# Birds!



## Nero Egernia (Jul 14, 2017)

Anyone keep and breed birds either for consumption or simply pleasure? 

I keep quail mostly for myself and the reptiles. Despite this they're a pleasure to keep. They have many endearing qualities.










I also have a trio of Pilgrim Geese. The original pair I've had for over six years ever since they were little goslings. The third goose is one of their daughters that I decided to keep. I don't have any recent photos of them but I did manage to dig these up.




My female and male when I first acquired them. 




All grown up.

I also hatch and brood poultry for friends and family. They're not reptiles, but hey, they lay eggs and do have scales on their legs!


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## Wally (Jul 14, 2017)

Nothing more than Rhode Island Reds. Good layers and a good eat on a Sunday afternoon.


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## vampstorso (Jul 15, 2017)

Lovely birds! I particularly love the geese! 

I had the most beautiful red tail black who was my baby. Despite being a typical grumpy hormonal male cockatoo who would happily attack other people. It was a pain but he was my kid before kids, you know? 

It's been almost a year since I lost him to a dog managing to break into his large aviary. Cannot believe it happened. Has been devostating. 

I'm finally giving birds another shot with the hope of healing the wound a bit.
I have two emu chick's arriving in 2 or 3 weeks, just waiting on the hatch. 
They'll be pets, not food lol. 
Will post photos when they arrive. 

I look forward to them getting to eat all the produce from the fruit trees rather than the stupid English black birds haha.


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## Bl69aze (Jul 15, 2017)

I don't but if I did it'd be cape barren geese just coz I love them


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## SpottedPythons (Jul 15, 2017)

I LOVE QUAIL!!!! I have 3, 2 King and 1 Japanese all living together, for egg purposes. I also have 7 Society Finches, one of which is tame, and a hand raised Quaker Parrot.


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## Callum Dureau (Jul 15, 2017)

I mean, I breed budgies... My grandfather breeds princess parrots and major mitchell cockatoos but, and they're quite pretty.
I also have a musked lorikeet, a cockatiel and a red rumped grass parrot.


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## pinefamily (Jul 15, 2017)

My wife has an eclectus parrot; I say my wife because the parrot hates me, lol. We also have two Indian ringnecks, a rescue moustache parrot, and a cockatiel. I'm in the process of building a chook house at the moment, and I'd love to get quails again down the track.

Sorry to hear about your red tail, Vampstorso.


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## Yellowtail (Jul 15, 2017)

I used to breed red tailed blacks, a lot of work but very rewarding hand raising the chicks. I still have a few plus my beloved yellowtail that was hand raised from the egg and is now my avatar.
Photos of a baby Magnificus red tail feeding itself with a spoon, they could eat out of the bowl but use the spoon because thats how you feed them.


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## vampstorso (Jul 15, 2017)

.


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## Yellowtail (Jul 15, 2017)

More baby photos and Coco helping me.


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## pinefamily (Jul 15, 2017)

No, actually it's a male. He tolerates me, but will bite if he's on my hand or arm for any longer than a few minutes. Also has a habit of attacking my feet when I'm in the kitchen.
We did get a female so he had company, but he kept attacking her, so rather than stress her out too much, we sold her sadly. She was actually better with me funnily enough.


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## vampstorso (Jul 15, 2017)

pinefamily said:


> No, actually it's a male. He tolerates me, but will bite if he's on my hand or arm for any longer than a few minutes. Also has a habit of attacking my feet when I'm in the kitchen.
> We did get a female so he had company, but he kept attacking her, so rather than stress her out too much, we sold her sadly. She was actually better with me funnily enough.



I did the same for my boy with the same outcome... The downside to imprinted parrots I guess. 


Ahhh well, something about surly parrot personalities are charming 

Great of you to accept it, my partner isn't so tolerant lol


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## pinefamily (Jul 15, 2017)

No, I don't mind at all. He's quite a character.
At least the dog loves me, lol.


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## SpottedPythons (Jul 15, 2017)

Has anyone else here just realised they keep animals from all members of the vertabrate families? Mammals... Birds... Fish... and of course, reptiles...


