My journey with my PARENT-raised B&G macaw

Hi everyone

I want to use this thread to show all prospective new bird owners what it is like owning a PARENT-raised bird, first-hand! As a first-time macaw owner myself I hope this is particularly helpful for other inexperienced, first-time parrot owners.

About me: I have no personal experience of large birds to date (though not afraid of new challenges!) and currently own two cats, not unlike many new bird owners.

About my situation: After months of research, I realised the benefits of parent-raising birds vs hand-raising. I wanted a young parent-raised macaw to handle, and a local breeder said he had one reserved as a breeder. I soon fell in love with it and brought him home (on 08/08/12)!!

About my bird: Skye (who turned 1 yrs old yesterday) is a fully parent-raised B&G macaw. He was left with his parents in the aviary until 11 months old! His wings have never been clipped and he has never spent time in a domestic cage before. The breeder did handle him as a baby from time to time so he is used to human interaction.

About my goal: I will be documenting my experiences with Skye for an honest account of owning a Parent-raised large parrot (incl all the bites, as well as hugs!) Remember, all birds (incl hand-reared) bite at some point. If you can't handle what I am going to show... You'll know a parrot is not the right pet for you!

Secondary goals: I will be testing my ability to train/domesticate him into a permanently cageless bird (though I have a stainless steel cage on hand just in case). And, eventually, I hope to dive into the world of free flight! But, one step at a time...

My reasons for choosing a parent-raised parrot:
1. It's best for the bird (i.e. reduces over-production of parrots, reduces preening issues + the bird is more psychologically stable = less aggression/screaming in future)
2. It's best for you (i.e. you receive a high quality pet that looks beautiful with less behavioural problems as an adult)

So, do parent-raised birds really make bad, good or great pets? Do we continue to hand-raise or can we begin demanding for more parent-raised birds in the future? Let's find out the truth ...

QoL

Totally interesting to me. I recently started a thread about this topic so I could better understand the process of parent reared chicks. We do have one member who does this. I will be following your information and really would love seeing videos. I do believe parent raised birds with some human intervention gives the bird the best of both worlds. Thanks for joining us.

Thanks Spiritbird.

I just wanted to mention (before you see only one macaw in the videos), I've always been an advocate of having two of any social pet, to keep each other company. That is unless you live alone and spend most of your time at home, which is not the case for most of us.

Unfortunately, Parent-raised birds are very hard to come by! There are no others available at the moment, but I am looking to take on a Greenwinged macaw that is currently with its parents at the breeder's and will be available in a few weeks time.

So, why did I not wait for the Greenwinged before bringing Skye home? The reason is that Skye is completely parent-raised with very little human interaction, so the breeder was not confident with me taking home two at once without knowing whether I could handle this one alone!

That said, the breeder agreed to invest a lot more time with the Greenwinged so it will be a CO-parented bird (i.e. almost as tame as a hand-reared once weaned). This will also work great to show the effects of parent-raised birds with human interaction at two extremes.

My apologies for not making this clear. In summary, unless you can become a bird for your bird... Two birds are the only way to go!

QoL

I'll be interested to see how potential bonding issues between the two birds affect the extent and quality of the birds bonding with you. Hopefully you'll all become a trusting, happy group.

I LOVE this idea. I have often thought that the birds that are parent raised are a lot more balanced. I have never been a fan of human imprinting on any species. I would rather have a bird that knows that its a bird and isn't confused on trying to be both. I think that it would cut down on a lot of behavioral problems. I don't need a bird that 'needs' me, I would much rather have a bird that is a bird. I personally don't think that its fair to take them from their parents, I hate that a humans needs come before the welfare of the bird and I would love to see this change.

I will be following with interest. I have parent raised breeders that are very tame ,more so than hand raised breeders, which have been imprinted with humans and are much more aggressive. I'm not sure exactly what your goals are with raising 2 birds together , could you explain that more ? I think i see where you are coming from but your goals are not the typical pet owners goals,ie; snugglly family pet. I coparent,hand raise and leave babies with parents to be raised as future breeders. Looking forward to your post.

