--Hello Parrot Lovers--
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T H E P E R C H
BIRD BYTES OFFICIAL EZINE
http://www.birdbytes.com/index.html
6/21/2001
Issue #1
Rosita Mercado
Bird Editor
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BIRD BYTES IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE 1st ISSUE OF:
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IN THIS ISSUE
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=> Welcome
=> Top Sponsor
=> Featured Article
=> Hot Book!
=> The Perch Links
=> Subscribers Chirping Corner
=> How to Be Featured in Subscriber's Chirping Corner
=> How to Advertise in our Newsletter
=> Bird Bytes Updates
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information
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WELCOME
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Hi everyone! Thank you for subscribing to my E-Zine!
I plan to put my very best into this E-Zine to help
share the love of our beautiful companions -- Parrots!
First, let me tell you a little about myself: When I
was 6 years old, my parents put our family parakeet
on my hand so they could take a picture of me.
(Remind me to post that picture on Bird Bytes some
time!) And that day it all began...my transformation
into Bird-Dom! I am now 39 years old,
and my birds Own Me! So, I spoil them a little
-- especially my cockatiel, Goldie.
Just typing her name makes me smile. She
entered my life about 5 years ago, and my home
has never been the same. My boyfriend helped
me pick her out at a local pet shop. Unfortunately,
she does not like him one bit. Still, Goldie is
my baby and my angel companion :-) I also
have two parakeets named Pilot and Co-Pilot.
They are 11 years old.
Let me also say that I am not a Writer, so bare
with me, and I am not a Veterinarian -- although
my family considers me the "Bird Doctor." So if
I can't answer your questions, please don't
abandon me. I am starting this E-Zine because
I LOVE PARROTS! And my family is getting
tired of hearing about my birds sooooo
please --- Let's Talk Birds...okay?
Again, Welcome to our 1st Issue of THE PERCH!
Keep On Chirping Everybody!
**Rosita Mercado**
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FEATURE ARTICLE
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by Linda Greeson
Printed with permission from the author
Easy Money
Not long ago one of our neighbors entered the kitchen as
I was feeding baby birds. He saw the plastic boxes full of
crying babies lined up on the counter and was clearly
impressed.
"Wow! Will you look at that!" He said. "How many babies
do you have here?" "About thirty." I answered.
"That's what I call easy money" was his reply. I think I
ought to buy a few pairs and get into this. It beats
working.
I managed to politely remark that there was considerable
work involved. After all, he was a neighbor who never
complained about the noise from our aviaries. He was one
of those exceptional people who enjoyed the sounds of
our birds when he awakened early each morning.
"How much will you get for that one?", he asked, pointing
at a baby Green Winged Macaw.
"About $1800" I casually answered as he went in search
of my husband, still shaking his head over this easy way
we had found to make a fortune.
As I fed the green wing, a nice big baby of five weeks,
I mentally reviewed his history. After almost five years
of searching for just the right birds, we had finally
found the beautiful pair who had produced him. That was
six years ago. In those six years, in addition to the
daily routine care given any bird, we had gone through
several changes in their caging. We finally provided them
with a walk in sized flight. We were on the fourth nest
box before we found one that satisfied them, and believe
me, those were big, heavy, and expensive nest boxes.
It had never taken them longer than a week to demolish
the thickest perch. We watched them progress from staying
at opposite ends of the flight to mild friendship, and
finally, at long last, to courtship. Last year they
rewarded our patience with two eggs and were sitting well.
Unfortunately a midnight visit from a possum resulted
in scrambled eggs. They did not go back to nest until
the following year when, although safely in an indoor
aviary, they again became frightened and once more
scrambled their first two eggs. Luckily they went back
to nest, and this time we quickly snatched up their
one egg for artificial incubation.
Twenty eight days later a lovely big chick emerged from
that egg. For the first seven days he required hand feeding
every two hours, night and day. He was progressing well on
four feedings a day but it would be at least five months
before he would be weaned and eating on his own well enough
to be ready for a new home. All too often a similar
background justifies what my neighbor considered an
enormous price.
