thank yous”.

If you have worked out a price you have a couple of options.  Pay the vendor and most will hold the bird for you while you play some more.  But understand that most vendors will not just “hold” a bird on the outside chance you might come back and buy the wonderful baby you are not sure of.  If you ask many vendors will hold the bird for a set amount of time if you make a small, non-refundable deposit.  (I can not tell you how many times early in my years at fairs I placed a bird behind the table for an individual who “will be back in a little while”.   Only to miss out on possible sales and we never saw the first individual again.

So you have bought the bird, How are you going to get it home?  Well if you did your planning you brought a carry cage with you?  No, you forgot?  Most fairs have vendors selling carriers but better to plan ahead and bring your own.  The vendor selling you the bird will most often provide some food for the trip and a piece of apple or other fruit for moisture.  Take your bird home and give it a bit of time to settle into the new home.  (Me I generally allow a day to calm and then start working with/playing with my new bird, other folks may recommend more time).

I am not going to spend much time on buying breeder birds as most breeders know (or think they know) what to expect.  I will say a couple things.  Proven breeders are not often found at bird fairs. Yes I know what that vendor’s sign says but think about this for a minute.  If the pair are proven and raise nice healthy babies, why are they for sale?
On occasion we will see a lone breeder bird for sale.  Mate died or they could not get along with the mate chosen for them.  These might be good potential breeders but they also may have killed their mate so it is a risk.  I buy these birds on occasion knowing full well they may never be what I had hoped for. 
(did laugh a few years back, had an experienced breeder selling two bonded pairs of Pacific Parrotlets, she had four hens together and could not figure out why they would not breed, bought them at a reasonable price and actually got one good breeding hen out of the four)  Expect little in the way of quality breeding stock at the bird fairs, but expect that you can make connections to buy quality stock (at a good price) later from the breeder you spent a bit of time getting to know.

Now for a reality check and a prayer.  If you have done your home work, if you know what you want, if you have the most ideal situation for the great baby you want to buy at the next bird fair in your town. Sometimes you will find nothing that fits what you have prepared for, bummer, but please think three times before you buy another bird or a different bird just so you have something to take home that day.  Remember, on any given weekend, in any given town, there will be another fair, promise.

Back in the late 1980s, parrots were being imported into the US in large numbers, the trend towards domestically raised birds was just starting and importers in Miami (and elsewhere) were starting to experiment with less common species of parrots to “test” their market value.  During that time, in addition my duties as a dolphin trainer at a South Florida aquarium, I was taming large parrots and macaws for a few of the import stations. Mostly, I worked with African Greys, Macaws, and assorted Amazons, but was eager to try to tame “whichever” species came through the quarantine stations. I had my hands on the more common species daily – but also tried hawkheads, caiques, senegals, jardines, a ton of different conures and many of the species I handled were not very well known in the US at that time.

As I went into the compound to checkout a bunch of greys that were about to be released from quarantine, I decided to take a look at the birds that had just arrived from South America the previous night…..among the new arrivals were about 1500 pacific parrotlets, the first parrotlets that I had ever seen. Both sexes, all ages, and it seemed every one of them was in motion and making all sorts of noise. It was decided that they would be broken into groups of about 350- 400 and put into several large flights. Jumping right into this, I stuck my hand into the shipping crate, and gently grabbed one of those little busy, green birds just like I would a finch……BAD IDEA….I quickly found out about how tough a 4 inch bird can be!  It didn’t take two birds to get clued in….donning gloves; we sorted the parrotlets out in an hour or so, and left the station. (In those days you entered the station only with an USDA officer, and showered and left when he did)

Returning the next morning, we had quite a shock. The Parrotlet flights looked like a war zone….blood all over the place, tiny feathers flying about, several bloody and battered birds, and worse yet, several dead birds in each flight. It seemed that if there were a hundred birds on one of the long perches, every damned one of them would be fighting with the bird next to him. “Riot” is the only word to describe the scene. We were able to restore order by covering each flight with a tarp, and greatly dimming the lights. This was hardly fair for the other 4 thousand birds  (of assorted species) in the station, so we knew that this was a temporary solution at best.

Our next course of action was to go out and fill several trashcans with loads of small branches and twigs that we raked up in nearby woods. Placing a generous pile of twigs in each flight, we were happy to get the whole flock of battling parrotlets happily chewing up branches rather than each other. Finishing up, we checked out of the station, leaving behind a bunch of cheerful, chewing parrotlets. 

Returning the third day, we were confronted by a pile of sawdust under each flight….and a bleeding, battling mob of parrotlets ripping each other apart. Again the tarps went on the cages, and a double-sized mound of twigs went into each flight. We also planned to come in earlier in the morning, before the house lights came on (they were on a timer).

