Visit to a Breeder
Recently went to a nearby town in my state to a breeder I've been looking at. To check them out and see how everything they do is, so far it has been a rather fun experience, went to their store first where they also sell bird toys, books, supplements ect ect. As well as have a few rehomes in the back there, most of which looked to be big green wing macaws. They were all gorgeous though some were missing feathers due to the stress of their previous home or as in one macaws case his owner had actually recently passed away :( . Got to hear some of them scream and have to say wow, those Macaws really know how to make all the other birds shut up for a few moments.
Went to their aviary later and ended up taking some pictures of some of the birds they had out, along with one particular Macaw that was in his cage, if i remember right his name was Big O and he's a Blue Hyacinth Macaw, and seem to know he was on camera due to him striking a pose. Pictures beneath the cut if the cut function decided to work properly for me, so I don't end up spamming the entire front page with photos.
This is Big O, very beautiful Hyacinth, and he was really liking to strut around and fluff himself up to make himself look all big and strong. Though when I took my phone out to take a picture he actually came over to the cage and struck this pose and held it.
This is Indie, she's only about 10 months old, they actually got her from another breeder, he'd apparently had some kind of difficulties with her and she wasn't very healthy when this breeder got her. They actually think her growth probably got stunted due to her earlier health issues and that she is already smaller than she should be at her age and probably isn't going to get any bigger. But from what I saw of her here and how Melissa the handler interacted with her, that Indie is just a big sweetheart and loves everybody.
I have to say though when I had her perched on my wrist and arm I was abit worried. Not of her turning aggressive but because I've never really had a bird perched on me like this before and from how her grip felt I was constantly worried that she was on the verge of slipping off. It always felt like her nails were slowly dragging across my skin.
But Indie didn't share my sentiments she even went so far as to put her beak against my upper arm and scratched the side of her beak with one foot, all the while I kept thinking "Don't fall off Indie, Don't fall off"
This is my mom with Jay Jay perched on her shoulder, I can't remember what breed he is right off, I think part of the poicephelus family maybe? But he was also very friendly and would let us scritch his head and even already knows Step Up, which got him onto my hand before this. Him like Indie I felt like he was constantly on th verge of falling, from what Melissa told me it sounds like its just something you get use to, he was actually very stable on my hand.
Some baby Senegals they had on the couch in the room with the other birds. They take them out and let them sit about to slowly get them use to people and other birds and help get them interested in exploring. They are watched and kept an eye on so that nothing bad happens. It was also cool to watch but Melissa showed me their Baby Blue Head Pionus that were born last week. They had to seperate those ones from the mother and father because daddy for some reason started attacking momma, and momma was spending all her time watching over the eggs to the point that she wasn't going to the bathroom. They are still puzzled as to why the male started doing this as the two have gotten along just fine for years before this as a breeder pair.
Was also cool in that I got to then watch her feed a baby macaw formula, was really surprising how their skin is so thin at that young age that you can see just how full their crop is.
And then a couple of Amazons in the room, those two were abit shy around new people but they were obviously very curious about me and my mom as we visited the place!
Definitely was a fun experience and definitely made me decide that this is probably the breeder I'll get my future parrot from. They also gave me abit of an interview to decide if they'd sell me one of their birds as they do want to make sure they get into good homes. Apparently they've had people in the past tell them they wanted a Macaw because it'd match how they redecorated their living room o.O. Needless to say they told that person, no you can't have one of our birds.
Went to their aviary later and ended up taking some pictures of some of the birds they had out, along with one particular Macaw that was in his cage, if i remember right his name was Big O and he's a Blue Hyacinth Macaw, and seem to know he was on camera due to him striking a pose. Pictures beneath the cut if the cut function decided to work properly for me, so I don't end up spamming the entire front page with photos.
This is Big O, very beautiful Hyacinth, and he was really liking to strut around and fluff himself up to make himself look all big and strong. Though when I took my phone out to take a picture he actually came over to the cage and struck this pose and held it.
This is Indie, she's only about 10 months old, they actually got her from another breeder, he'd apparently had some kind of difficulties with her and she wasn't very healthy when this breeder got her. They actually think her growth probably got stunted due to her earlier health issues and that she is already smaller than she should be at her age and probably isn't going to get any bigger. But from what I saw of her here and how Melissa the handler interacted with her, that Indie is just a big sweetheart and loves everybody.
I have to say though when I had her perched on my wrist and arm I was abit worried. Not of her turning aggressive but because I've never really had a bird perched on me like this before and from how her grip felt I was constantly worried that she was on the verge of slipping off. It always felt like her nails were slowly dragging across my skin.
But Indie didn't share my sentiments she even went so far as to put her beak against my upper arm and scratched the side of her beak with one foot, all the while I kept thinking "Don't fall off Indie, Don't fall off"
This is my mom with Jay Jay perched on her shoulder, I can't remember what breed he is right off, I think part of the poicephelus family maybe? But he was also very friendly and would let us scritch his head and even already knows Step Up, which got him onto my hand before this. Him like Indie I felt like he was constantly on th verge of falling, from what Melissa told me it sounds like its just something you get use to, he was actually very stable on my hand.
Some baby Senegals they had on the couch in the room with the other birds. They take them out and let them sit about to slowly get them use to people and other birds and help get them interested in exploring. They are watched and kept an eye on so that nothing bad happens. It was also cool to watch but Melissa showed me their Baby Blue Head Pionus that were born last week. They had to seperate those ones from the mother and father because daddy for some reason started attacking momma, and momma was spending all her time watching over the eggs to the point that she wasn't going to the bathroom. They are still puzzled as to why the male started doing this as the two have gotten along just fine for years before this as a breeder pair.
Was also cool in that I got to then watch her feed a baby macaw formula, was really surprising how their skin is so thin at that young age that you can see just how full their crop is.
And then a couple of Amazons in the room, those two were abit shy around new people but they were obviously very curious about me and my mom as we visited the place!
Definitely was a fun experience and definitely made me decide that this is probably the breeder I'll get my future parrot from. They also gave me abit of an interview to decide if they'd sell me one of their birds as they do want to make sure they get into good homes. Apparently they've had people in the past tell them they wanted a Macaw because it'd match how they redecorated their living room o.O. Needless to say they told that person, no you can't have one of our birds.