The Sale of Unweaned Birds By Lexi Puhl http://petstoreabuse.com

 

It is quite common to find unweaned baby parrots for sale in pet stores. This is unfortunate because the average pet store employee or customer has no idea how complicated and demanding the handraising process is (many people think "handfeeding" is feeding peanuts "by hand" through the bars of the cage!). The result is oftentimes a dead baby parrot and an upset customer.

 

In the wild, parrots stay with their parents for months, or even years. During this time, they are provided with food until they are eventually weaned and able to eat solid food. The parents also spend these months teaching their chicks how to act like parrots.

 

In the breeding businesses that supply pet stores ("bird mills" http://www.petstoreabuse.com/birdbreeding.html ), parrots are usually taken away from their parents before they hatch. Sometimes the breeders handraise the baby parrots themselves, using special supplies and techniques until the birds are weaned. Most professional breeders, however, sell their baby parrots unweaned, expecting the buyer, or pet store employees, to continue the handfeeding process.

 

Why Stores Say We Should Buy Unweaned Parrots..

The claim is that hand feeding, or "artificially rearing", parrots results in a closer bond between bird and owner. But according to a new study conducted at the University of California, Davis, parrot chicks raised by their parents and handled by humans as little as 15 minutes a day became perfectly tame, well-bonded parrots.

 

Anyone who has rescued an adult parrot from a humane society or rescue group can also attest to the fact that, with proper care, it is entirely possible to establish a bond with a fully grown parrot - handfed or not.

 

The Truth?

Handfeeding is very time consuming (very young parrots must be fed as many as six times per day). This leads one to wonder if breeders aren't just dumping the responsibility on pet store employees and unsuspecting customers.

 

There are also some in the bird industry that perpetuate the "hand-fed" myth in order to facilitate the production breeding of parrots (Click Here For More Info on Bird Mills). http://www.petstoreabuse.com/birdbreeding.html

Separating young birds from their parents increases production by encouraging the adult birds to produce more babies.

 

The Dangers of Handfeeding

 

Artificial rearing is not only unnecessary, but also potentially dangerous if done by a novice (even very experienced breeders sometimes run into these problems):

 

Crop Burn - Improperly heated formula can scald a chick's crop and actually burn right through the esophagus and the crop, making a fistula. This is usually fatal, but if the burned area is small, the dead crop area is cut out and stitched back together, leaving a smaller but functional crop. More severe burns are treated by implanting a feeding tube in the crop. These burns open the door for serious bacterial and fungal infections.

 

Sour Crop - Formula has to be the correct temperature in order to be digested. If formula is too cold, the chick's crop doesn't empty and the formula left inside turns sour, leading to infection. When experienced handfeeders encounter this problem, they immediately empty the crop, something an inexperienced person simply cannot do.

 

(The issue of sour crop comes up quite often with cockatiels; it is not any easier handfeeding smaller parrots.)

 

Starvation - A healthy chick can quickly starve to death if a novice handfeeder doesn't realize the amount of food or the number of feeding times required. Chicks that aren't receiving enough handfeeding formula will refuse to eat weaning foods even though they are very hungry.

 

It is critical that the chick eat enough to support growth and sustain life. Chicks have to be weighed on a daily basis, and if they lose any weight, immediate action has to be taken.

 

Aspiration – Formula must be placed in the right side of the chick's mouth or it could be aspirated, leading to often-fatal aspiration pneumonia.

 

Overfeeding – Older chicks will usually back away when they are full, but newly hatched babies will not be able to do so. Overfed chicks may vomit excess formula or their crops may become impacted, requiring the assistance of an avian veterinarian.

 

Beak Deformities can be caused by faulty equipment or untrained hands.

 

Disease - Babies don't have fully functioning immune systems; everything that touches or is in contact with a baby (feeding supplies, etc.) must be clean and sanitized. Otherwise diseases such as Polyomavirus (a highly infectious, often-deadly virus) will present themselves.