We arrived the next morning to find a more peaceful scene, and the little green devils just woke up and began chewing up the twigs….for about an hour. As soon as they finished off the twigs, they all started fighting again! It is amazing how vicious these “cute little parrots” were, and I have never seen any type of parrot fight with such complete abandon. Of course this was totally unacceptable, and we prided ourselves on how few birds we lost at this station (usually less than 5% per shipment), and at the rate the Pacific parrotlets were killing each other, we would lose at least 60% before thirty days was up.

We got on the phones, and talked to anyone and everyone who might have an idea how to handle this situation…`in few hours we had a plan of action. Our solution was to put on the gloves, and sort through all of the parrotlets, and separate them by sex. All the males in three flights, and all the hens in three other flights. There were probably lots of mistakes regarding gender, as young males can look like females…..and all parrotlets start looking alike when you hand-sort 13 or 14 hundred of them !  Violence in general declined, but we noticed if we disturbed the males, the hens would react by attacking each other. It seemed like these little parrots were just not going to be peaceful for more than a few hours at a time.

In desperation, we moved the males to one end of the station, and all the hens to the other end. There was brief fighting in the hen’s flights, but it ended after a few minutes. The males seemed to mellow out immediately. From that point on, we maintained a visual segregation of the genders, and all of the fighting and bloodshed ceased for the duration of the quarantine, and we did not lose another Parrotlet in that group.

Over the next couple of years we got several large shipments of Pacific parrotlets, and each time we immediately sorted and segregated them by gender….and never again had a problem of non-stop fighting like we did in that first group. We got pretty good at handling and sexing large groups of these tiny birds, and eventually began breeding them. We also started hand-taming wild-caught adult parrotlets as well, but that’s a story for another time….
Doug 

9-11 — Never forget  Never forgive  Never again

Doug Cook is a fellow I met on the rec.pets.pirds news group.  His experiences from the “good” old days remind us of maybe where we came from with these little demons.  Having worked with thousands of different birds, Doug tends to have little time for the silliness of humans.  He and his wife had a world class bird show they shared with folks lucky enough to live in the Chicago area.  Doug has passed away but he will always be with us in spirit. 

                         Bob Wheeler

I was in my office the other day when a client stopped by to make a payment on his account, he had his five-year-old daughter with him.  When she saw my brooder she rushed in asking me where the hamster was.  I told her that there was no hamster but that I had a baby bird and asked if she would like to see it.  See I am blessed with a warm, caring, understanding boss who allows me to bring my chicks in to the office when I am hand feeding, which really means I am self employed.  Any way this adorable five year old was amazed to see such a little baby, she tentatively placed one finger on the head of this little one, looked up at me with her big brown eyes and asked, “Where is the mommy”?  I answered, “I am the mommy.”  She stopped looked at the father, looked back at me and as clear as a bell said, “you’re not the mommy”.

I work as a therapist.  Most of my clients are tough old guys who have been around the block a time or two.  Many have enjoyed the accommodations of the county or state at one time or another.  I also breed and handfeed birds.  For the past few years I have been bringing the babies in to the office and sharing the “changes” that can take place in a few short weeks.  I started handfeeding babies when out of the clear blue a pair of Peachfaced Love birds hatched out a clutch of three fuzzy chicks.  (I still wonder sometimes where the heck they came from)  Folks have the tendency to look at me with skeptical eyes when at the bird shows and club meetings I tell them that I and not my more maternal looking spouse handfeed all our chicks.

Men can do this I explain we are able to be “mommy” to these squirmy little bundles.  Some of the old gang invited me to join the annual sports gathering, the guys were poking fun as I told them I would have to bring my babies with me due to three hour feedings.  As feeding time came around all concerns with the game ceased everyone wanted to watch “mommy” feed the birds.

From that first clutch of LoveBirds I have moved up and down the spectrum, handfeeding Pacific Parrotlets, Burke Parakeets, Budgies, Ringnecks, Senegals, Redbellies, and my personal favorites Blue Front Amazons.

Currently we breed, Pacific Parrotlets-normals, visual Blues, American Yellows, Blue Front Amazons, Mealie Amazons,  Green Cheek Amazons, Orange Wing Amazons, Red Lored Amazons, Double Yellow Heads and Doves not all are producing but I “do” hand feed all the babies, because I am indeed the “MOMMY”.

Bob Wheeler
bob@onemorebird.com
http://www.onemorebird.com/

A case for diversity in the brooder.

Walking through the nursery I see some odd sights.  In the brooder are Senegals, Blue Front Amazons and a lone Lutino Ringneck.  The other brooder has Mexican Parrotlets from one clutch, Green Rump chicks from another and Pacific’s from a third clutch.  These are not unusual sights, not in my nursery.  Having many different birds in the barn I find that mixing works.  The smaller are kept with smaller and the medium and larger seem to do well together.  These chicks do not contract disease from each other, they do not harm each other, they do not even appear to notice the differences rather they cuddle down and get on with the job of growing up.

Conventional wisdom has never been my primary source for direction, rather common sense and experience.  Many folks advise separation of clutches based upon their personal experience, or possibly based up the advise of their mentors who gained the information from their mentors and so on. 

