Best Hand-Rearing Methods for Parrots

I've been thinking about this and wanted to get some perspective from people on their thoughts on the matter of hand-rearing, in particular, the effects it can have on both the parents and babies.

I've been reading the book [ame="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QXC4BI/ref=cm_sw_su_dp"]Of Parrots and People[/ame], and one of the excepts regarding hand-reared babies from the book was rather sad.

Quotes taken from Mira Tweti: My Blog

Aviculturalists also justified their actions by saying the parent birds don’t really care about their babies and they have to pull the chicks because the parents are irresponsible, often breaking their eggs or damaging their young, And, since their nests are predated in the wild they expect to lose them anyway.

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Freed tells me how her ex-husband, Joe, would pull the babies from the nest box. If a hen was a veteran she knew what was coming and would not leave her babies to protect them. It is called “sitting tightly.” “Pulling babies is awful. You can’t take them in a way that’s non-confrontational. Joe would have to fight off the bird,” says Carla.
Once the video was installed, the two would watch the monitors and when neither of the birds were inside the nest box Joe would go into the breeding area and quickly remove the young. Carla puts on a tape that shows this moment. The nest box is dark the babies are asleep. Then there are high pitched alarm calls from the parents outside. The back of the nest box opens and the light shows Joe’s face peering in and then his hand quickly scoops the babies out as the parents rush in through the other side screaming for their young. They search around the box frantically, then go out and come back, repetitively searching in and out. Inside they desperately scratch around the box with their beaks and feet, pushing the deep sawdust away looking everywhere for their babies. It is heart wrenching to watch. “This goes on for days,” says Carla sobbing, “they look for their babies and call for them for days.”
The next cut on the tape shows the same scene much later. The entire nest box is in a shambles from the search. The hen, drained and exhausted lays down. The male goes over to her and starts preening her slowly with his beak. The tape is over but now neither of us can stop our tears.” It’s hard to watch,” says Carla, “I’ve wrestled hard with it over the last three years, I could never do it again.”

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As a doctoral student at the Psittacine Research Project, Rebecca Fox conducted studies in which baby birds were raised by their parents but handled by humans for twenty minutes a day once they are several weeks old, when they had become cognitive. Fox found that these babies were as tame as birds taken early from their parents and hand-fed.
“It is absolutely not true that baby parrots need to be hand-fed or hand-weaned by people to make good pets,” says Fox.

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I would like to clarify that I am not a breeder by any means, so I don't have experience to pull from, but I would like to hear first hand perspective from anyone that does. I'm not trying to change people's views, I just want to understand what other people think and their reasoning.

Note:

Before reading this book, I'm embarrassed to say, but I didn't really consider the effects of what hand-rearing babies can do to the parrots.

My grandfather who used to breed budgies, his method was to allow the parents to raise them the entire time and handle them daily. His belief was "if anyone knows how to look after a baby bird, it's the parents; why should I try and replace that?" My experience with the budgies was rather positive, and the babies were rather tame and affectionate.

My father used the same method when he was breeding birds - both budgies and poultry (chickens and peacocks). My experience as a child with them was interesting thinking back on it; I, myself never actually handled the babies, but I remember that some of the really tame parents would actually introduce you to their young when they were old enough to leave the nest. Budgies landing on you, and either the mother or father calling out to join for treats. (We had walk in aviaries)

What really got me, and I admit tearing up a bit when reading it, was this statement:

The entire nest box is in a shambles from the search. The hen, drained and exhausted lays down. The male goes over to her and starts preening her slowly with his beak.

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I can just imagine how heartbreaking that would be for any mother, even thinking about it now is rather sad. I just can't understand why so many people are attached to the notion that birds, or even other animals, aren't capable of emotion.

I've seen and read all different examples of how doting bird-parents can be with their young. From cockatiels, where the male sings to eggs (one video on YouTube was 'Old MacDonald'), macaws turning eggs meticulously to inspect for any damage and ensure warmth and proper development, mother geese who'll feint an injured wing and drag it along the ground to attract the attention of a dog away from their young, curlews who'll refuse to stand down from either humans or cars to protect their young - flaring out their 1m wingspan to look more threatening, ... there are more examples, but I can't think of them at the moment.

It surprises me that many people don't realise the amount of love that our feathered companions are capable of; and it's even more worrisome that breeders use parrots much in the same manner as puppy mills.

That's so sad. I didn't know it was like that.

I breed Green Cheek Conures and do what your grandfather used to do Alisana. I let the parents raise their young and socialize them by handling them everyday from 3 weeks old on. That is called "Co-parenting". I do believe that the babies become well adjusted, tame birds when done properly. The parents don't see you as a threat so the babies accept you. It does take dedication and patience as they don't "need" you, so you have to win their trust. But once you have it, it is the best feeling in the world and extremely rewarding!!!

