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Breeder who buy unweaned babies and resell

goosegirl

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Not sure is this is in the right section, or has been touched on before, but I am very curious on how members feel about this practice.

I live in Southern California and it seems to be a widespread practice of "breeders" buying unweaned babies locally or shipping them in, and then they hand feed and sell the babies as their own.

I have come across these "breeders" and some are forthcoming and admit to it, and say they only buy from reputable breeders who have been established for 15+ years. While others just pretend they don't while it's blatantly obvious they do and their babies look in poor condition.

This just rubs me the wrong way and I feel like no matter how reputable you claim the breeder is that sold the unweaned babies to them, you just don't know what conditions they are really coming from. Not to mention I don't agree with unweaned babies being shipped. Bird's are fragile, and babies even more so.

How do you guys feel about this? Would you still buy from the "breeder", and do their claims of only working with reputable breeders mean anything?
 

JLcribber

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And yet even more trauma stress and anxiety for a bird that has already had a tragic start to life.

Despicable.

Don't buy a bird from any breeder. Adopt. Don't shop.
 

goosegirl

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I agree with adopting, but it's not always possible. The bird rescue near me only has larger bird species, and many with issues. I have a six year old and his safety does come first, and that tends to mean smaller species and ones without a lot of prior trauma.

My two birds(canary winged parakeet and turquoise green cheek) are rescues off of craigslist from pretty ugly situations, but they were both under a year. The GCC(Olive) still has some issues with my son, but she has greatly improved. She mostly just likes me and my husband, she does love my son, but loves to pick on him a lot too! The Canary winged parakeet(kiwi) has become my son's bird, and is just the sweetest little love bug.

Also, I agree with going with a responsible breeder who isn't producing large volumes, and is genuinely putting their bird's first. But in Southern California that is becoming difficult to find.

I was just interested in other members experiences with these kinds of "breeders" and their take or opinion on the practice.
 

AvianCrew

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I would've loved to adopt, but like @goosegirl said, rescues with smaller birds are harder to find in SoCal.
 

karen256

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It's often done with good intentions - unweaned babies experience less stress from shipping (they feel safe and secure in dark, enclosed. nest-like spaces) and it means the larger breeders send them to handfeeders who (in theory) provide the babies with more attention and socialization than the large breeder could provide. Also, there is a lack of breeders of some species in many states so if someone wants a less common bird, they may need to have it shipped anyway.

Sometimes it works out great, other times not so much. The best and most caring handfeeder might get their babies from a less-than-ideal breeder (although I'm sure many of them do research the breeders their babies come from), or the babies might be shipped to an inexperienced handfeeder.
 

Rolanda

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I Live in SoCal, and found a reputable breeder who raises her baby Lovebirds in her home, and has her breeding pairs with her in her home (their own room outside). My Lovebird, Mo, came to me under the best of circumstances, well loved, hand tame, well socialized, looking for a Mom and ready to be with my family. We had the absolute BEST experience. I think our experience is not typical. From what I am hearing there seem to be SO many breeders who are in it for the money, and breed their pairs over and over again, which produces babies that are in poor health. Poor conditions in Breeders environments and poor nutrition all seem to be more the norm.
I would be very careful purchasing any animal out there, no matter where you get them from. Even Adopting I'd take ask for references and take a good look around and at the birds.
 

goosegirl

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I feel like a lot, definitely the majority, of "breeders" I have come across do not care about the bird's at all.

One had feathered chicks in a shut box with no light, toys, food or water. It was horrifying how she kept the bigger birds. Not to mention their " food" was just pure sunflower seeds and nothing else. The sad thing is that she isn't the exception, at least in my experience in Southern California.

I have only come across a small handful of real breeders that love their bird's and put them first. But I have yet to meet one of these so called "breeders" who properly care for these unweaned babies they are buying and reselling. They seem to buy larger quantities that they cannot realistically care for and socialize just because they are focusing on money and getting the next batch in.

But this is all what I have observed and personally experienced.
 