How about adding to your poll,,,, I'm happy with my handraised bird and would recommend one. If your looking for a true and honest poll. I think you need to keep an open mind and not "my way is the right way" .I'm sure you could make your research prove your point if that is your agenda (goal).

Thank you everyone for your replies so far!

Was just going to shoot my first video but thought I'd post a few replies first because the video may take a while (as I'm not sure how he will react to the camera!)

wenz2712 said:

You mentioned that 2 Birds is the way to go... Would you say this is also the case with Hand Reared Birds?

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Hi Wen, yes I believe this should be the case across the board! Bonding issues aside, leave any social being alone for extended periods and it will have an impact on their quality of life.

Like people, however, animals can adapt to living alone, which is why I suggest getting two birds at the beginning to avoid incompatibility/territorial issues later on.

QoL

plax said:

I'll be interested to see how potential bonding issues between the two birds affect the extent and quality of the birds bonding with you. Hopefully you'll all become a trusting, happy group.

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Hi Plax, I am equally as interested in this as you are! I predict I will have to work twice as hard, and may have to persevere for a while longer, to attain the same quality relationship. However, most importantly... I believe it will/can be done! I once said to myself: 'I really want a pretty AND healthy bird', well, you only get what you work for...

Molcan2 said:

I don't need a bird that 'needs' me, I would much rather have a bird that is a bird.

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Ok, so I enjoyed your whole quote but this is the best part for me. In short, Molcan you are awesome. Thank you!

henpecked said:

I'm not sure exactly what your goals are with raising 2 birds together , could you explain that more ? I think i see where you are coming from but your goals are not the typical pet owners goals,ie; snugglly family pet.

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Hi Henpecked, my goal is to: 'maintain the highest quality of life for my birds in captivity'. Training and domestication aside, I can't replace a fellow Parrot. Believe me, if I was at home all day I would not take on the responsibility of another macaw! However, I have a 6 month old son and I don't have the time to be a full-time Parrot AND (Human) Dad at the same time...

henpecked said:

I think i see where you are coming from but your goals are not the typical pet owners goals,ie; snugglly family pet.

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On the contrary, I would want nothing more than a snugly family pet! And that is exactly my point, even a parent-raised bird can be cute and snugly (albeit with some work). I believe we do not need to hand-raise to achieve this.

henpecked said:

How about adding to your poll,,,, I'm happy with my handraised bird and would recommend one. If your looking for a true and honest poll. I think you need to keep an open mind and not "my way is the right way" .I'm sure you could make your research prove your point if that is your agenda (goal).

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Ok, I understand your suggestion but it would not be appropriate for this poll. This is because my intent is not to show whether hand-raised birds make good/bad pets. That has already been said and done. It is to show whether parent-raised birds with early human interaction can make just as great babies and even better adults, as pets.

My 'point' and my 'agenda' are simply to find the answer to the following questions: Do parent-raised birds produce just as good/better (i.e. snugly AND stable) pets? And if parent-raising is better overall... Why (as customers) do we continue to demand for hand-raised babies?

I want parrot owners to make a well-informed, evidence-based choice when choosing their next companion. And, if you had the choice, you would choose the Ferrari over the Ford...

QoL

Interesting project. Sounds like an experiment which will be applied towards a masters degree.

I would equate the ferrari to a handraised baby and the ford to a parent raised baby. I have raised wild caught babies (3wks -about 6-7 wks old) but not wild caught adults. I've used wild caught adults for breeders, and they can be tamed,but not cuddly IMO. My own hen YNA of 40 yrs is a wild caught baby , and she's as sweet as any bird. I fear that the extra work involved might be too much for the average first time owner, that and how crucial parrot experience would be to the learning curve of how to raise a pet macaw. I do welcome your imput and i'm very interested to see how things go. I wish you the best of luck with your project.

Some people may be able to tame a Parent Reared Bird, but it would take alot of time and commitment, and I dont think this would be suitable for a novice.

IMO, Hand Reared Babies are already tame, friendly and trusting and will bond to Family Members quickly, and usually become very loving pets.

I wish you all the best with your research into this and look forward to hearing what the outcome is

AllAboutQOL said:

henpecked said:

I think i see where you are coming from but your goals are not the typical pet owners goals,ie; snugglly family pet.