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## pinefamily (Jul 15, 2017)

No fish, only the ones in the freezer.


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## Wally (Jul 15, 2017)

pinefamily said:


> No fish, only the ones in the freezer.



Or the end of a line.


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## SpottedPythons (Jul 16, 2017)

Feeders don't count, otherwise I'd have probably tens of thousands of woodies and crickets.


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## Sheldoncooper (Jul 19, 2017)

SpottedPythons said:


> Has anyone else here just realised they keep animals from all members of the vertabrate families? Mammals... Birds... Fish... and of course, reptiles...


Yeh a few parrots. My missus has always had a fear of birds so one day i decided to help her by bringing home eclectus parrots. No better way than facing the fear head on[emoji4] 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


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## SpottedPythons (Jul 19, 2017)

Sheldoncooper said:


> Yeh a few parrots. My missus has always had a fear of birds so one day i decided to help her by bringing home eclectus parrots. No better way than facing the fear head on[emoji4]
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


Bet she loved you for that...


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## Bl69aze (Jul 19, 2017)

My cockatiel died this morning  went to uncover her and there she was, she was fine the night before
She was 13 :c

Fly high lil birdy


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## pinefamily (Jul 19, 2017)

So sorry to hear that.


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## Sheldoncooper (Jul 19, 2017)

SpottedPythons said:


> Bet she loved you for that...


U couldn't even begin to imagine how popular i was because I also don't believe in clipping wings. I let my birds fly around the house. However she loves him now some nights he sleeps on her pillow and I'm on the couch

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


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## Sheldoncooper (Jul 19, 2017)

Bl69aze said:


> My cockatiel died this morning  went to uncover her and there she was, she was fine the night before
> She was 13 :c
> 
> Fly high lil birdy


Sorry to hear. 

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## SpottedPythons (Jul 19, 2017)

Sheldoncooper said:


> U couldn't even begin to imagine how popular i was because I also don't believe in clipping wings. I let my birds fly around the house. However she loves him now some nights he sleeps on her pillow and I'm on the couch
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


Well, it looks like his birdie charm has won over your significant other...  My quaker sleeps in her feeding box, with her stockpile of food...  She's a sweetie (I'm her favourite), always attacks strangers for me! (a.k.a friends and family)


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## dragonlover1 (Jul 19, 2017)

I used to keep budgies,finches and stubble quail.Then we had a galah for over 20 years,nowadays I have a pair of Australorps,great for eating scraps and supplying lovely eggs.


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## SpottedPythons (Jul 19, 2017)

And here's Ellie!!!


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## SpottedPythons (Jul 19, 2017)

dragonlover1 said:


> I used to keep budgies,finches and stubble quail.Then we had a galah for over 20 years,nowadays I have a pair of Australorps,great for eating scraps and supplying lovely eggs.


My birdies just multiplied!!! And now we have a breeding pair of King Quail... anyone want some eggs?  These are some finches that bred... one of them has been successfully tamed and is an ace at step-up practice! (There were 6 eggs, all hatched but one died after so now we have only 5 young finches that look nothing like babies anymore!)


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## vampstorso (Jul 19, 2017)

Sheldoncooper said:


> U couldn't even begin to imagine how popular i was because I also don't believe in clipping wings. I let my birds fly around the house. However she loves him now some nights he sleeps on her pillow and I'm on the couch
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk



Isn't wing clipping just awful, so misguided.
I took my cockatoo to the vet when I first got him. I was 17 and not experienced enough to know never let a vet take your animal into another room. When he came back he had cut my boys wings all the way up to the muscle. All primaries and secondaries gone! I was MORTIFIED! he was acting like he did me a favour and wanted $55 for the pleasure!

It took a year for his next moult of course and no one got hear his beautiful wings again!



Some favourite baby photos of those glorious wings








And just for good measure, 
His girlfriends wings 





Loved watching them fly inside and even more once they had their aviary.


