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Presentation on breeding parrots — Transcript

by Tony Silva Aviculture · 10,137 words · 1,531 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00So I'd like to start talking today about
0:03breeding parrots. I've been an
0:04avoculturist for uh 50 years. I've seen
0:08most of the parrot species in in the
0:11field and in my various roles whether it
0:14was curator, whether consultant or in my
0:18own private collection. I think I can
0:20safely say that I have read more species
0:22than anyone else alive today. Next.
0:30So, a culture started uh obviously many
0:33many uh centuries ago. In fact, when
0:36Columbus uh reached the Caribbean, he
0:39found that they kept uh Bahamian and
0:41Cuban Amazon as pets. Uh there are
0:44records that even predate that from uh
0:47from Mexico suggesting that they were
0:50breeding actively breeding macaus for
0:53the feathers which were used in
0:55indigenous art. But ava culture as we
0:58know it today really started in the
1:001970s
1:01and that's when surgical sexing was uh
1:04was first in introduced. Why was
1:07surgical sexing so important? Because
1:08really prior to that it was guesswork.
1:12People often thought, "Oh, these two
1:14birds paired off. They got along very
1:16well." That means nothing. Two males can
1:19pretend to be a pair. They can mate. Two
1:22females can do the same. It was surgical
1:25sexing in 1975 that allowed us to
1:29visualize to see the sexual organs and
1:32not only determine the gender but also
1:35the health condition of those birds.
1:37Next,
1:40since the 1975, the introduction of
1:43surgical sexing, more parrot species
1:46have been bred than in the previous 200
1:48years. Next,
1:52so many species were bred that in fact
1:55most of the breeding records if you fall
1:58in that period that goes from about 1978
2:03to about 1990. It includes many species
2:08um uh that are actually unfortunately
2:10unknown in the US. Eyesman's conor,
2:14diadem,
2:16marajio islands,
2:18yellow shouldered, maroon fronted
2:20parrots, blueheaded and bluethroated
2:23macaus. Next,
2:27this improved knowledge actually um
2:30changed the focus then to how do we
2:33provide a proper nest and what do we
2:35feed these birds? We realized very
2:38quickly that the standard box that the
2:40British had invented and a culture as
2:44was practiced in the US until that time
2:46emulated the the UK method. a square or
2:51grandfather type nest, a long aviary
2:54with solid sides, uh a seed diet, bread
2:58and milk when they were rearing young,
3:00some greens and some apple. Clearly,
3:03that was not enough.
3:05At around the same time as surgical
3:08sexing entered the picture, a vet by the
3:11name of Theodore Ja Fever realized that
3:13most of the birds that were entering
3:15naval culture were dying from u dietary
3:19issues. There were deficiencies that
3:22were the main killer and that's where
3:25the the the initiation of the pellet uh
3:29food concept started. Next
3:36It also saw the introduction of many new
3:38species. Saffron headed parrots on the
3:41right, tapoui paralletts on the left.
3:44These birds could not have been kept
3:46alive prior to that time frame. Um, they
3:50have been kept alive and bred post that
3:53time frame. Next,
4:00the the newfound uh abilities to advance
4:03a culture even saw the establishment of
4:06many spectacular mutations. You know,
4:09the US since the passing of the Wild
4:11Bird Conservation Act in 1992
4:14has really seen a degradation of a
4:17culture. Europe still imports many
4:20species. You're allowed to import a
4:22small group for breeding. The US we can
4:25do that but the hurdles are
4:27insurmountable. You need to establish a
4:29consortium. It's very very difficult.
4:33The Europeans have been able to import
4:35birds and they've now established some
4:37really spectacular mutations.
4:40So next,
4:43in 50 years, I have learned that parrots
4:45are complex creatures and that their
4:48breeding biology is really poorly
4:50understood. Breeding birds is not uh a
4:54cage, a nest, food, and waiting. It
4:59requires a lot more. You really need to
5:02understand the birds. Next,
5:06we know that divorce is common even in
5:09long-term uh proven pairs. When they're
5:12given the opportunity, they will change
5:14partners. That debunks the concept that
5:17we often see the AR claim that parrots
5:19mate for life and that when one dies,
5:22they they uh the other partner, the
5:26surviving partner withers away and also
5:28dies.
