How We Raise Our Babies

Momma Jane with some Macaw babies

    Here are some pictures showing how we raise our babies.  We feel that proper socialization is very important to the baby.  With proper socialization the baby will grow up to be a well-adjusted pet.  Jane can be seen playing with some of our babies in the above picture.  We also allow and encourage visitors into our aviary.  This environment fosters further socialization with a variety of people.  We have designated visiting hours, allowing people to come visit their baby during the "early stages" before it is ready to "go home."  During visiting hours we also like to bring up our other babies so that they too can become used to be around other people.  This picture captures all of this in action. 

    We start our babies out in brooders, which are located in the kitchen.  They are kept here so that they can be closely monitored.  Then when the babies are large enough, we take them down to the baby room.  This is the room is pictured here.  Here the babies are placed into large playpens.  We generally try to keep species together.  If we are unable to do this, then we group them together by size.  We also try not to place a bird in a playpen alone.  At this stage, the birds are given room to grow. 

    Soon they begin to walk around and explore.  They also quickly learn to climb the sides of the playpen and perch on the railing.  We do not place the birds into weaning cages at this time. Instead, we allow the birds to learn to fly.  Often you will come down and be welcomed by some flying friends.  The smaller birds are kept in this room and allowed to continue to fly and explore.  The larger species, however, are brought out into the room shown below.  This is a much larger room, which is needed to allow the bigger species to fly.  Here they can fly and explore as well as interact with adult birds.  The adults teach them such things as how to crack a nut or seed, preen another bird, bathe and how to play with toys .  Our babies also spend a certain percentage of time in cages, so that they can become acclimated to a "home" environment.