I found a pair of breeder birds up for adoption. They are IRN's. Has anyone adopted breeder pairs as pets? What are the pros and cons.
I am thinking they may not be friendly as they are heavily bonded. I would love to save them from a life of breeding. They are 3 and 4 years old. But I don't want to get in over my head on this one.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Um, save them from a life of breeding? What makes you think they are suffering? I breed parrots and I'm here to tell you, raising babies is the high point of their year. If you were to ask the pairs, being with their mate, having nice cozy nest box to obsess over and possibly having some babies to mess around with is just great. They are allowed to do everything their instincts want them to do. Now there can certainly be bad breeders. If you have reason to believe these birds are from a bad breeder and you don't mind if they continue to treat you like an annoying 3rd class citizen, then go ahead and get them. But don't assume that they are necessarily destined to a life of misery just because they are "breeder birds."
Now to answer your question, in some species you might get some pet qualities out of the birds. First, I would not split up the pair. Being friendly with you will probably be at the very bottom of their priority list. They will be much more into each other. For the most part, I do not like to separate pairs in order to make them into pets unless there are some other circumstances making it necessary. Second, because you won't be separating the pair, they will likely want to do what breeder pairs do. Breed. So, you may very well have to decide what your game plan is regarding eggs. Can you stomach addling, boiling or freezing a fertile egg so that the chick doesn't hatch? If so, then you have your plan, and the birds can do what they do and you won't need to deal with babies. If you can't stomach killing the little life that is in that egg, then you are likely to become a breeder. The very thing you probably think you are rescuing them from. In which case, you'll need to make sure you've got all the equipment ready to hand-feed and figure out how to get them into homes. With ringnecks, my understanding is that they need a decent amount of handling as chicks and thereafter to keep their pet qualities. So if you let the parents raise the chicks, you'll likely be looking at selling them as breeder birds or aviary birds. Again, making yourself into the thing you want to rescue them from.
If you really want a couple indian ringnecks, to me a breeding pair might make nice look at pets. I'm told they are on the noisy side and being from a breeding background, they might be noisier than most. Otherwise, you might be able to workout some sort of friendship deal with them. Where they are allowed out of their cage and end up baited back in at bedtime. You don't try to intervene in their love for each other, and they pretty much let you look at their lovely selves and if you are very patient maybe take treats from your hand.. That would make many former breeders reasonably happy. Of course, there are some females out there that will become so frustrated if you don't provide a nest that they pluck themselves. I don't think ringnecks are very prone to that behavior, but do keep in mind that forcing them not to reproduce successfully may cause them more frustration and unhappiness than being a breeder would.
In some species, such as cockatoos, macaws and some amazons, if the bird was a very well socialized pet prior to becoming a breeder, then you might be able to turn them around into being semi-friendly with people. However, you're more likely to have success with that with whatever sex in the pair is known to be the least aggressive. The more aggressive partner may amp up their aggression if they see you messing with their mate. I have a breeding pair of amazons in which the female is still pet quality. But I don't pet her because it makes her mate so upset that he tries to attack me and sometimes her. Normally she tries to avoid getting between me and him so she doesn't take a beating. Since he comes rushing over whenever I try to pet her, it means she doesn't get petted much. But, I had her initially as a pet and put her with a mate because I thought it would make her happiest. And it has. For her, being a breeder is a better life than being a single pet. To me, if they are breeder birds, let them be breeder birds. If you want ringnecks because you really like ringnecks and your willing to just let them be birds even if they are rather unpleasant to be around, then go for it. But don't get them because you think you are rescuing them from breeding. Ringnecks are not among the species known for being real good pets unless well socialized as chicks. So chances are decent that even if you do something incredibly unthinkable like trying to separate the pair to make them pets, you'll probably only have moderate success at making them into very personal pets.
Their cages are in the sunroom. He calls for her most of the time when she is with us. I have started getting him out of the cage and letting him sit with Tink on her playstand. She seems to tolerate him and he seems to really enjoy being out with her.
He has started bathing too! I have always had to spritz him but lately he will bath if we are all together as a flock. So good can come of it but we have had him since 2008 and its just over this summer that he has started doing this. He is older too. He is about 14 whereas Tink is 4. So I say if you can help some breeders have a better life go for it and if on their terms they warm up to you, what a bonus that would be! Totally worth it either way
