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Hyacinth Macaw Breeders in Canada/Any Reviews for Pine Valley Aviary?

Summzz

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Summer
Hi everyone!
For years now I have wanted to get a Hyacinth to add to my flock. I knew it was a big commitment so I have taken the time to properly research all I could and I wanted to make sure I had the means to take care of the new bird before I did anything. Thankfully, I'm in a place where I soon will have met all those requirements and so now I'm looking into breeders to find the best one I can! I live in Canada and there really doesn't seem like there are any at all. My first question was had anyone heard/ had good or bad reviews about Pine Valley Aviary in Alberta? They seem to be the only ones in Canada with Hyacinths so I tried to reach out to ask all the questions I could (from recommendations from the Avenue, I wanted to make sure I found someone who wanted me to ask questions and wanted to ask me questions. I'm really picky and cautious when it comes to my pets and want to make sure I'm dealing with the right person). So far, I haven't had the best interactions with whoever I was texting but I'm a person who knows that an off day can make you seem like a different person than who you really are, so I wanted to see if anyone here has ever had experiences with them.

My second question was if anyone knew of any other breeders nearby. No other ones seem to come up in Canada but I would also be willing to travel a little bit if they were closer to the border (when it's safe and better to do so of course!)
I understand there can be a bit of a waiting list sometimes so I'm really just trying to find someone, ask questions and then when the time is right either put myself on a waiting list or pick up the bird when it's ready.

If anyone has any other knowledge, whether if it's about breeders, or just general tips for Hyacinths (I always believe there is more to learn!), that is greatly welcomed and appreciated!
Thank you so much!
 

flyzipper

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For what it's worth, I'm intermittently reading two Canadian Parrot Breeder groups on Facebook, and I haven't seen anything bad about Pine Valley.

That said, I have no direct experience with them myself.

There was an aviary which raised Hyacinths near Windsor Ontario (C&C Aviary). but they have dropped off the radar.

Ayaz's Birds and Exotics, in Toronto, lists Hyacinth Macaws, but I haven't read much about them and have no direct experience.

So far, I haven't had the best interactions with whoever I was texting
I don't want to make excuses for anyone, but perhaps Pine Valley will warm up when they determine your inquiry is genuine. Given the rarity and price of Hyacinths, a lukewarm interaction may be because they field a high number of questions that don't lead anywhere (speculating). Additionally, perhaps a phone or video call would lead to a more personal connection than texting.

Good luck!
 

Summzz

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Canada
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Summer
For what it's worth, I'm intermittently reading two Canadian Parrot Breeder groups on Facebook, and I haven't seen anything bad about Pine Valley.

That said, I have no direct experience with them myself.

There was an aviary which raised Hyacinths near Windsor Ontario (C&C Aviary). but they have dropped off the radar.

Ayaz's Birds and Exotics, in Toronto, lists Hyacinth Macaws, but I haven't read much about them and have no direct experience.



I don't want to make excuses for anyone, but perhaps Pine Valley will warm up when they determine your inquiry is genuine. Given the rarity and price of Hyacinths, a lukewarm interaction may be because they field a high number of questions that don't lead anywhere (speculating). Additionally, perhaps a phone or video call would lead to a more personal connection than texting.

Good luck!
Thanks for the info! And yea, I agree with you, I totally understand they could be hesitant with me as well. The last message I sent was still optimistic and I was wanting to know more questions. They seemed hesitant about answering some questions of mine (it was about vet checking as they said they were a closed aviary, which is totally fine. But I also wanted to know about sexting and they said they did it but it wasn't clear if a vet or they did it.). I miss questions a lot of the time so I left it by basically asking another question and grouped it with the other two that were missed. So far it was read last night and no reply yet. People can be busy though so hoping that was just it! I agree with the phone calls too, I'm just a more "shy" person and felt asking a few basic questions over text and then asking for a phone or video call would work great. I still would like to know so much more and was hoping to lead to a phone call soon.

The only other strange thing that was said was a diet topic that came up. I understand about them having different diets that require more nuts and things like that but they were listing out what they eat (which they made it sound like a daily thing) and it all sounded good but they mentioned they gave peanut butter sandwiches. While at first, it doesn't seem that odd to me, I feed my conures small bites of toast here and there and I have heard of people using almond butter on toast as a treat. I've never would have thought peanut butter would be used (due to the higher amounts of sugar). It was just even stranger about them saying how they don't like pellets at all as they are all just processed junk scraps from humans and they are full of sugar. Now, everyone has their own thoughts on that, I'm totally fine with that. But it was just odd to me being peanut butter was okay but pellets weren't. I'm not a diet expert so if anyone can clarify this, that would be great. I know some pellets out there are junk but I know of a handful of good brands that are a great feed with fresh food obviously being first!

Long story short, I still have hope to find the perfect breeder! I will keep searching and look up any that are suggested.
 

macawpower58

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I've been to Canada once, 40 some years ago. :(
Sorry, but I've no idea the breeders there.
We do have members from Canada, hopefully they'll have some ideas for you.
 

flyzipper

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I miss questions a lot of the time
One tactic I use when it's important to stay on script, is to have a script. :)
Perhaps it would help to write down your questions prior to a call and have them nearby for reference.

