Selling Birds to Pet Stores?

[finchly]

It's hard to make much money breeding birds.

I usually say if you are making money, you aren't doing it right. Plus the frustration if you took it to a pet store where they don't treat them like you want them to. I have never sold to a pet store. We have a good, conscientious store here but -- no. I like to sell directly to the buyer. I can' tell 'em what to do --- ooh I mean explain things that way.

 

[Feather]

"backyard" breeder

I'm trying to figure out a way to make money with birds

'nuff said.

 

[parrotkid]

Yeah, as a breeder myself there is no money in birds if done right. You should not be doing it for money, if that is your reason.. have a re think.

 

[rocky'smom]

I know a lady that use to sell to my local Petco. The last time I talked to her, I told her how those birds were treated after she sold them there. I was very descript, to the nasty cages, the low quality food, the water dishes not being cleaned more then once a day. To be honest I laid it on thick. When I see the horrible care at that store, I'm up in their faces about it. I have told them flat out until it's fixed I'm not leaving. They get it done. The management and I are on first name basis.

 

[Deleted member 29421]

I doubt soda pop will be back or respond.



My best advice would be to get a real job and earn money the honest way. Not on the backs of helpless creatures. Please.

YOU, my friend, ROCK!!

 

[Pipper]

Well given that I'm a pet bird owner I'm not going to tell you not to breed pet birds because it isn't right. I think given the number of birds bred that most breeders must be finding good owners for those pet birds.

It's a hobby you won't make a lot of money though I think.

The chain stores use USDA approved breeders so you have no chance at those places. Mom & Pop pet stores you can ask on a case by case basis but you can expect a lot of no.

That leaves Craig's List, setting up on the internet your own store, and these 'bird fancier' conventions where birds are sold. I've only recently gotten into pet birds again since childhood and can say on Facebook is where most of these hobbyist breeders sell their birds. I don't know alot about their inventories but they wind up stuck with some of their birds and I see a lot of price changes too. Up & down. There are lots of ads on CL but I'm guessing about 30% or more of those ads on CL and other internet sites are fake. So your prospective bird buyer has to wade through all the fake ads to even find you too. That's not very encouraging and helpful to your efforts.

As a bird breeder math example:

sun conures are very popular and the so called natural average price is $600 from a real brick & mortar pet store. On Facebook they tend to go for about $400 and sometimes cheaper that I've seen. So to make a poor working class salary of $20,000 from breeding sun conures and selling every one of them at $400 you need to sell 50 sun conures. Sun conures typically have 4 - 6 eggs per clutch but if you must have 50 chicks then you have to be conservative and estimate 4 eggs per clutch. In correct breeding conditions you get 2 clutches per year per bonded pair. So doing the math you need 7 bonded pair of sun conures producing 2 nests per year or 13 bonded pairs producing 1 nest a year.

So the 50 sold sun conures at $50 from 7 bonded pairs of sun conures producing 2 nests per year will make you about $20,000 before taxes.

You'll have to spend about $800 x 7 or $4200 on sun conures 1st. Or if you have 13 bonded pairs you'd need to spend $7600. You could build an aviary with nest boxes in a room if you owned your house for about $100 and then there is food at about $200. That means you'd need to invest about $4500 or $8000. There are vet bills but you'd need to get some sort of farm vet that does chickens & such if you could find one that is affordable. You'd definitely not want to risk creating sickly birds through inbreeding to make new color mutations.

You'd have so much noise, a huge mess, and a room with enough of a smell it'd likely permeate your whole house for all that effort (well unless you live in a place warm enough for an outdoor aviary). So personally outside breeding a few clutches as a short duration hobby to learn training techniques and comprehensive species bird care I certainly don't have a lot of motive to breed birds.

 

[WhteRnbwBirdie]

Find a bird Specialty store that accepts babies. Not a Pet-co or PetSmart.

 

[katebf38]

Raising any animal or species requires lots of time, love, and money. It also requires a ton of knowledge on genetics, diseases, weaknesses as strengths of the species, good husbandry, food, vets, etc. you probably will never make a dime if you do the job right. The pleasure comes from bettering yourself and the species because you’ve done your homework. You are responsible for every life you bring into this world. A heavy responsibility. Are you willing to take back a bird that someone decides they don’t want, or do the necessary legal work to have contracts to give your babies the best chance at a happy life? Big responsibility-little financial reward. I agree, find a job that pays and leave breeding to the experts.

No disrespect intended.

 

[JenBirds]

I did that with two of my birds and wound up buying them back,.. losing $15 for each bird.. they only gave them seed, and no veggies or fruit, no pellets and not a toy to be seen in the cage. So instead they tore each other up!! Very ragged so I still have them.. much happier now! Depends on the store but I haven't any good ones around where I live unfortunately. Forget about flying time.. I bet that never happened.

 

[BrianB]

I have sold to a local bird store. The difference is that it's a bird store, not a big box chain. I would never sell to one of those, nor would I encourage anyone to buy a bird from there. Before I sold the birds, I talked with other bird store owners to get their opinion of the store, and how it is run. They do tend to talk trash about each other, but I'm not interested in their personal opinion of the owner. I'm looking for comments on how clean the store is, and would they sell to that store if they had to close. It's about how well they feel the other store takes care of their birds. One store bred their own and wasn't interested. Another was 100% family run, and they didn't want their father getting his hands on chicks because he has a habit of keeping birds instead of selling them. The other was well regarded and she was happy to take them. The store is clean, and she has staff on hand that does nothing but take care of chicks until they are ready to sell. I doubt I'll do it again, but it was a learning experience.

 

[Lady Jane]

Whether its a bird store or pet store the main interest if $$$. I know that in the show budgie world the birds that don't make it to those tiny cages are sometimes sold by bulk to pet stores. I have also heard ugly rumors that in foreign countries they are euthanized.

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

I ended up not selling to any pet stores, though I would if I found a good store that was interested. I have sold a few birds (doves, by the way) to some very nice homes; I'm still in contact with a couple of the buyers, and all the birds are doing very well. A very late thank you for all the very helpful advice, and many apologies for not replying sooner; I forgot my login and haven't been back here in a while.
I realize this is an old thread and there is no point in reviving it, but reading back here I did want to give a bit of an "update" for all the helpful (and the worried) posters. My wording in the original post could have been a lot better, but I was only trying to find a way to keep what I love (birds, and keeping them) something that my parents supported. They don't exactly believe in or understand putting a lot of money into something if you're not going to get any back. But I wouldn't ever sell any animal into a bad situation. Rest assured it isn't and could never be "all about the money" for me. I care very much for my birds and ensure that they all live the best lives I can provide for them.
For the poster who asked about what birds I have; I have two budgie brothers by the names of Kiwi and Zucchi (Zucchini), and quite a few doves; many names there that I won't bore you with now. I used to have a couple pigeons too that I got as orphan babies, and a Button Quail. I've fostered other orphaned/unwanted birds as well. Find attached some pics (and a video); just because I love showing off my bbs.

All the best,
Sarah

 

[finchly]

Beautiful birds!

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

Thank you!! I loves them <3