What to do...

[dna]

Ok, about a month ago I went to a local fleamarket that is held every Friday. Just browsing around and whatnot. I came upon this woman who had a pair of adorable Cinnamon Greencheeks...out in the hot sun....barely any water...no shade, etc. It automatically made me upset, being a bird lover and all. Anyhow I asked how much she was selling them for and she said $100.00 for the pair because they are "hateful evil birds" and that she wouldn't even touch them except with gloves. So I decided to try and play with them and they were NICE. I impulsely took them home (which isn't like me)...I couldn't leave these darlings there a minute more.
I came home, bought them a brand new cage with all new accesories, and put them in a different part of the house until I had them vet checked (which they came back healthy and great). Well I have kept them in that part of the house and they play wonderfully with me with no issues.

Until now. Now, I don't want to be a breeder now or ever but it seems I have no choice since I caught them doing their "birdy thing" and the female has now layed 4 eggs and counting...

I know I should separate them if I don't want babies...but they have been a bonded pair obviously and they love each other so much. Any advice on how to handle this?

While I am very parrot educated, breeding and babies isn't something I have looked into much (except in light reading) because I never really had to. I'm kind of nervous at the moment.

 

[birdmama61]

I used to breed finches and smaller birds but dont really know much about the green cheeks other than I have always wanted one . Cant find those being re homed too easy . Anyways if you want to hand feed them then at about one month I could be wrong you should start taking them out of the nest and hand feeding them . When through hand rearing them remove the nest box from the cage and I do believe that will stop them from breeding if Im correct . If im wrong please someone come along and correct me please do . You will also have to buy hand feeding formula and that is not hard to find . I wish you luck and hope all the babies survive.

 

[mtdoramike]

hahahahahahaha, you fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to flea market pet vendors. I'd bet when she takes those birds home, they are treated like royalty. She probably even gives them a good misting when no one is watching.

But she hooked you and reeled you in. hahahahahahahaha. What I find hilarious is she not only hooked you for one, she made her day by getting you to buy both birds. I'd bet she even sold you a cage. That sale probably put her over in the black hahahahaha. Sorry, but I am rolling. What's worse is they, it seems were in the family way to boot. I needed a good laugh.

 

[mtdoramike]

By the way, when I visit the flea market and go to the pet section, I know going in the gimmicks they use. So I know to walk away. You also have to be very careful buying birds from flea market breeders or sellers. A lot of them don't breed them, they buy their birds from private sales from like Craigslist, Ebay classifieds and even rescues. So you really don't know what your buying and there is usually no recourse if you buy a sick bird.

 

[merlinsmom13]

I'm w/you as far as breeding knowledge, but I've read that you can take their eggs, & replace them w/fakes. It might also be a good thing to shorten their day, so they don't think its spring/summer (breeding season). Four eggs are alot, she might need some calcium supp. I love baby animals, if I were in your position, I would probably go thru w/it. That would not be a good thing for me now.

 

[stephend]

Is it possible, and safe, to get a bird fixxed?

 

[dna]

Lol yeah then I guess I was had....I never do flea markets, and no she didn't get me on a cage. They were $100.00 for the pair together. Sigh...I got suckered As for sick birds...I quarantined them and took them to the vet. They are still quarantined now.


But at the same time they are great birds with great personalities.


As for the box...I didn't even HAVE one in there! She layed them right on the bottom of the cage! And won't move from them except to drink once in awhile. Her mate feeds her as well. I added some nesting materials and she has used them though.

I have been giving them a lot of cuttlebone ground up in their diet (tons of fresh foods) along with eggs with their shells, some sunflower seeds added in and some peanuts because i read that it adds extra nutrients when laying eggs.

*sigh* I SO wasn't ready for this lol.

 

[Amber]

Is it possible, and safe, to get a bird fixxed?

Not sure about the safety of it but it is possible. Something to ask a avian vet about I guess :red:

 

[Spiritbird]

To my knowledge there is no steralization for our birds. I would try to contact any bird breeder if there is one near you and see if they can give you some one on one help.

 

[Rio Mom]

I agree with contacting a breeder to see if they would give you advice. What area of Pennsylvania are you in? I'm in Pa (so is the breeder I got my gcc from), and I could ask if she'd be willing to talk to you if you're anywhere near her.

 

[dna]

I am in the western Pa area...Beaver County actually. Like I said before...I know massive amounts about parrots...just nothing with breeding lol. Well tidbits here and there but not enough to feel comfortable with it.

 

[IcyWolf]

I'm in PA too but I'm in central pa, right near harrisburg so I guess I can't be of much help. Are there any "bird farm" type places near you? we have one around here, used to have two but the on went under, and they do a lot of hand rearing and breeding and have always been helpful from my experience. Maybe you could find someone like that and get some one on one help.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

If you would like so one on one help, feel free to message me and I'll give you my phone number and you can call me. First order of business to get birds to stop breeding is to lower the amount of daylight hours... so, for example birds breed on average at peak light season which is between 12 and 16 hours of daylight... you need to SLOWLY drop their daytime down. 10 hours should encourage them to stop. You can take them down to 8 without making them unhappy. I personally had a chronic egg producing pair of toos here once and I had to take them down to six for a few weeks to get them to stop. Little birds are slightly less inclined to respond to light cycle changes, but it often works. Additionally, lower their food amount to just what they can finish in those eight hours. Talk to your vet, because there is a treatment for chronic egg layers, so me may have some dietary recomendations that would help.

Birds breed during long daylight hours and if they feel they have enough high quality food to feed a family. So, I'd start there. Feel free to contact me, I can always ask my vet for you.

 

[Amber]

I asked my vet about sterilisation out of interest for this thread. It was commonly done on roosters awhile back. As for parrots, it is possible to do, and is done sometimes to treat cancer and other issues in the area, but it is to risky to carry out just to curb breeding as the organs are connected to and very close to some of the main blood vessels of the chest cavity. Specialized equivalent is also needed, and laser precision is required to do such things without killing the bird, and the type of equipment needed is not usually seen out of vet universities.

So technically it is possible, but not carried out for obvious reasons.

edit- http://www.parrotchronicles.com/askavet/neutering_askavet.htm is a good link on it

 

[dna]

Well I think I will follow the advice of shortening their days and go from there....I'm not willing to risk her life with surgery and would rather exhaust all other possibilities. Thank you all for the advice...it is truly appreciated!

 

[Rio Mom]

How about that! All us PA people on here. I'm in West/central pa, Jefferson County.

 

[Remy]

Awww, it sounds like you did the right thing! She must have been trying to get rid of them if she sold them for that little. That's not much profit. I just found my baby on CL, and even though there are a fair amount of GCCs on there, I haven't seen any below $100.

 

[dna]

A little update...Kiki ended up laying 8 eggs...5 which were/are fertile. Tonight her first baby hatched. I'm super excited/nervous/anxious but so far so good...Kiki is protecting and have a feeling she is going to be a good mommy to them, so I won't have to pull them early (fingers crossed). Will keep updated, and pics soon to come

 

[Amber]

Oooh! Photos!

Edit- Only if you can get them without annoying mama bird though, of course.

 

[dna]

Another small update...I now have 4 little lovely chicks! I'm not sure if that last egg I though was also fertile will hatch but hey! I have a nice little clutch. Mommy (Kiki) and Daddy (Kio) are doing a fantastic job feeding and taking care of them so all is well so far! I will be posting some pics soon!