Echo said:

I breed Green Cheek Conures and do what your grandfather used to do Alisana. I let the parents raise their young and socialize them by handling them everyday from 3 weeks old on. That is called "Co-parenting". I do believe that the babies become well adjusted, tame birds when done properly. The parents don't see you as a threat so the babies accept you. It does take dedication and patience as they don't "need" you, so you have to win their trust. But once you have it, it is the best feeling in the world and extremely rewarding!!!

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It sounds amazing. I'd be interested if someone did a comparison study between the different methods of rearing and the impacts on the potential of the 'pets' in the long term. Most of what I've read online is that people follow one method only because it's what they know, and have "tried and tested". I find the matter rather curious really.

People with large amount of breeding birds take the babies from the nest a couple of weeks old, then crop feed them, and sell them as hand raised babies... I have been to a couple of these breeders, and some had close to 100 babies to feed, therefore crop feeding was the only option... I would never again buy from such a breeder...

Co-parenting, I think, would work great for a small hobby breeder, and I think these birds would make much better as pets, because they'll know they're birds...

I'm planning to breed a few birds, when I retire, and I'll go the co-parenting way, as long as the birds are willing...

Co-parenting works,if you have the parents that will tolerate you in their nest box,handling their babies. Many birds won't tolerate this and will kill their babies. You just have to find out the hard way sometimes. Most large scale breeding operations pull eggs and incubate. Still some birds will lay more eggs than they can feed babies,are young parents and feed only the largest chick, if you leave chicks with the parents you need to closely monitor them(if parents will let you). I have had to pull the youngest chicks before or lose them. The best option is to put your own pairs together and train them to your methods.Buying breeder pairs that grew up in someone else's aviary can lead to trouble if you do things different.

A wonderful thread, and though this topic has been spoken about on numerous occasions previously it is always worth revisiting to gain new perspectives, in my opinion!

As a breeder about to embark on his journey, this is one of the fundamental questions I myself had to answer. Below are my thoughts on the topic.

I'm glad Alisana brought up the question of evidence-based practice because, as a scientist, I couldn't agree more. For those who have not read a PhD thesis written on this very subject, please find it here. A must read, if you have the time for it.

The conclusion is that parent-raised (or better yet co-parented) chicks turn out to be the best adult birds, as well as babies. If you parent-raise (without human interaction) the birds are essentially wild but can be tamed to be just as social as hand-fed babies, albeit with more work. To cut the work-load, one could co-parent the chicks by handling them daily from the beginning/as young as possible and then it's win-win.

So if co-parenting is proven to yield fantastic results, why does almost everyone hand-feed?

I believe the answer is two-fold. Firstly, this relates to the breeders choice of breeder birds. Simply put: most breeders do not co-parent because their breeder birds will not allow it.

The solution to this is relatively straightforward; it is essential to put in the time at the beginning and raise your breeder birds yourself (not hand-feed, but to own/raise them from a young age). After doing this, I know of a breeder that can walk into an aviary with Greenwinged macaw chicks in the nestbox, and have the parents leave the nest... and eat from his hand! The birds do not attack him because they were tamed and raised by himself, they were also parent-raised to begin with. Buying established 'proven-pairs', though may lead to babies faster, can actually be counter-productive with regards to the quality of birds you are able to produce from them.

Unfortunately, the second is profit, from hand-raising, which is the main driving force for the current trend. That said, more and more breeders are coming to realise that over-production inevitably leads to low-prices, low-profits and a low quality product, so both the breeder AND pet-owner lose in the end. For those interested, there is a short article by Rosemary Low that illustrates this in more detail. Please find it here.

A disclaimer: I am not against hand-feeding of baby parrots. But I see it as I do medicine, i.e. use it to treat only when needed. That said, breeders must assume a greater responsibility for the psychological 'side-effect' of hand-feeding babies. If they choose to hand-feed, chicks must be returned to a flock of their own species, after weaning, for several weeks to gain appropriate social skills and confidence. Again, this time cuts into profits and turnover, but for the sake of a few weeks the new pet-owner and baby-parrot will reap the benefits of a much more healthy, stable and overall glorious relationship not just during its time as a baby, but through the parrot's adolescence and adulthood as well. This is the ultimate goal.

QoL

I am indeed lucky that the parents allow me to socialize the babies. HOWEVER, I still have to be extremely careful when the babies are really young as they are very protective of them. I do not allow anyone in the bird room. And I watch the parents very very carefully before going into the box for display of aggression. I also invested in a mini camera placed in the box so that each time I have a session with the babies, I can monitor the parents in the box and make sure there is no aggression towards the babies. I am very watchful and ready to intervene if a baby was in harms way. Like mentioned, it is a risk. If I witnessed it, I would not hesitate to pull the baby out. So I'm always prepared with hand feeding supplies.

Once they reach a certain age, the parents relax and I can indeed play and cuddle the babies with the parents on my shoulder without worries.