By NYPR

Published 19 September 2017

Hand rearing Parrots, why it should be banned! 

With no current regulations on the breeding of parrots, the Parrot Crisis problem will continue to get worse. Breeders will continue the cruel practice of removing chicks from the parent bird's at around 2 weeks of age, to hand rear them to produce what they like to call "silly tame birds". The tamer the bird is the higher the price they can get from selling the bird.

Some breeders are more interested in higher profits, than the future happiness of their birds.

These birds stop being birds and displaying natural behavior and interacting with other birds. Instead they become imprinted on humans and accept them as their mate.

They only want and crave for their human owners company and interaction, ignoring other birds, or being jealous, and aggressive towards them, because they don't have the necessary social skills they would of learnt from being with their parents. (How to be a bird).

Please also read: Why I stopped breeding Parrots By Debbie Thrift

In extreme cases some birds will only crave human company and and interaction, become demanding, sometimes it can be all the time. Every time you leave the room, they will scream loudly for you to return, this is just one example.

This is one of the main reasons why birds are being rehomed, because it causes many of the behavioural problems found in pet parrots. Often the parrot owner just can't cope with a bird that is constantly demanding their time, attention and interaction.

This can often lead to the bird being mistreated or neglected, leading to a damaged bird that no one wants anymore, and more difficult to rehome.

And then being past around, sold and resold into new home after new home, for the rest of its very long life.

The hand-rearing of Parrots should be banned... What's your opinion?

Hand rearing Parrots has already been band in the Neverland's and Australia.. 

Links: http://blogs.thatpetplace.com

As a bird rescue organisation, we are painfully aware of a huge overpopulation problem we are currently facing with Parrots that can live upto 80 years. So, we encourage would-be breeders to reconsider their decision to breed Parrots, and Parakeets and to become involved in rescue work instead.

If you are getting into breeding to further your involvement with birds and dig deeper into their lives, we would highly recommend that you consider working with a rescue group or start a bird sanctuary for Parrots or wild birds instead. If you would like help with this, please contact us.

In rescue, you can meet and work with many different birds, with different behaviours and life histories, that give them unique and interesting characters.

If you do that, you will be helping to improve the overall welfare of our bird population, instead of contributing to a growing crisis. It can also be much more emotionally rewarding; while chicks can be cute, the moment you gain a lost or abandoned birds trust is truly magical.

Please use this website to find a rescue organisation in your area, that may need volunteer help. www.helpwildlfe.co.uk

It’s also important to consider the sheer cost and time that is involved in breeding Parrots. When you introduce two birds with the intention of rearing their young, it is important to make sure the parents are healthy, and in good condition before breeding them.

Genetic testing to determine their gender costs around £25 per bird, and a fitness to breed check up with an avian vet, which is needed both before and after each clutch, to check for deficiencies and transmissible genetic diseases, can run up bills in excess of the value of the bird very quickly.

Then if anything does go wrong, which it will, such as dreaded egg binding in the female, you can kill your bird. Your birds will need to be in good condition before breeding and will require a high protein diet, by feeding them egg food and have available, at all times, calcium for the hen, in a separate dish, needed for good egg shell production.

If you breed, you may have to be prepared to hand feed the chicks. Parents birds raised in captivity, don't always have the social environment necessary to learn how to rear their chicks properly, as already mentioned above. This can lead to parents behaving in dangerous ways and injuring or mutilating their chicks, or simply ignoring and leaving them to starve.

The owner will need to step in and invest in a humidity and temperature controlled brooder box and hand feed every 15-30 minutes for tiny young, and 2-4 hours for older birds, no less then five times a day.

This can be difficult and very time consuming, with an inherent risk of asphyxiating the chick. We have had birds for more than 10 years and still don't feel comfortable hand feeding; it is best left to the birds and the expert rehabilitators. You must be prepared to keep a close eye on the parents and babies, without disturbing them too much during the raising of the babies.

Finally, you must be able to find all of the babies loving, and responsible homes. This can be the hardest part. Trust us on this one, there are many more birds out there that need loving homes, than there are good homes for them.

It is very difficult to hand over a baby bird who was born in your home, to someone you are not completely comfortable with, and finding someone you are completely comfortable with is even more difficult.

We also ask you to think about all of the little faces on rescue websites. All of those Parrots are already here and have been abandoned, abused or neglected. Every time a new baby bird bred and then sold, that baby is indirectly taking a home away from a bird who has been waiting for months, or even years to go to a permanent home.

As already mentioned in a previous article, there are already too many birds in sanctuaries, and not enough good responsible homes to place them in.

It is not humane or responsible to keep breeding more Parrots, Parakeets, Cockatiels, Budgies and Lovebirds at all at this point in time.

Please foster a homeless Parrot.