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## Sheldoncooper (Jul 19, 2017)

vampstorso said:


> Isn't wing clipping just awful, so misguided.
> I took my cockatoo to the vet when I first got him. I was 17 and not experienced enough to know never let a vet take your animal into another room. When he came back he had cut my boys wings all the way up to the muscle. All primaries and secondaries gone! I was MORTIFIED! he was acting like he did me a favour and wanted $55 for the pleasure!
> 
> It took a year for his next moult of course and no one got hear his beautiful wings again!
> ...


I couldn't agree more it makes no sense.
Would u cut the legs of your dog. NOPE.
So y cut the wings on a bird. This is my little[emoji90] DEXTER.





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## Bl69aze (Jul 19, 2017)

I occasionally had my cockatiels wings clipped every 6months

They cut different feathers that have same effect but also grow back over time 

One time she decided to fly off and sit with the other birds they had there up nice and high that they needed a ladder for :')


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## Yellowtail (Jul 19, 2017)

Love the colours of the girls


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## Yellowtail (Jul 19, 2017)

Good looking boy


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## Yellowtail (Jul 19, 2017)

Mostly Coco walks around house but her wings have never been clipped and she can also fly silently and land unexpectedly anywhere, especially right alongside you when preparing food or to check out anything new.


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## Yellowtail (Jul 19, 2017)

Some old friends, sadly no longer with us.


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## SpottedPythons (Jul 20, 2017)

We got our Quaker wing-clipped the first time we got her, but even though it was a perfect trim, we soon found out that NOTHING stops the Quaker Parrot Flying Machine. The cheeky little bugger still winged her way around the house, so we just let her feathers grow back. Now she just follows us around.


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## SpottedPythons (Jul 20, 2017)

SpottedPythons said:


> We got our Quaker wing-clipped the first time we got her, but even though it was a perfect trim, we soon found out that NOTHING stops the Quaker Parrot Flying Machine. The cheeky little bugger still winged her way around the house, so we just let her feathers grow back. Now she just follows us around.


She's actually moulting in the picture.


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## Yellowtail (Jul 20, 2017)

We found the King Parrots quickly adjusted to trimmed wings by flaring their tail to get more lift. I was advised it was better to trim one wing which put them off balance. Better to have them in an escape proof environment or train them not to fly away.


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## vampstorso (Jul 20, 2017)

Wing clipping either still allows them to fly, just not well. So if they escape they can still get away from you, but not flying well enough without getting exhausted so fast they can't escape predators/danger.

Or they're clipped so heavily they drop like a rock and can break their keel bone/not get out of the way of feet etc on the floor quickly if someone forgets about them, and the predator issue again. 

Their entire cardiovascular system is also designed for flight. 
In some countries wing clipping is actually illegal. 

If you want to take your bird outside for some reason, you're better off training it to use the aviator harness. (not Jesse's... Parrots don't have the muscular weight bearing legs of a bird of prey) 
They're also prey animals, unlike birds of prey who you see videos of free flying, so are more likely to revert to the primal instinct of flight vs fight if scared, no matter how bonded to you they are. After all, in nature their partner would also fly away. 

Birds who have clipped wings from birth or an extended period may end up with too little muscle to be able to fly. Which is sad.


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## Bl69aze (Jul 20, 2017)

Howtodeleteapost


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## SpottedPythons (Jul 20, 2017)

My quaker is TERRIFIED of anything new, so there's the harness idea out the window...


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## princessparrot (Jul 27, 2017)

I have a small variety of them I guess. Got a Quaker, a sun conure, a galah, a rainbow lorikeet and five princess parrots. Most of them are tame pets inside but I have a pair of princesses outside that have tried to breed with little to no success mainly due to the girl always breaking the eggs.... Her mother was successful though and I have her other baby inside. I am thinking of pairing up my two blue princess parrots as they love to sit next to and talk to each other. 
princesses would have to be my number one favourite(hence my username)


Bl69aze said:


> I don't but if I did it'd be cape barren geese just coz I love them


I'd love a cape barren goose. My dad plans to get one when we no longer have dogs.


