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New babies

BrianB

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very cute names! at this point I have completely lost track of how many birds you own . . . i think its time for an animal roundup? w pictures of course!!! :xflove: :laugh: :hilarious:
Let's see if I can do a quick accounting, but no pictures of them since this isn't the right forum. I have 38 cockatiels. 25 conures, 3 of which are pets they are Wasabi, Jacki, and Nibbles. The other 22 are breeding pairs that are either actively breeding or planned for the future. At the moment there are 111 conure chicks. 10 are being hand-fed, the other hatched last night, and I'm cautiously optimistic about its survival. 6 African greys. They are Dexter and Zoe, Merlin and Miss B, and the other pair we haven't decided on a name yet. The previous owner called them Growler and Quiet, because one of them makes this horrible noise like a growling dog. That one is the female, so we're working on a name for them. There are 11 macaws named Christopher (B&G), Chewie (Ruby), Poppy (Scarlet), Greenwings named Zelda & Zachary (Freya's parents), Victor (B&G) & Valentina (Greenwing) - Chichi's parents. Boo Boo (Buffons) & Natcho (Greenwing) and the Red Fronted pair named Olas and Varmit - Parents to Yoli, Kai, Penny Pickles, and JuJu . Then the pair of Eclectus, so that makes 82 adults and 11 babies.

I guess I'm the definition of a crazy bird man.
 

BrianB

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Sorry, that should be 11 conure chicks. Not 111. I do know breeders that have 70+ pairs of green cheeks and deal with hundreds of babies each year. They are retired from their careers and can devote their time to it 100%. Breeding on that scale is beyond me. I also manage a bird store, and we have three rooms for boarding birds in addition to the birds that live there and babies that come and go. As the manager, I take personal responsibility for making sure they are properly taken care of. At the end of the day, I walk through each room with the staff and we check every cage to make sure it was properly cleaned and they have appropriate food and water to last them through the night. If something isn't right I'll point it out. If it can wait then I make sure they are aware of it so it can be taken care of the next day, otherwise they stay until it has been addressed. I remind them that if I miss it, the owner will certainly catch it. It's better to do it right the first time because no one wants to boss to be angry :)
 

MR. Mango

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wow, that must be a lot of work, when i first read 111 my eyes popped out of my head a little :rofl:
 

BirdyDarby

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That sounds like birdie heaven to me! It must be such a dream to devote most of one’s time to a large flock of birds; I’ve only ever had 1-2 birds at any given time, but I would absolutely love a large flock of macaws eventually.
 

BrianB

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That sounds like birdie heaven to me! It must be such a dream to devote most of one’s time to a large flock of birds; I’ve only ever had 1-2 birds at any given time, but I would absolutely love a large flock of macaws eventually.
It's a lot of work and I only get a day off when I'm out of town on vacation. Even being sick last week, I still had to get up and do the basics for them. Food, veggies, water, sweep the floor, etc. The store adds more to that, but it's a different kind of work. Early 20's adults who have a work ethic some days and other days they don't. I have to walk a thin line between being a friend and mentor to them and being their boss. I was that age once, a very long time ago, but I remember navigating the challenges of personal independence and responsibility. At least the birds are predictable from one day to the next, and they make it all worthwhile.
 

Miss Annamarie

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Beautiful!!! If you have any questions at all on diet or anything feel free to reach out to me.
I personally do not feed my ekkies any pellets, 60% fruit, 10% sprouts and a little seed, treats/nuts etc., and 30% veggies. Just remember they need more fruit than veggies unlike other parrots!
 

BrianB

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Thanks! I’m still navigating the diet. They currently get the base chop mix we feed the macaws but we add more fruit to it. They get a small dish with a mix of RoudyBush pellets and volkman eclectus seed mix. We used to add celery and spinach but I’ve replaced those with kale and green beans. We add sprouts to it as well. With their diet being so different I’m constantly reading things to make sure I have a good balance for them.
 

aooratrix

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Do you know what subspecies they are? They can be extremely hard to differentiate, especially the males.
 

BrianB

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Do you know what subspecies they are? They can be extremely hard to differentiate, especially the males.
I don’t know for sure. The first pair are supposed to be Solomon’s. When I looked at them up close it looked like they might be Vos, but I don’t know the differences well enough to be sure. When I showed a friend a picture of the second pair she said she thinks they are Vos. She has 12 or 13 of them so she may have a better idea than I do.
 

BirdyDarby

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The first pair’s male looks like a red-sided to me since his bars are so prominent compared to a typical Solomon male. Can’t see the first pair’s female’s whole body, but my cards are on Solomon since it doesn’t seem like there’s yellow dominating her tail (female vos are very easy to distinguish, they have prominent yellow banding while female Solomons have mainly red tails with a tiny fade of yellow occasionally).
 

