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Where Do I Start

T.C.

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Ty
So as of know, I've never cared for any young birds with the exception of wild birds that I rescued. How hard is it to start from an egg of a bird like the african grey, and raise it onward from that point? I have no experience in doing so, so I'm curious where the best place to start learning would be. A google search just leads me to people selling rather than obtaining information on doing it. All of my birds I bought as young adults, but I think it would be awesome to entirely raise one up myself once I get the time and knowledge.

Thanks In Advance.
 

Zygodactylous

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I’ve raised thousands of wild birds as a volunteer and professional wildlife rehabilitator and licensed vet tech, including from the egg, and let me tell you—I don’t feel qualified to raise a parrot from the egg.

Parrots are intensely social beings. They need a flock to learn how to be parrots properly. Even if you had unlimited money for a good quality egg incubator with egg turner, a candler, a neonate incubator, proper feeding equipment, training to feed correctly, the ability to stay home all day and feed all day every day every 1/2-1 hour for weeks, and 24/7 access to avian veterinary help if needed, you need to look into the pros and cons of 100% hand raising. The more research we do, the more we find that parent raising is so much better for the babies psychologically and physically for the rest of their lives. If you want to experience raising a bird from the egg, see if you can volunteer at a wild bird rescue.
 

Zygodactylous

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A good, well-researched article on pros and cons: Hand-raised or Parent-raised: Which is Better for the Birds? | IVIS

Think of it like puppies. We can, technically, take them immediately away from their dam at birth and bottle feed. But why? It’s bad for the pup and bad for us. It really only should be done if parent-rearing is impossible (e.g. the dam dies or tries to hurt the pups). We know now that the best thing for a puppy is to stay with the dam until an absolute minimum of 8 weeks, but 12 or more is better. They learn how to be dogs, learn limits, get socialized, and have far, far less likelihood of serious behavioral problems or nutritional imbalances.
 

Zara

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If you want a young bird, get a weaned chick. A bird that can feed itself and fly. Anything earlier than that with no experience is a disaster waiting to happen.
Remember, when things go wrong, we humans just have our feeling hurt... the bird loses it´s life.

To answer your question,
How hard is it to start from an egg of a bird like the african grey, and raise it onward from that point?
Quite difficult, moreso when no experience. Getting an egg to hatch is a whole science thing (goes well over my head), and once it does, if it hatches, you have to care for a day old chick, which in itself is complicated and something most breeders do not like doing (they will when needed, but most will never pull day old chicks).

A google search just leads me to people selling rather than obtaining information on doing it.
Thats probably because parrot eggs are hard to come by. You can´t buy them online so all websites offering them are scams. You would have to obtain the egg in person, and to transit it without destroying it would be quite the task.
 

Zygodactylous

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Last post, I promise:

The thought I try to keep in the front of my mind when making decisions about animals in my care is this: am I doing the best thing for them, or the best thing for me?

I absolutely love hand feeding baby animals. They’re adorable, and sweet, and ridiculous, and that total dependence creates what can feel like a unique bond, although in the long run unique bonds happen at any age if you put the effort and compassion in. But, what they need at that age for the best start in life is their family, not me. I am an inadequate substitute.
 
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T.C.

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Ty
Thank You for the informative and helpful responses. I'm glad it was pointed out that most sites selling parrot eggs were scams as I noticed this myself. I had raised a dove from an egg, and onward. However that was the only experience I've had as far as eggs. That is unless you count quails or ducks, but that's obviously fairly different. I imagine I'll just have to forget about raising from an egg.

Again, thanks all. Nice to be part of a community where everyone's so knowledgeable.
 
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