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## Yellowtail (Jul 27, 2017)

Coco helping me move


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## SpottedPythons (Aug 2, 2017)

princessparrot said:


> I have a small variety of them I guess. Got a Quaker, a sun conure, a galah, a rainbow lorikeet and five princess parrots. Most of them are tame pets inside but I have a pair of princesses outside that have tried to breed with little to no success mainly due to the girl always breaking the eggs.... Her mother was successful though and I have her other baby inside. I am thinking of pairing up my two blue princess parrots as they love to sit next to and talk to each other.
> princesses would have to be my number one favourite(hence my username)
> 
> I'd love a cape barren goose. My dad plans to get one when we no longer have dogs.
> ...


Quakers are the best!!!!!!


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## vampstorso (Aug 5, 2017)

Hubby didn't think I was serious (


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## pinefamily (Aug 5, 2017)

Very cute, Vampstorso. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get them from?


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## vampstorso (Aug 5, 2017)

pinefamily said:


> Very cute, Vampstorso. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get them from?



No problems at all, I'll pm you


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## vampstorso (Aug 9, 2017)

Thing 1 and Thing 2 (nicknames) are a handful of laughs and delight. 
Very much so trouble makers. 
Yesterday they refused to eat fresh food (hatched at a farm so started on ratite pellets) despite my "pecking" it with my finger to pretend I was Daddy Emu showing them what to eat. They'd pick it up but quickly throw it. 
Now they push and shove each other out the way to get the good stuff! 

Also for some strange reason they decided to snuggle on top of my sons motorbike toy. Must know the way to hubby's heart?


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## Imported_tuatara (Aug 10, 2017)

ahh i'm so jealous! i'd love some emus, if i had the space.......and those princess parrots are amazing looking!if cockatoos didn't need so much attention i'd be getting a sulphar crested, but school kinda ruins that idea...... :C gallahs are also amazing, i used to have one, but some jerk neighbor let him go, and he got run over, his name was cherry, and my mum found him when he was a baby with a severely damaged wing, so he couldn't fly, i'd love to get a new one....but first i gotta clean out my shed, get some solar panels, and connect them to multiple lightbulbs..... then i can keep any animal that i could humanely keep in there, aslong as it isn't dangerous, well, anything but snakes, lol.


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## Yellowtail (Dec 20, 2017)

Black cockies enjoying a bath, I was in the aviary hand feeding treats when a thunderstorm came with heavy rain, they immediately left the treats and frolicked in the rain. They have a huge bird bath and I spray them regularly but nothing like a real rain storm, they love it.


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## Imported_tuatara (Dec 20, 2017)

does anyone know of any large birdcages/avairies for sale? not easy to find form what i can see, not a good carpenter either.


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 21, 2017)

Eclectus waiting for his daily bowl of lychees. Handsome boy.


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## Sheldoncooper (Dec 21, 2017)

Aussiepride83 said:


> Eclectus waiting for his daily bowl of lychees. Handsome boy.
> View attachment 322330


They are a beautiful bird with great personality. I tease mine with food, i put something on the bench he doesn't like and he picks it up and throws it on the floor, he then taps the bench with his beak wanting something else. 

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## pinefamily (Dec 21, 2017)

Our eclectus boy starts screeching if we're "late" with his food.


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 21, 2017)

I'm half eyeing off this one...
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/lockyer-waters/birds/eclectus-parrot/1168413263


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## Sheldoncooper (Dec 21, 2017)

Aussiepride83 said:


> I'm half eyeing off this one...
> https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/lockyer-waters/birds/eclectus-parrot/1168413263


If its true mate its a good buy. 

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## Flaviemys purvisi (Dec 21, 2017)

Sheldoncooper said:


> If its true mate its a good buy.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


Yeah man I agree.


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## Yellowtail (Jan 16, 2018)

Just replaced some perches and thats a 4 inch one after just one hour. Sometimes, despite having fresh Banksia cones and branches to chew they just decide to demolish their perches. Snakes don't do that.


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