We lost a few Cockatiels this season. They were beautiful
big show birds that were the culmination of years of
careful breeding and endless study of genetics. When
cultures showed pseudomonas to be the causative organism,
I had to give the flock of more than 100 cockatiels
injections of an antibiotic, twice daily for seven days.
These babies I was feeding had also required the same
treatment and had survived to be plump and healthy, but
hardly met the criteria for easy money. Disregarding
the time involved in treating the flock, the cost of
veterinary bills, cultures, and antibiotics would offset
any profit. In order to be positive in my selections
for next year's breeding, I had no intentions of selling
these birds anyway.
Three years ago I was fortunate enough to find three
unrelated pairs of Blue Quakers. The following year
they produced well and were all excellent parents. This
yeartwo pairs decided to have eggs for breakfast - their
own eggs! mighty expensive breakfasts. The two babies I
was feeding were only a small percentage of all those
lovely eggs I had been counting on to build up my
breeding stock of this rare mutation.
We have fed and coddled four pairs of Yellow Naped Amazons
for quite a few years. One pair never did even learn to
tolerate each other and we sold them as pets for a
pittance. The other three pairs were preening and feeding
each other and this year we had high hopes for success.
The first pair never did go to nest. The second produced
one chick that they promptly ate. The hen of the third
pair spent most of her time in the nest box but for some
reason, known only to her, insisted on laying her eggs
off the perch. So much for yellow naped babies this
year.
One of our African Grays kicked all the shavings out
of her nest box. She then sat so tightly that one of
her babies was so badly spraddle legged it had to be
destroyed. A pair of Moluccan Cockatoos, after eight
years together, finally produced three eggs. They
became frightened and cracked all three beyond repair.
We will probably now wait for their ninth year for
Moluccan babies.
All of these birds represent a large investment of
both money and time. I have never taken the trouble
to make detailed calculations, but I am sure that
if the sums of money we paid for the birds, the costs
of maintaining them, and minimum wage for the hours
spent in their care, had all been invested in even a
savings account, the return in dollars would have
been much higher.
We love our birds and thoroughly enjoy them. Feeding
a helpless little chick and watching it grow and
develop is a joy - even at two in the morning!
Having birds you have bred yourself placed on the
top bench at shows is as thrilling an experience as
watching your teenager walk up to the platform to
receive his graduation diploma.
I have dwelled only on the negative aspects of our
experience. There have been enough successes over
the years to make it possible for us to take the
disasters instride. There is always another breeding
season to look forward to.
Breeding birds is fun - it is an all absorbing hobby -
it is ever interesting and rewarding - but it is not
easy money.
Linda Greeson
Greeson's Baby Parrots
Fruitland Park, FL 34731
Web Page: http://www.bluequaker.com
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*-----------------HOT BOOK------------------*
Here's a New Book I think we can all relate to -
THE PARROT WHO OWNS ME:
A STORY ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP
//// Click Here to Get Your Book ////
Parrot
Who Owns Me
*-----------------HOT BOOK------------------*
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THE PERCH LINKS
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ANIMAL DEN--The Animal Lovers Gift Shop!
Specializing in products printed with specific animals,
pets, breeds and wildlife. Mugs, t-shirts, jewelry,
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ANIMAL DEN
YOU'LL LOVE WHAT YOU SEE HERE!
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SUBSCRIBERS CHIRPING CORNER
from Kaila Rabbitt
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Below is the 1st subscriber at our CHIRPING CORNER!
WELCOME KAILA!
# # #
HI I'M KAILA
# # #
Hi I'm Kaila. I try to help and rescue birds. I have 50. I don't
get birds larger than Cockatiels or Chicken because my dad
said he might get me a colt or a Macaw - hopefully both LOL.
Well, hope you have a nice day and check out my web site,
THE BIRDSMORNINGPAPER at:
http://birdsmorningpaper.homestead.com/birds.html
***Kaila has a wonderful web site, definitely worth visiting!
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DISCLAIMER: Information, Ads, and advice contained on
this E-Zine is for your consideration only. Please consult
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Copyright 2001, The Perch E-Zine
Official Bird Bytes Ezine
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