 

Behavior Problems - Both in the wild and in captivity, parrots actively parent their offspring. Birds who are artificially reared are more likely to develop behavioral problems such as excessive screaming, feather plucking, self-mutilation, and aggression. Many hand-reared birds also show abnormal sexual behavior and aggression towards humans.

 

 

Forced Weaning

 

Forced weaning is refusing to feed a begging chick with the assumption that it will eat when it gets hungry enough. Unfortunately, baby parrots just won't eat until they are ready and an unweaned chick will starve to death before it will eat solid food. Forced weaning can also result in permanent behavior problems such as rigid eating habits, nervousness, and chronic begging.

 

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

 

Currently, California is the only state that addresses the sale of unweaned parrots: Pet shops can't possess unweaned birds unless an employee is certified and pet stores are not allowed to sell birds until they are weaned.

 

If you live elsewhere, you can still discourage the practice by never buying an unweaned baby bird, and never supporting stores or breeders that sell them.

 

You can also support any future legislation banning (or regulating) the sale of unweaned birds in your state.

 

Pet Stores

If you have unweaned birds, don't sell them! Even if they wait for them to be weaned in the shops, customers can begin to bond and play with the birds while they are in their "most impressionable" stage.

 

Reputable pet shops that sell unweaned birds to the public do so only after the buyer has been given extensive instructions and hands on training in handfeeding. These babies stay in the shop until the buyers have demonstrated their proficiency. These shops also require that the buyers return on a weekly basis to have their birds weighed and examined.

 

 

RELATED SITES

 

Bird Breeding Mills by Lexi Puhl http://www.petstoreabuse.com/birdbreeding.html

 

Unweaned Birds: Hidden Victims by Monica Engebretson, Animal Protection Institute http://www.avianwelfare.org/issues/articles/unweaned2.htm

 

Sale of Unweaned Birds by Avian Welfare Coalition http://www.avianwelfare.org/issues/unweaned.htm

 

Why Buy Weaned Birds? by ParrotParrot.com http://www.parrotparrot.com/weaned.htm

 

Adopting an Older Parrot by Liz Wilson, Parrot Behavior Consultant http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/adopting.html

 

Parrots and People… A Relationship of Conflict - by Tami Myers and Mary Margison, The Beak Retreat http://www.avianwelfare.org/issues/articles/conflict.htm

Edited March 9, 200916 yr by Elly

The nasty truth about some breeders who hand reared birds to pet shops. The birds don't have to be hand reared to be un weaned either, some breeders sell their parent raised babies before they leave the nest

Please note that is an American article. It is actually illegal here to sell a bird which cannot feed itself. I'm not saying it's well policed but that's the law

Please note that is an American article. It is actually illegal here to sell a bird which cannot feed itself. I'm not saying it's well policed but that's the law

Legalities rarely mean much. We all know it is done often..........and RS*CA doesnt always act on reports.

Like I said, the system isn't perfect but atleast we have laws here, I just wanted to make sure people realised that the article wasn't about Australia that's all

Here in the U.S. they have been cracking down, I know there was a I believe large chain store that did sell an unweaned larger bird and it died it did put people into action.

 

You will find unweaned babies at the pet stores too, most of them are your cockatiels and the larger birds but I am sure it is found in budgies also.

 

The best thing you can do is evalulate your breeder or pet shop before purchasing and we have 2 excellent articles in the FAQ's that were written up to assist you.

 

Excellent article Kaz.

Also I side note about handraised. I weighted my King Parrot and looked on line and he was underweight. I took him down to the vet and we ran test, the vet compared him to other king parrots that he has had in over the past year to make sure it was not a seasonal thing etc... nothing he weights about 3 quaters of what the others guys do his same age. More tests and one very worried mum and then finally the vet looked at me and said "he was hand raised right" I told him that he was and we had a look as some reseach and found out that birds that are hand raises vs parent reared normally are smaller in both size and weight. We where comparing Elmo to avairy raised and wild birds and he is smaller and will most likely always be. The vet was so embarassed and has given me some free visit to make up for all the money I have spent. (in his defence Elmo is the first pet King Parrot he has seen through his clinic all other Kings have been avairy birds or wild poor guy)