5:30Next,
5:32and that one diet for all species is not
5:36valid. Many species have very specific
5:39dietary requirements
5:41and um those dietary requirements need
5:44to be understood.
5:46Next,
5:49we understand that the need for protein
5:52uh exists in some species
5:54um particularly some of the black
5:56cockatus, gang gang and yellowtails for
5:59example. And that most parrots avoid
6:02ripe fruits. Um they don't want to
6:06compete with fruit bats and many other
6:08fuggiverous mammals. So what do they do?
6:11They avoid uh sweet fruits. They eat
6:13them green. and that uh uh has developed
6:17birds that are really not adapted to
6:19eating all of this apple and all of this
6:21green uh very ripe sweet fruit that we
6:25have available in our supermarkets. In
6:27fact, I was in in the area of uh Siberia
6:33some years ago and there was a wild
6:34apple tree growing and I made the stupid
6:36mistake of popping a piece of fruit in
6:38my mouth. It was bitter, a stringent, it
6:41was horrible. nothing whatsoever
6:44uh related to the sweet apples that we
6:47buy in the supermarkets. Next
6:52and that we need to understand that uh
6:54fat birds will not breed. Diet is very
6:57important uh and what we feed the birds
7:00is equally important. Next,
7:04we know that obesity is a major cause of
7:07infertility in Amazon parrots for
7:09example. Next,
7:13that high beta carotene diets are are a
7:17key to the success of keeping eclectus
7:20um and some other asiatic parrots alive.
7:23That, by the way, is Ryel's eclectus.
7:27It is um one of the rarest subspecies.
7:31Females are all red. Um so, sorry,
7:35that's not um Ryell's, that's Cornelius.
7:38I just looked at the tail. Um there's
7:40two solid red eclectus ryels and
7:42Cornelius. Ryell's have a yellow band at
7:45the end of the tail in the females.
7:47Next,
7:50we also know that diet can influence
7:52gender. Diets that are very rich in
7:55protein and fat produce more males.
7:57Diets that are lower in protein and fat
8:00produce more females. Next.
8:04and that um you know the diets that
8:08evolved originally seed diets really not
8:12good. People often tell me well I'll
8:14sprout culture your sprouts and you will
8:17be shocked at what grows there. There is
8:19this current trend of feeding chop uh
8:23which is a a an amorphous um mush of
8:28fruits and vegetables. Look parrots have
8:30psychopedus feet. two toes forward, two
8:34toes backward. That's intended to grab
8:36something to eat. They don't eat like uh
8:40uh uh like dogs that swallow everything
8:43that's on their plate. They they've
8:45developed that foot and that tongue to
8:48gyate fruits. Chop is not good for them.
8:52It it it destroys one of the principal
8:56uh uh habits that have evolved which is
8:58for the bird to grasp the fruit to be
9:00able or the vegetable and to be able to
9:02eat what is there.
9:05Secondly, um people say that pelleted
9:09diets which I am proponent of are
9:11unnatural. Well, you know what? So are
9:14uh pansy flowers, so is sunflower seeds.
9:18So is wheat. uh none of these elements
9:22that we feed these birds occur naturally
9:25in the wild. So all diets are unnatural.