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On the contrary, I would want nothing more than a snugly family pet! And that is exactly my point, even a parent-raised bird can be cute and snugly (albeit with some work). I believe we do not need to hand-raise to achieve this.

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I know it's possible for a parent raised bird to be snugly family pet.
I have one now, Yuki my Alexandrine was parent raised and had no human interaction before I got her.
The breeder did clip her wings though to try and help us tame her.
I would love to leave her flighted in this coming molt.
Anyway she is a "cageless" now. She does have a cage but they NEVER use it. It's sometimes used to support branches/things to connect to other places. Even if I put their food in their cage they don't go in it. They would throw the biggest fit at me for putting things in their cage. It's always open. They use to put them selves to bed at night time by going into their cage. Not anymore.
Well she is the sweetest thing, she loves scratches and cuddles. Which is unusally for an Alexandrine as they aren't known to be "cuddly".
She is very tame. She comes to work with me sometimes (I work at a kindy) and she loves to hang out with the kids. I think its only because they give her treats and make her bird safe toys to break

Alex was also a parent raised bird but at his last home he was abused and neglected. They attempted to tame him but they punished him for biting/squawking and things like that. I am his third home. At his second home he was abused. He will interact with my family. He will hang out on your shoulder, takes things from your hands and stuff like that. He will enjoy a scratch/cuddle from me or my sister. But when it comes to strangers he doesn't know.He will not tolerate them and will go to his "wild/untame"(what others who met him call him). He would squawk when they come about a metre near him, he would try to run away and if they push his boundaries he would bite. He does have some issues that his last home created. We are getting over them, being with Yuki makes him much happier. Well it seems like it makes him a happier bird.

These two live together. They have bonded with each other and I would say they have bonded to me as well. Not too sure about Yuki though
She would give anyway a cuddle/go up to anyone who has something interesting.
She is even nicer than my hand raised lovebird. But then again they are both different species.

Where I live I see more parent raised birds/breeders up for sale than hand raised birds.

I'm not trying to be confrontational, i'd love to discuss this with you. I'm working from the other end of the spectrum. I'm wanting "wilder" breeder bird. IMO handtame birds make the worst breeders. I have lots of immature parent raised amazons. (my future breeders). making them pets really screws them up. The happiest birds i know are breeders who have their mate 24/7. ( and live in an aviary with a flock of zons) Trust me happy birds make better breeders.

The indigenous poeples of parrot habitat have always raised babies taken from the nest at an early age for a reason, they'll tell you your a fool. If you want a bird to live with people, people should raise it. if you want a bird to be a bird let a bird raise it. yes they've had parrots as pets for 1,000's of years , but that's what they'd say. Me personally? It seems to be a" tough row to hoe" (old USA farmer saying), Why not just rehabilitate older unwanted birds? Sure they can become tame and good family pets , but it's a lot more work. (ask my wife)

Based upon recent comments in this thread, I think it needs to be said that everyone isn't looking for the same thing when it comes to a relationship with their pet parrot. Some people want a close companion who craves their attention and company (ie, a more dependent bird). Whereas others are looking for a more independent parrot who is contented to spend a fair amount of time alone and who may behave in a more 'self-secure' manner much of the time. While upbringing has a great deal to do with where a bird's disposition may fall in this regard, I'm of the opinion that it as well varies from bird to bird (certainly to a point) when given identical rearing particulars. And I think tendencies toward dependency certainly vary from species to species. For example, Macaws have a reputation for being more 'needy' than, say, Amazons or Greys.

Now I understand that the goal of this 'experiment' is to learn whether parent-reared birds are more likely to become mentally healthy, contented and affectionate pets than are human-raised birds. I'm just saying that there are some important variables from bird to bird, so one would likely need to duplicate such a test many times to reach a reliable conclusion. I'm also saying that there are people who would prefer a not-so-cuddly pet parrot as opposed to a 'snuggle bug' - I'm not one of those, by the way.

I won't tell you what my wife said when i read her your thread.LOL PS the indians were being nice.

Maybe i should go back to the zon section