A lot of people have seen the other side of people breeding because they want to. They've adopted birds and seen how many there were in rescues, or they've volunteered at or run rescues themselves. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see how many people don't think about the consequences of breeding and end up with too many birds, are breeding birds hoping to make money and not carefully vetting new owners, are breeding from birds that are aggressive or have health problems, or don't know what they're getting into and end up with problems that they don't know how to solve. Things like egg-binding, the parents attacking or abandoning their chicks, chicks with slow crop or crop burns, chicks with splayed legs, chicks that struggle to wean. There is a LOT that can go wrong when breeding birds and I don't think enough people are aware of that.
I had rats for many years, and while I didn't show or breed, I was pretty deep into the rat fancy world. The thing about rats is that they breed incredibly quickly and often come in startlingly attractive colours, but they also have a lot of health problems and short life expectancy. Lots of people get a cute rat and want to breed from it without knowing anything about where that rat has come from, health or hormone issues in their line, lifespan, anything really. I learnt from breeders who sought to improve their line in terms of lifespan and temperament, with colour and patterns third in their list of priorities. They are meticulous about record-keeping and have seen real improvements. As a result, it was rather a shock to me when I got interested in parrots and found that, if a parrot was deemed too aggressive for a pet home, a good number of people would rehome it to a breeding programme!
I did get Leia from a breeder. Her species is very uncommon in the UK, and as a result very rarely comes up in rescues. We have much fewer parrots and parrot rescues in the UK compared to the US, and the birds that come up in rescue tend to be Greys, cockatoos and amazons, which as a novice I felt totally ill-equipped for. I talked to her breeder a lot about his breeding and husbandry practices - about how he selects the birds he wants to breed from to how he keeps records to how he co-parents the chicks. I wanted my bird to know that she's a bird first and foremost, and I sought out a breeder who didn't handrear chicks. I wanted to ensure that our values aligned and happily, they do.
I think it is possible to breed birds ethically but many people do not. These are some things I would ask anyone who is breeding parrots, or plans to breed.
I would want to see:
- a clear set of goals from a breeder: what are they breeding for? why are they breeding? what is the overall aim?
- some kind of systematic approach, not just "oh these birds are pretty, they should have babies"
- a rigorous approach to choosing birds for a breeding programme.
- commitment to breeding for physical and mental health: breeding birds that are resilient enough to cope with the stresses of captive life.
- impeccable husbandry: environment, diet, enrichment, vet care, mentorship.
- commitment to learning: attending talks, being part of a breeding network (to swap birds and keep gene pools fresh), learning about avian health and genetics, keeping up with best practices as they emerge.
If someone cannot commit to doing these
as a minimum then no, I don't think they have any business breeding.