9:28We just need to find something that
9:31provides their nutritious needs and that
9:34uh feeds not only the body but also the
9:37mind. Next,
9:41we know that as I straight stated the
9:44the diet is uh can skew one gender or
9:48the other. And this is important because
9:50in some species uh that you look at
9:53cockatus for example, it is males that
9:56become very aggressive in most of the
9:58animals handed over to rescues. If we
10:01could produce more females, there is
10:03historical data that suggests they
10:06become better pets. They're less prone
10:08to become hormonal and therefore they're
10:10less prone to being turned into a rescue
10:12as unwanted. Next,
10:17we know that foods rich in sugar are not
10:20good. People ask me, "What do I feed my
10:22birds?" I feed vegetables. I feed beta
10:25carotene rich vegetables. I feed sweet
10:27potato and pumpkin and uh uh cauliflower
10:31and broccoli. I feed them vegetables. I
10:34feed very little fruit. And when I do, I
10:37try to feed tropical fruit, guava,
10:39mango, and I don't feed it ripe. Sugar
10:42is not good for them. They've not
10:43evolved for it. And they avoid sweet
10:46ripe fruits in nature. Next,
10:51we know that when you feed these bananas
10:54and apples and grapes and all of these
10:56things and cockatus,
10:58it increases aggression. It agitates the
11:01birds and and they are then more prone
11:05to kill their mates. Next,
11:09and mate aggression is a huge problem in
11:12some cockatos
11:14um and some other species, but
11:15particularly cockatos. You also see it
11:17in hawkheaded parrots and in Amazon. But
11:20mate aggression is a main killer of even
11:24established long breeding pairs of
11:26cockatos. Let's reduce all of the risks
11:30of enhance enhancing or heightening that
11:33aggression. And one of those steps that
11:36we can take is reduce sweet fruits from
11:39their diet. Next
11:42here I mentioned hawkheads and amazon.
11:45Two birds that were killed by their
11:46mates. And you know what? Both birds
11:48have been fed lots of fruits because
11:51somebody in the internet said these
11:53birds need a lot of fruits. Look, in
11:56this modern day, everybody turns to the
11:59internet and everybody is a
12:00self-professed expert on the internet,
12:03question the sources. How many birds
12:05have they bred? How long have they been
12:07in a culture? What is their field
12:09experience? I could come up with dozens
12:12of so-called experts that um have no
12:16real experience. Having one or two birds
12:18or breeding a couple of species is
12:20nothing. It teaches you nothing. In
12:23fact, after 50 years, I could say each
12:27day the birds prove me wrong and they
12:29teach me something new. Question the
12:32source of the information. If someone
12:34tells you to feed them apple and banana
12:37and grapes because this is all great or
12:40sprouted seeds. Question, test your
12:42sprouted seeds. See if you grow any
12:44bacteria.
12:46Question the source. Question the
12:49information. and examine what you feed
12:52your birds. Next,
12:56we can take many steps to reduce
12:58aggression. One of them is to clip the
13:00wings on the aggressor. We can employ
13:04special nest boxes and we can reduce
13:06sweet fruits. Next,
13:11building the proper cage also reduces
13:13the probability of mate aggression. We
13:16know that uh male cockatos get very
13:19agitated very easily and that uh the
13:23females need to get away to reduce that
13:25aggression. What these suspended panels
13:28do is they allow the female to fly away
13:31and to hide from a male that is
13:33aggressive. Remember the male would have
13:35a clip wing so he wouldn't be able to
13:36fly. He would have to climb to her. But
13:39if there is no barriers, if climbing is
13:42very easy, then he can tire her out and
13:44move in for the kill. And by the way,
13:48this behavior of mate killing is not
13:50just confined to captivity. It also
13:52occurs in the wild. Next,
13:58you can even employ rotational cages.
14:01This design was invented by Susan Club
14:04and it's for eclectus. eclectus. Females
14:07are dominant. Males are submissive.
14:10Females can get very aggressive. What
14:12this allows is for the males to rotate
14:14around and approach females that are
14:16receptive and to get away from females
14:18that are not receptive. Remember in
14:21parrots there are three methods of
14:23bonding. Strong bonded macaw conjurs.
14:29That's why the two birds of the same sex
14:32will mate, will pair and will behave
14:34like a pair. Then you have non-bonded uh
14:38birds, eclectus, ringneck parakeetses,
14:41other asiatic parakeetses. And you've
14:43got some intermediate birds um that uh
14:48are will tolerate the females are
14:50tolerate the males but do not show the
14:53outward aggression that the non-bonded
14:55birds do. And those intermediate birds
14:58are pionis parrots, for example.
15:01Next,
15:04you make sure that you use for the
15:06aggressive species a T-shaped nest. That
15:09nest has a divider in the middle. And
15:11the concept behind it is that a male
15:13that is intent on killing the female
15:14will not be able to pin her inside the
15:17nest, but that she will be able to get
15:19away because obviously they become quite
15:21agitated and they start to scream and
15:24their eyes become glossy. Understanding
15:27bird behavior is very very important. In
15:311979, I was a a a novice able culturist.
