How do you find a GOOD breeder?

[MoKae]

I haven't introduced myself in the new members forum so I'll give a little preview here....

 

My name is Moriah. I've been married to the love of my life for 8 years. We have 4 kids and 2 Mastiffs. Besides my kids, my Mastiffs are my babies! I lost my AG in June of 96 and haven't brought another one into my life yet. But I'm ready to, which has lead me here.

 

I've researched Mastiff breeders before. I know all the right questions to ask and all the red flags to look for. However, I've never even come close to researching a bird breeder. Is it safe to buy from a pet store. I know in dogs it's a HUGE no-no! Dogs from petstores usually come from puppy mills where the parents are discarded like garbage when they can no longer produce. Is this the case with birds too?

 

What questions do you ask a breeder? Does it matter how long they've been breeding? Does it matter how many different types of birds they breed? Is it wrong for a breeder to sell birds that are still being handfed or is that an "accepted" practice?

 

What questions do you ask about the birds themselves? Do you need to see the parents? Are there any tests that the baby and/or parents should have? What time frame should you expect for a guarantee to last? Are they sold with health guarantees or is that unheard of with birds?

 

I have many more questions and will most likely research this for a LONG time before I decide but I don't want to make a mistake when I could have been patient and avioded it.

 

I appreciate any help you guys are able to offer!!

[Mel]

I don't really know but I can offer some thoughts. Some people like pet stores that allow you to bring pets in. However I'm thinking that is a health risk. Agood pet store isn't going to allow say hamsters to be bargained because of possible health risk. Do some aviarian pet stores actually quarantine trade in or consignment birds? Hmm... Maybe you can check BBB even. Supposedly AKC has an approved breeder list. Whatever that means. Perhaps the same could be said of some kind of bird organization if they exist. Good luck.

[kittykittykitty]

I'm very cautious of any animal being sold in a pet store. Precious came from a closed aviary in the LA area. My daughter did all the research since this was a surprise gift. There is a bird farm in Redlands that raises CAGs. They no longer sell unweaned birds because of all the problems new owners have had. Parrots Naturally sells them very rarely and that only to someone who knows how to feed a baby. Both of these breeders are very experienced and do have other birds as does the breeder in Riverside. Health guarantees are usually contingent upon taking the bird to an avian vet within 24 or 48 hrs, depending on the breeder. Good breeders do test the birds, usually several times and at least start immunization. Birds are not allowed back at Parrots Naturally except their own birds for grooming. I think I must be more cautious then most. I take Precious out of the house only for grooming or to go to the vet. Even then I am concerned about exposure to organisms. How do I know about hand washing and instument sterilization? I haven't seen any autoclaves. I'm as bad as a first time mother who washes everything that might touch her baby!!:ohmy: :dry:

[Tycos_mom]

When you go to a breeder for birds the aviary itself should be closed to the public as you never know what people could bring in with them. usually a bird breeder will only show you the birds that you are interested in that are up for sale the rest will be else where and away from the public. Make sure everything that is around the babys is clean and sanitary and that the babies look healthy no poop on the vent area or crusties around the eyes ears nose. check the breast bone to make sure the babes aren't to thin a baby will tend to lose weight during the weanining prosess but not so much that its skin and bones look for any signs of sores around the crop area you don't want any problems with a burnt crop or anything like that. Most bird breeder I've found really love there bird and take extra speicial care to produce healthy babies. There are the exceptions but you can usually spot the bad one right away and as for buying unweaned babys a good breeder proububly would not sell you a unweaned baby unless you had a good deal of experiance hand feeding in the past and could provide proof of this. I know the breeders I deal with would never let you buy an unweaned baby. Pat

[MoKae]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

I saw that someone said that the aviary should be closed to the public. Wouldn't you want to see where the adults were staying to be sure you weren't funding a facility where the adults are kept in bad conditions? With dogs, I know that it's extremely important to see the parents. Maybe this isn't the case with birds though.

 

It looks like I have a lot to learn. I've handfed baby birds several times. Successfully I might add. Not a parrot though. I bred cockatiels years ago and handfed the babies. I've handfed parakeets, wild canaries and random wild baby birds that I found when the sanctuary couldn't be reached or couldn't take them. But again, I've never handfed a parrot and I don't know if that is very different from other birds.

 

KittyKittyKitty said: Good breeders do test the birds, usually several times and at least start immunization.

 

What tests are done and why do they need to be done several times?

[BMustee]

With dogs, you give them shots for everything they can catch. With birds the most devistating illnesses there are no vaccines for...like PDD or PBFD. Letting people walk around the birds not knowing what they have at home could wipe out their aviary, so that is why they are closed. Plus, in my area there are a lot of bird thefts so you never know if someone that come to look at your baby birds for sale is really looking for a new baby or to see what kind of money you have in parrots. A friend of mine was a parrot breeder and had 300 parrots at one time and you can only imagine how much all those birds were worth.

 

As for pet stores...it's kind of a store to store type thing. I work at Pet Kingdom, and we only buy parrots from reputable local breeders. We have a list of breeders we have black-balled because babies have come to use with infections or from word of mouth from people that have delt with them and had bad experiances with their babies. When you go into a store, look at the condtions. Are the cages clean, are the water bowls nasty, and do the birds look healthy? I got my grey from a local breeder but all but 3 of my finches are from my store. I have fallen in love with a few of the parrots there and if I could I would not hesitate to buy them. On the other hand, I have heard of some nasty stores that no matter what I would never buy from. I also would never buy from a chain store that would buy from bird mills. One thing I do like about good pet stores is that the birds are socialized with many people and if it is a good store they will want to make you happy...because like any buisness you have to treat your customers right.