BrianB

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I was looking through some pictures for another post, but couldn't find what I wanted. I saw a picture I managed to snap down inside the nest box for the Eclectus pair. For the last week, Electra has been really aggressive. She's never been friendly, but she's been over the top. The picture I saw was dated April 22nd. Something right behind her caught my eye. When I zoomed in on it, I see that she's got an egg under her. That was 18 days ago. The nest box is not ideal and I was planning on replacing it. It's very deep and dark inside and there is no viewing door at the back. I have no idea when she laid it or if the egg is viable, but she's got at least one in there. I have a camera on the cage so I'm going to have to spy on them to see if I can get any idea of what's going on in there. I did not expect them to breed so soon.

The other pair will be coming around the end of this month.
 

BirdyDarby

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Exiting news, even if the egg turns out to be not viable! Animals always seem to know when it’s an inconvenient time to do something haha. Can’t wait to see the new pair. :heart:
 

nacho

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Congrats they are beautiful
 

BrianB

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The new babies have arrived. I'm trying to find a nest box, but there is a bird mart in town this weekend so maybe I can find one there. I reached out to a company that makes high-density plastic boxes, but I haven't heard back yet. I don't believe the egg in the other box is fertile. We're now past 30 days, but I'm going to give it a little while longer since I can't see fully into the box to see if there is more than one in there. If I can find a box this coming weekend, I'll replace it and then we'll know for sure. Now I'm off to find better perches for them. I didn't have time to get the cage set up the way I want and I need to get rid of that dowel perch. I'll give it to Chewie so he can make a vampire stake out of it.

IMG_5889.jpeg IMG_5890.jpeg
 

BirdyDarby

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God ekkies are so precious, their face shape is so comical. Can’t wait to have a big flock of them.
 

BrianB

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I put on the new nest boxes today. The first female that was on the egg was furious with me. I pulled down the bad nest box and she refused to get out of it so I covered the entrance with a towel to keep her inside while I put the new box up. She hasn't gone into the new box yet, but she was really agitated so I didn't expect her to. The new female jumped right into the box and started scratching around. I drilled a small hole in the top of the lid and put a camera on it. I'll be able to spy on them now. They have only been with us for a week, and the breeder I acquired them from said he had seen them mating and the male feeding her. Hopefully this wasn't too much of a disruption and they will take to the new box without too much fuss and get back to breeding.

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Tyrion

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They are so beautiful :D
 

BrianB

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Meet Sir Lancelot. He's a completely unexpected addition to our flock. A friend and former coworker of mine who at one point had 12 or 13 ekkies has been having a rough time for the last few years. She left the store during the height of covid and due to her declining health, she couldn't come back. In 2018 she purchased this male with the desire to use him for breeding in the future. Now that he's mature and life has changed for her, breeding larger birds just isn't in the cards for her. She called me last night and asked if I would take him and make sure he finds a nice lady friend. We picked him up this afternoon. Aside from vet visits and nail trims, he's never been handled as a pet. He looks a bit rough, but he's fully feathered and his body feels sturdy. He's in a temporary cage in the living room right now. I can't put him in the room with the other Eclectus pairs because I don't have a way to visually separate them and I don't want a single male in sight of two breeding pairs. I've been informed that the new pair is to be named Boris and Natasha and it isn't up for discussion since I named the first pair Banner and Elektra. I'll take it over Heckle and Jeckle any time.

IMG_6090.jpeg
 

April

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Meet Sir Lancelot. He's a completely unexpected addition to our flock. A friend and former coworker of mine who at one point had 12 or 13 ekkies has been having a rough time for the last few years. She left the store during the height of covid and due to her declining health, she couldn't come back. In 2018 she purchased this male with the desire to use him for breeding in the future. Now that he's mature and life has changed for her, breeding larger birds just isn't in the cards for her. She called me last night and asked if I would take him and make sure he finds a nice lady friend. We picked him up this afternoon. Aside from vet visits and nail trims, he's never been handled as a pet. He looks a bit rough, but he's fully feathered and his body feels sturdy. He's in a temporary cage in the living room right now. I can't put him in the room with the other Eclectus pairs because I don't have a way to visually separate them and I don't want a single male in sight of two breeding pairs. I've been informed that the new pair is to be named Boris and Natasha and it isn't up for discussion since I named the first pair Banner and Elektra. I'll take it over Heckle and Jeckle any time.

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Oh he's such a handsome boy. I'm sorry that your friend is having such a rought time with things but that's wonderful that you've been able to take him in and give him a wonderful home and a mate and that your friend won't have to stress and worry about where he ends up. I absolutely love his name as well :heart:
 
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