Hello, from the past forums I have encountered, it has been established that hand-feeding is not necessary for free flight training as long as you have the proper recall, startle, ascend, descend, hide & seek, etc. training indoor (same goes for hand-fed babies).
Yet, imprinting does have its functions, and coming from a country wherein there is a very active community of free flight birds from Budgies to Macaws, almost EVERY trainer I have spoke with says that while it may be essential, it is better if they are hand-fed.
What are your thoghts on this and why if so? From my experience with fostering birds, my experience tells me that even with extreme patience, I have found hand-fed birds far easier to train and better bonded than those that came as adults...but that's just my experience, and it's only smaller parrots and parakeets...
Yet, imprinting does have its functions, and coming from a country wherein there is a very active community of free flight birds from Budgies to Macaws, almost EVERY trainer I have spoke with says that while it may be essential, it is better if they are hand-fed.
What are your thoghts on this and why if so? From my experience with fostering birds, my experience tells me that even with extreme patience, I have found hand-fed birds far easier to train and better bonded than those that came as adults...but that's just my experience, and it's only smaller parrots and parakeets...