Eclectus Babies Available

We now have some of Debra's special baby Vosmaeri Eclectus. They come in Cherry/Blueberry and Apple flavors.
- posted by J-Birds @ 2:50 PM |

 
It's Festival Time In New Orleans



I think we all crossed a mental barrier in New Orleans last winter. The storm damage to trees and homes is starting to fade although the immediate city is still in very bad shape. The rest of us are allowing ourselves the luxury of resuming a normal life.

This month features the French Quarter Festival this weekend with Jazzfest coming in a couple of weeks. Here's one of my favorite local artists, Jon Cleary, to get you in the mood. Jon is Bonnie Raitt's band leader and piano player when he's not entertaining us in New Orleans. Enjoy the spring.
- posted by J-Birds @ 12:55 PM |

 
Save A Baby Parrot For Easter

Email: Hello and Thank you for your feeding tutorial. I was contemplating in getting some fertile eggs and hatching my own macaws, but FOUR feedings a day... I believe that would be impractical, having to work an 8 hour day away from their care. It sounds as if they would not last during my absence. Am I correct in assuming this?

I would like to ask what macaws you have available that are in the 2 feedings a day stage? To include the price you require for the available birds.

Response: We have been praised and criticized for publishing a hand feeding tutorial. Some people like it because it may help a baby that has been purchased by a novice bird owner thinking that there is nothing to feeding a young baby parrot. Once they have made this mistake we try to give them enough information to help the baby survive until it is weaned. This usually ends with an underweight bird but at least it survives.

Critics say the article might encourage potential bird owners such as yourself to try to handfeed a baby with little or no other training. We do not encourage this.

You mentioned buying fertile eggs. We would never do this. It would require at least $1,500 - 2000 of incubators and brooders to insure a reasonable rate of success. Once the chicks hatch they must be fed every two hours, around the clock, for the first week and then 5-6 feedings a day for the next two weeks. Temperature and humidity control for babies are critical at this stage. We have, out of necessity, fed babies from the time they hatch. Our survival rate is only 70% (and we're pretty good at this stuff).

I suggest you focus more on being a good parrot owner and less on taking chances with a young parrots life. We have occassionally let parrots go home with their new owners on one feeding a day. At that point the risks of hand feeding are greatly reduced and most owners enjoy the experience if they are properly trained.

If you want to discuss the pros and cons of handfeeding and anything else about raising or owning parrots please feel free to call us at 985/892-3527.

Happy Easter
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:58 AM |

 
And The Winner Was...



Kiwi! Gabriel gave it the old college try for three takes but he was so interested in preening the pirates and trying to stick his head in the pirate's collar that we had to call in a more seasoned veteran. Kiwi stuck it on the first try and was called back for an encore.

This commercial was for the new Louisiana Lottery game called Emerald Green. It will air on all Louisiana TV stations starting February 19. We'll try to get an MPEG copy of the commercial and put it on the site.
- posted by J-Birds @ 2:12 PM |

 
Hollywood South



Got a call yesterday from a producer for a new Louisiana Lottery commercial. They are filming near our home and need a parrot for a pirate in the commercial. So...Friday we are packing up Kiwi, Gabriel and one of our Vosmaeri babies to go and be stars. They even get paid for the effort. Debra and I are now official "wranglers" in TV commercial parlance. We'll let you know how it turns out.
- posted by J-Birds @ 9:23 PM |

 
Vacation Report


What a great time in the western Caribbean on the Norwegian Sun. We've always considered ourselves "back pack" vacationers. In fact, we've been on every dirt road in three states in the Yucatan peninsula and been to Belize several times.

I guess that fatigue (or age) made a cruise the ideal getaway. And so we did, to Guatemala, Belize and and Mexico. It was great to revisit places we had been on foot. If any of you have any questions regarding NCL please contact us.

Next time we vacation down south we plan to spend a week inland in Belize. It's a great country with very nice people.
- posted by J-Birds @ 10:30 AM |

 
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

What a wonderful year we've had. Our property has gone from disastrous to ugly to almost looks good if you don't leave the driveway. Our bird family has grown by three including Sugar, Gabriel and Porquita. We got to meet 30 wonderful sets of new bird owners from all around the country. We are also taking our first vacation in three years.

Wishing you well this Thanksgiving.

Craig & Debra
- posted by J-Birds @ 9:37 AM |