SongPrincess

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I Live in SoCal, and found a reputable breeder who raises her baby Lovebirds in her home, and has her breeding pairs with her in her home (their own room outside). My Lovebird, Mo, came to me under the best of circumstances, well loved, hand tame, well socialized, looking for a Mom and ready to be with my family. We had the absolute BEST experience. I think our experience is not typical. From what I am hearing there seem to be SO many breeders who are in it for the money, and breed their pairs over and over again, which produces babies that are in poor health. Poor conditions in Breeders environments and poor nutrition all seem to be more the norm.
I would be very careful purchasing any animal out there, no matter where you get them from. Even Adopting I'd take ask for references and take a good look around and at the birds.

I live in SoCal too. Could you please share the breeder's name? Lovies are in my future and I would like to get mine from a good home.
 

Rolanda

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I live in SoCal too. Could you please share the breeder's name? Lovies are in my future and I would like to get mine from a good home.


I just went to her Facebook page and found that she closed doors on breeding last month:dontgo::sadbye:
Her page still up though. You could take a look... Laura's Lovebug Lovebirds & Parrotlets - Home | Facebook
I know she had a friend here in San Diego who was a breeder, but I do not know her name. I also can not vouch for the quality of her babies.
 

SongPrincess

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I just went to her Facebook page and found that she closed doors on breeding last month:dontgo::sadbye:
Her page still up though. You could take a look... Laura's Lovebug Lovebirds & Parrotlets - Home | Facebook

I know she had a friend here in San Diego who was a breeder, but I do not know her name. I also can not vouch for the quality of her babies.

Boooo!!!!! She had cute babies too!! I'd love to adopt but none of the rescues down here seem to have small birds.
 

melissasparrots

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I don't agree with this practice for the most part. I know some people have well established partnerships and it works well. As someone mentioned above, younger chicks handle the switch easier than older ones with fewer stress bars on their feathers and easily accept a new hand-feeder. The major problem that I see is the reality that a lot of these people collect babies from multiple breeders without any regard for disease prevention. I'd have very serious reservations about purchasing a chick from such a situation. For that matter, most breeders that sell their babies unweaned aren't really concerned for the future of their chicks. Which also calls into question how they handle other ethical issues such as making sure parent birds are unrelated, physically good specimens on healthy diet to produce good sized hatchlings and more disease testing. It makes me angry to visit bird fairs and see stunted chicks with black stress bars or black feather tips and some seller standing over them beaming like they have some fine specimens when they don't. There are a lot of steps on the way to producing a good sized, really healthy bird and if you know what to look for, you can tell when someone has been cutting corners because the end product is not as nicely filled out with glowing feathers. Someone that doesn't know what they are looking at will think the babies look cute. But compared to someone that did a good job, they just look small, delicate and kind of ratty. The ratty feathers can molt out but the stunting is often permanent. And a lot of those people just think they got a bird on the small end of normal, when really it should be about 20% larger if someone had taken the time to feed it right and feed the parents right so it wasn't already stunted on the day it hatched.
 

goosegirl

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@melissasparrots I completely agree!

One of mine main issues is also diseases. How can the breeder really be sure the chicks are healthy when buying from multiple sources? Also, baby chicks may feel comfortable in dark spaces so it's easier to ship, but I'm sure the altitude isn't normal for babies that small and the cold temperature they experience.

I also don't think any breeder that is breeding in large quantities and selling unweaned babies is reputable. These breeders should focus on the adult birds, their habitats, diets and disease prevention instead of quantity and money.

I can't count the number of times I have heard breeders say not to put toys because it's a distraction and breeders don't need them. Well I whole heartedly disagree!

I am a hobby breeder of parrotlets and only have three pairs with possibly another three if I can get some healthy unrelated females. But, my breeders get the same comforts as my pets with no exceptions. My breeders do play with toys and I find in parrotlets it can help prevent bonded pairs from attacking each other because they have stimulation.

Also, all of my breeders are going to be with me for their life, I just don't feel good about what would happen to them if I ever sold them. A lot of people who breed parrotlets in my area treat them as if they aren't living creatures, it's disgusting!

My breeders have learned to whistle, two have learned to talk, and all are comfortable with me and my hands in their business. I also don't breed all the fancy mutations because of the health issues and reduced lifespan. I just don't think it's ethical or fair to the birds or their future owners.
 
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