Buying a breeding pair

[havoc2005]

Good evening folks,

 

I have a general question about breeder birds as I am unfamiliar with them, I do not breed. A friend of mine is a licensed breeder and has recently gone through some financial troubles and is selling her breeder birds. They are 5 pairs of African greys, both Congo and Timneh's. I do understand that breeder birds are not for household use, as in they are not ment to be handeled like your normal pet African Grey. However, is there a way to tame them? Would you recommend I take a pair off of her, I am experienced with different birds, IRNs, smaller parakeets, conurs, etc. I understand how to train birds, care for them, etc. I just do not have familiarity with "Breeders".

 

I will only be taking one pair from her, the other 4 I am looking to help her rehome.

[Dave007]

Breeder greys are totally different than pet greys. Most can't be *tamed*. For a long time, each developed bond with each other. People weren't involved. Those are the best types of birds to have if breeding is involved. Both breeder CAGs and TAGs are the same. Even if you were to take one pair and separate the birds, whatever attitude and personality they presently have will remain the same. More than likely each bird will become more aggressive. I'm gonna assume that the woman was successful with her breeding pairs of birds which means they're adult birds now and have developed that bond over a long period of time and have excluded people. If you're getting them for breeding purposes, you'll need to have money, good equipment, a connection to an excellent vet and having them will change things for you drastically. Anyone whos taking on a pair of breeder greys should know that the pair won't act like pets because of their long bond with each other. It's good that you are familar with dealing with other types of parrots but dealing with breeders is a totally different and sometimes it is a disappointing experience if what you're looking to do is try to convert them into pets.

[havoc2005]

Thank you very much. It seems that by the way she had explained it to me, they have always been breeding birds so you are right, they would definitally not be the right birds for me. I did see two other pairs of greys from another local breeder and it was strange because I was able to get close to one of the pairs and touch, communicate, and play with them. They were breeding at the time as well, with breeding box connected to the cage, little human contact, etc. But they werent as unfriendly as I had expected them to be. I was quite surprised, maybe the situation that these other two sets of bird were raised in could have been a bit different?

[havoc2005]

Do you think maybe the second pair would workout for me? Because I would like a companion for my bird, hence why I am trying to get them in pairs. But at the same time, I am looking for a pet as well. If a pair had extensive human interaction in the past, before becoming a breeding pair, would that make a significant difference in their behavior later on? Would they be pet friendly?

[Dave007]

You can always try it out but even though the second pair was friendlier doesn't make them better pets than the first pair.

""If a pair had extensive human interaction in the past, before becoming a breeding pair, would that make a significant difference in their behavior later on? Would they be pet friendly? """

That's very hard to answer but I doubt that there would be a drastic difference. Those breeder birds are happiest with each other, in their own cage. You need to know that the birds may have been more friendly when they were younger but they did convert. Each had to have a breeding instinct. Another thing here---this particular pair seems friendlier than the other pair but no matter what any of her bird's personalities are, you need to realize that they had those personalities in HER home. What will happen when they're rehomed? Very hard to answer that and I wouldn't wanna aim you in the wrong direction or produce guesswork. I'm just trying to give an all around picture of the things you actually spoke about.

Honestly, maybe think twice about getting them or get them but just realize that they'll need other requirements unlike pet greys. You sais it perfectly in your original post

""""I do understand that breeder birds are not for household use, as in they are not ment to be handeled like your normal pet African Grey. """""

To try to give you an idea of pet and breeder greys---hypothetical, --it's possible that if a person owns a pet grey ( lets say a male) and that person brought home a breeder grey ( lets say a female) and the person put them together, there's a chance that the female breeder would seriously maim or even try to kill the pet grey. Same species but a world of difference between the two.

 

PS---I'm not saying you're gonna do this. Just wanted to show personalities.