I raised hogs in my youth.  I had eight brood sows and a couple of traveling boar hogs.  Boss Hog was my pride and joy.  Obtaining this fellow as a weaner I dog trained him.  I taught him to come on command, to walk with me to the mailbox.  When we were ready to visit a neighboring sow I would drop the tailgate on my Datsun pick-up truck and call, “Boss Hog let’s go get um….”  Boss would jump up into the truck ready to go.  The old guys said it could not, should not be done. 

The sows traditionally were kept in two foot by six foot furrowing crates.  The old timers warned that to fail to use these crates was to risk cannibalism and loss of shoats.  My sows were moved into six foot by eight-foot pens just before furrowing.  I would fill the pen with clean straw and often time sleep with the lady if I expected a night job.  The old guys were a bit shocked; I got great litters and had fewer difficulties with my furrowing.

I got old and moved away from the large mammals, as I started working with my birds I became aware of a lot of myths and should do’s.  I still do not like the should do’s.  Why not use common sense and see what works?  If “they” all do it that way does it mean that it is always right?  Just because “it” has been done this way forever does not mean it is the only way to do it.

As a side note, I find chicks that were raised together seem to tolerate other types of birds just a bit more, anecdotal and only one observation but how many bird homes have only one?  Sure would be nice if they could get along, just a bit better!
 

Hi all, been raising parrots of differing types for a couple of years now.  And I am no expert by any means, I am however an excellent thief.  I steal ideas, I pilfer information, and I learn where ever I can.

Some time back I discovered that many of the books related to the care of parrots had been written in what should be called the dark ages.  There just is not all that much new information.  I had a family buy a different kind of parrot come to me while I was handfeeding their baby, they asked, “the book says we should feed grit, should we?”  “the book said we should clip only one wing so they would be lopsided and not fly, should we?”  “the book said the color on our bird’s head will be less bright as she gets older, is that true”, (this was a Blue Front Amazon, color get brighter and sharper as they get older).  I advised my family to throw out “the book”.

I have learned over the years that there are many different “experts” out there telling folks how it should be.  There are no experts; there are just thieves, some good some bad.

I am a good thief; I talk to a lot of different people every chance I get.  I learn from young and old.  I examine every bit of data I can find and then I examine it again.  Once in a while I disagree with conventional wisdom, now and then I buck the system, I am even wrong on occasion but I still ask, listen and learn.

When I first started raising Pacific Parrotlets the folks who I were able to find with “experience” gave me some advise.  Some said, “breeders do not need toys in their cages, it distracts them from their breeding”, folks advised, “Pacific’s need as small a cage as you can get, territorial issues you know”, some even advised that, “this breed or that breed will never breed unless you do this or that”. 

I learned something for me, my Parrotlet breeders love their toys and still breed, my Parrotlet breeders are in spacious flights and still breed, my Parrotlet breeders even on occasion stay sweet and cuddly and come out to play.

I learned from each person who gave me information, some good, a lot bad.  I still learn, I still ask the questions, I listen and often times I even learn a thing or two.

On the web: check out the Yahoo List-parrotletsandfun a good group of people to steal from, really!

I want to stray away from our little Forpus critters a bit this edition and talk a bit about human nature.  This past month I have been re-exposed to the price of violation of the “sacred cow”.  I made a rather large mistake, see I voiced an opinion contrary to the powers that be (in another forum) and “gored” the sacred cow.  Our local bird club was planning a raffle.  They had raffled off live birds twice a year most years for a long time.  Me I said nothing, my sacred cow had not been gored, yet.  This time out the plan was to raffle off a Mollucan Cockatoo. (Yes I know they are not Forpi)  As the slave of a nineteen-year-old “thrown away” Mollucan I found my cow gored and I spoke up.  I was banned from my local club’s twice annual Expo and Sale for life.  See what I did not know is that by speaking up, I managed to gore the Expo manager’s sacred cow, she supports the raffling of live birds.  So here we end up with two gored cows, a lot of angry people and hurt feelings on all sides.

I think we all have sacred cows, issues that we will stand for no matter what the price.  And I think this is a good thing.  Folks who wanted to do away with a lot of individual control of personal “sacred cows” founded the Parrotlet Alliance, Inc, it was founded by people who wanted to care about birds and the people who serve them.  People who wanted to have fun and hang with other like-minded people founded it.

Today I see a group of people working towards a common goal, maybe setting aside their personal “sacred cows” every now and then, maybe working together to give the Parrotlet Alliance a few less dead cows and a few more giggles.  Do me a favor if you can, in the next couple of months, look at your own sacred cows and see if maybe some of them need dusting off or maybe they need to be put away into a dark closet some place.  An open mind is a terrible thing to waste.

A side note-eventually I gored the Parrotlet Alliance board’s sacred cow by submitting a slate of officers for that years election and they declined to allow me to renew my family membership-I was member number four.