My goal in life

[MonknSharona]

Hi all. I know I don't post here very often but I do lurk and try to keep up; although y'all are quite active and it gets difficult at times.

Just wanted to update y'all that Posey (our IRN) has turned out to be a lovely little girl. She's quite happy and is quite tame now, after almost a year of working with her for hours on end every single day, all of a sudden, she's a sweet baby. We love her and she's a delight.... now if I could just convert that Amazon of mine....

Anyway, for years I've loved birds. And for years and years my goal in life is to be a bird breeder. However, I want to do it right so I haven't even attempted it yet. I've been studying various breeds for the past ten years or so trying to decide what it is I want to start out with. I still haven't decided but I am getting closer.

Originally my goal was to build an indoor aviary; a large building built just for the birds. But, I am wondering about folks who do home breeding too, such as those who breed birds in the home instead of in an aviary setting. Which is best? My husband and I have the plans already made for an aviary; it's a large building separate from the main house but still attached; heated, cooled, sound proofing in the walls (neighbors), ventilation, separate isolation rooms, nursery, food prep, and an office for potential clients where there will also be a play area. We had the whole drainage system figured out, humidifying system, etc. I guess I just can't seem to decide what is best; either aviary bred birds, who live and breed almost as they would in the wild or birds bred in the home where they will interact more with people.

I've also heard conficting opinions on hand rearing. A lot of folks believe that it results in a sweeter more easily tamed chick. While others believe that chicks raised by their parents have more of their own instincts and are more confident during their lives.

So, if any of you breeders can give a bit of your opinions here, and also any other info you feel is important about starting out with breeding. Like I said, I am not quite ready yet. I am still in the research mode and I am also still trying to decide what to even start with!!

As a side note, I have been looking into breeding birds for conservation purposes as well, but these would always be separate from any birds that are raised for pets.

Thanks so much!!

[jaie]

I would start first with a small backyard aviary just to get your feet wet per se. Better learn the pitfalls of avian breeding with a small capital invested first rather than investing much with a full-blown breeding facility and then realizing it wasn't what you wanted it to be.

You can't go wrong with the psittacula species of birds. They can both make excellent aviary birds and companion birds. Lovebirds, budgies and ringnecks are great for color breeding. They also make great pets to boot. Greys and Amazons are relatively cheaper and are the best talkers. Hyacinths and other Macaws are expensive, maintenance intensive and much harder to breed so I don't recommend them for the novice breeder.

[Mikaela]

PM Jeremy hun... he will give you the ups and downs and how to get started, should you decide to move forth.

Not to discredit jaie's post, by any means... great advice, just trying to get you to our genetic advisor/breeder.

[Jeremy]

Personally, i prefer simple suspended aviaries outside. The birds don't necessarily get as much human contact but all my tame breeders are still tame.

It all comes down to where you are and what the climate is like.
I am in Australia so don't need to worry about breeding inside with temperature controllers and such, all the birds do just fine outside in aviaries.

Handraised birds still have basic instincts, but some will have a little trouble with raising chicks. Some will pluck feathers, eat eggs, not sit on eggs etc but not all will do this.

Start off small and then work your way up. Start with a simple Budgie or Cockatiel. Then after a breeding season or 2 if you are confident and everything has gone to plan, get some other species.

[Neokireina]

I find that young parents and even seasoned birds sometimes have these problems so it's not limited just to tame birds. Alot of breeders in my area including myself had so much bad luck with their birds last year.
So I agree that the tameness of the bird doesnt affect breeding.

If possible use the nesting boxes that slope downwards to a nice pit not the vertical ones. bah i dont have a picture for you. But some breeders say that when they go into the next they can drop down on, and crush the chicks.