The only other strange thing...<deleted many strange things>... I still have hope to find the perfect breeder!
My expectations for parrot care have been set fairly high by listening to experienced owners, nutritionists, behaviourists and rescues who treat their birds with high standards. Their nutrition is top notch, the birds attend regular vet checkups, deploy positive reinforcement, and ensure their birds are presented with ample space, choice and opportunity for enrichment. Basically, the people I respect and emulate treat their birds as family.

With that as context, and with the caveat that I've only met a few breeders, and visited one breeding aviary... I've yet to meet a breeder I would want to emulate.

Maybe the few breeders I've met are "old school", but they appeared to treat their birds as well as they needed to in order to run their business.

Whatever the reason, I came away from those limited interactions, thinking to myself, "I'm glad you're handing the long term care to somebody else".

Admittedly that's a huge generalization based on limited experience, but I offer it as a response to your, "hope to find the perfect breeder".

Looking past the breeder, I hope you find the perfect bird.
 

mochiballs

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I don't know if you've checked out parrot breeders Canada but they would give you some good leads. Pine valley is run by Brad something I think? He posts a lot in the local parrot groups and seems to be in good standing. I haven't really met someone with a bird from them though.
 

Mizzely

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So to play devil's advocate here, there are definitely a lot of people in the bird community that don't believe in pellets, including some well known ones. And, not all peanut butter is created equal - you can get sugar free varieties.

Though personally, I believe there are better sources of....everything in peanut butter...that you can get elsewhere. Almond butter would be a simple, easy, and acceptable alternative, so I agree that peanut butter sandwiches as a daily diet seems really odd to me!
 

Summzz

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Summer
One tactic I use when it's important to stay on script, is to have a script. :)
Perhaps it would help to write down your questions prior to a call and have them nearby for reference.



My expectations for parrot care have been set fairly high by listening to experienced owners, nutritionists, behaviourists and rescues who treat their birds with high standards. Their nutrition is top notch, the birds attend regular vet checkups, deploy positive reinforcement, and ensure their birds are presented with ample space, choice and opportunity for enrichment. Basically, the people I respect and emulate treat their birds as family.

With that as context, and with the caveat that I've only met a few breeders, and visited one breeding aviary... I've yet to meet a breeder I would want to emulate.

Maybe the few breeders I've met are "old school", but they appeared to treat their birds as well as they needed to in order to run their business.

Whatever the reason, I came away from those limited interactions, thinking to myself, "I'm glad you're handing the long term care to somebody else".

Admittedly that's a huge generalization based on limited experience, but I offer it as a response to your, "hope to find the perfect breeder".

Looking past the breeder, I hope you find the perfect bird.
Yea, that's a really fair point. I'm kind of the same as in I would find it impossible to just treat any birds as a business, but to be fair, that's why I couldn't breed them either lol. From what I've read, and experienced so far, it seems like that is my same generalization as well. And yea, the most important part is finding the perfect bird to me (although, they are all too great, aren't they!) but I think my main concern is buying from someone who may have not treated the bird properly and it leading to issues down the road. I know one thing mentioned was they don't do vet checks ahead of time (the parents are vet checked but not the babies) but recommended it when I got the bird. Now, closed aviary, I guess that's fair and I'm sure if something was wrong with the bird when I got it, most breeders would find a solution... but I couldn't do that. I know the minute I see it, I will fall in love, and no matter what I will keep it and take care of it lol. Now while that might be a little silly, I just couldn't find out something was wrong during a vet check and I love the bird too much already I couldn't bring myself to do anything about it. So I really want to find someone that hopefully people have had experience with and it's known that they are good caretakers (at minimum).
Another lead...

Northern Exotics Aviaries Canada in Toronto (Facebook Group).
Oh, awsome! I will check it out, thanks again!
I don't know if you've checked out parrot breeders Canada but they would give you some good leads. Pine valley is run by Brad something I think? He posts a lot in the local parrot groups and seems to be in good standing. I haven't really met someone with a bird from them though.
I did a quick search but will do a better one tomorrow. And yea, it seemed like a husband and wife duo and I'm pretty sure his name was Brad. I'm not sure who I was talking to though, they never said. I saw about 5 reviews on their FB page but that was very little and some didn't have any words attached. Their website says they had been doing it for a while (something like in the Aviculture community for over 40 years) so I figured someone would have some information or there would be a ton of people with knowledge of who they are. They do also mention the Canadian Aviculture Magazine on their page so I thought they would be well known. Thanks again though, I will do a double check there.
So to play devil's advocate here, there are definitely a lot of people in the bird community that don't believe in pellets, including some well known ones. And, not all peanut butter is created equal - you can get sugar free varieties.

Though personally, I believe there are better sources of....everything in peanut butter...that you can get elsewhere. Almond butter would be a simple, easy, and acceptable alternative, so I agree that peanut butter sandwiches as a daily diet seems really odd to me!
Oh for sure, I totally understand all the diet debates and totally accept others not liking pellets and whatnot. That wasn't 100% strange to me but it was more the feeding the peanut butter sandwiches often or on a daily. I thought I was nuts and checked the two different brands of peanut butter I had in the house and the first one was Sugar (corn syrup) as the second ingredient and the other one icing sugar second. So I don't know about others, but I would at least choose the almond butter I bought that doesn't have that over icing sugar lol. But that's a tough one when there are so many different opinions, I just try going with the one with the best evidence and proof for the health of the bird. I will be sticking with the almond butter!
 
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