How Did You Get Into Parrots?

We keep getting asked, "How did you get into parrots?". It's a long story. We have always had many pets including dogs, cats, fish. Twenty years ago we had a wonderful Quaker parrot that accidently flew away and helped to form the wild breeding stock of Quakers in Houston.

Then came kids...a full time job to say the least. As the kids got older we had an urge to get another parrot. We did nine months of research and decided that an Eclectus would be perfect for us.

Fortunately, we found a breeder within a mile of our home. Unfortunately, the three week old baby she had was sold. She did tell us about a bird show the next weekend. At the show we ran into the same breeder and she told us that the sale of the baby fell through and that we could have it (him) if we wished. She told us that she would teach us to handfeed and be there if we had any problems.

We accepted her offer and successfully fed out Kiwi, who is still the ruler of our roost. Our friend had a few occassions when she needed to be away from home for a weekend and she would call us to ask if we would mind feeding her babies. We always accepted. She would sometimes bring as many as 8-10 babies in a large tupperware container.

After six months of part-time feeding, Debra suggested that, since we enjoyed it, we purchase a baby "out of the nest" and handfeed it for sale as a hobby. We went to a different breeder and came home with some babies.

The rest is history. That year we handfed a few babies. Each one got good attention and made a buyer very happy. What a great hobby.

We have since scaled back our handfeeding to give us a free time during the winter and to be able to devote more attention to the few birds we have. Every winter, when we get our first baby of the new year, a smile comes to our faces...here we go again....Craig


- posted by J-Birds @ 8:57 PM |