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Feffie's
Feathers is a small, in-home aviary, located in Lansing, Michigan.
When we decided to raise parrots, we promised ourselves that
our parent birds would live as well as our pets and that we
would maintain a pleasant living environment for our human
family, as well. Although it took a fair amount of planning,
re-arranging, redecorating and rewiring, we have been able
to keep that promise.
Our parent birds are housed in an aviary with large, meticulously
clean cages, full-spectrum lighting, natural foliage, lots
of toys, and rainforest "music". Our babies are raised in
a separate nursery, which has it's own kitchen facilities.
We have cable television in the nursery. Between feedings,
playtimes, and naps, our babies watch the History Channel,
CNN, and the Arts and Entertainment Network. By the time they
are weaned, most of our African Greys are ready for The High
School Quiz Bowl. :-)
Our babies are fully and abundantly weaned to Scenic pellets,
fresh sprouts, Goldenfeast mixes and carefully balanced mashes
of fresh foods. They are tested for gender, Psittacine Beak
and Feather Disease, Pacheco's Disease and Psittacosis.
A sample of each baby's blood is registered in a DNA bank.
This makes positive identification possible, in the event
that the bird is stolen. Polyoma vaccinations are done by
our avian veterinarian (Dr. Wayne Beasley, 2295 N. Williamston
Rd., Williamston, Michigan, (517) 655-4906.)
Nurturing, loving socialization is very important to us. By
the time our babies are ready for adoption, they are accustomed
to being in many locations and to being gently handled by
a variety of people. They have been raised in an active household,
surrounded by a human, avian and canine family.
We believe
that raising a well adjusted parrot involves a lengthy investment
of time and attention and that their adjustment to life in
a human environment should be as "natural" as possible. As
a result, our babies are fully weaned and fully fledged prior
to adoption. They are raised by their natural parents for
an extended period of time. As they proceed through the hand
feeding, weaning, and fledging process, they are kept with
their siblings and/or surrogate siblings. Once they have become
proficient and confident flyers, they are given a conservative,
gradual, non-traumatic wing clip. Because this process takes
many months, our babies are older, at the time of adoption,
than many babies sold by pet stores and breeders. We will
not sell young babies under any circumstances.
We don't make
our living selling parrots. It is truly a labor of love. We
raise a relatively small number of babies and become attached
to every one. It is important for every member of our adoptive
families to be excited about, and ready for, the responsibilities
and joys of "parrothood". Because our babies' futures are
important to us, our clients are carefully screened. We have
prepared a 30 page booklet about parrot ownership, which is
available to anyone, upon request.
At
this time, we have the following babies being hand fed:
Congo African Grey - babies and eggs in the nest
Timneh African Grey - babies and eggs in the nest
Senegal babies - (2) both males - being hand fed
White Capped Pionus - eggs in the nest
Blue Headed Pionus - (1) male - ready for adoption
Visit allparrotstuff.com For parrot t-shirts, mugs, etc.
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