15:36I was 19 years old and I wanted to breed
15:38Amazon parrots. I went to meet and spent
15:41some time with Ramon Noguel. Ramon
15:44Noguel was an American Amazon parrot
15:47breeder that worked out of Sephna. He
15:50was a Kardian spiritualist priest. He
15:53would have seances.
15:56Um I come from a family that's very
15:58open-minded, but when I arrived at
16:00Ramon's place, he said, "We're going to
16:01church tonight." You know, I was brought
16:04up under a very religious uh in a very
16:07religious home. Um but his concept of
16:11religion was very different. It was
16:14seances and talking to the dead. I I
16:18went to his house that night and and
16:20obviously there were no cell phones.
16:22There were wall phones. And I called my
16:24grandfather who was a great great mentor
16:26in my life and I said, "Listen. Uh can
16:29you book me a ticket? I want to go home.
16:30This is crazy."
16:33And he said, "Stick it out. Let's see
16:34what you learn."
16:36And the next day, Ramon says, "You know,
16:38you need to listen to the birds. They
16:41talk to you. They talk to you very
16:43clearly. Listen and you will succeed."
16:47And I went back and I said, "Man, this
16:49was a weird trip." And my grandfather
16:53said, "I think you're being too literal.
16:57Maybe what he means is that they teach
16:59you with their behavior."
17:02And in the following decades,
17:05I realized that he was right. Their
17:08behavior teaches us a lot. So when you
17:10see a baleoc cockatu pacing the bottom
17:12of the cage, screaming, agitated,
17:15bouncing, glassy eyes, he's going to
17:18become murderers. Keep an eye on him. If
17:21necessary, pull him out of the cage. You
17:23never pull out the female. You always
17:25pull out the male. Why? Because that you
17:28want her to maintain that territory.
17:30when it comes time to reintroduce them,
17:33you don't want to introduce a female
17:35into his territory. You want to
17:37introduce a male into her territory that
17:40she controls and that she understands.
17:43Next,
17:46as I said, the original concept of a
17:49nest box was this, the grandfather type,
17:52a square or rectangular box. We know
17:55that that is antiquated that many boxes
17:59um can bring about results. Next,
18:06many species utilize nest boxes with
18:09specific entrances.
18:11This was in in South America and the
18:14severe macaus always like a side
18:15entrance with like a funnel next.
18:21And people often tell me, "Oh, metal
18:24nest boxes. They won't use them." Well,
18:27guess what? This is a wild Amazon parrot
18:30that was given this nest and it readily
18:33accepted a metal nest. It's not the
18:36color of the nest or the the makeup. It
18:40is the shape of the nest that is
18:42important. Next,
18:47plastic nest, metal nest, wood nest,
18:50they're all acceptable. Next,
18:54but what's important is the shape.
18:58I was probably the first person to have
19:00St. Thomas conjurs in the US. And when
19:04we studied them in nature because I
19:06wanted to breed them, I realized that
19:08like all conjurs, they nest in termite
19:10mounds and they tunnneled. They they dig
19:13a hole at the bottom, they tunnel up,
19:15and then they tunnel back down into a
19:17nesting chamber. Well, the birds refuse
19:20to use a standard nest. I duplicated it.
19:23I took a nest that they go in from the
19:25bottom. They have to literally go up and
19:27then come back down. And what I do is
19:30that top is removable. I fill it up with
19:33cork. The cork duplicates the termite
19:35mounds. And this type of nest is now
19:38being used widely across the world for
19:40some of these conjurs that are resistant
19:42to nesting. And that includes blue
19:45crowns and mitrids and many other
19:50conjurs that have proven difficult to
19:52nest. This is but one type. I'll show
19:54you a second type of nest in a second.
19:57Next,
20:00when we look at the birds and I said
20:02that we listen to them, they teach us.
20:06This particular Scarlet Macau kept
20:09laying eggs in the corner of a cage. She
20:11was telling me, "Listen, I don't like
20:13the nest boxes you're giving me. I want
20:15to nest in an open box." So, I had these
20:18boxes for my chickens. I put it in there
20:20and she immediately nested.
20:23Next,
20:27then when I mentioned that some conjurs
20:29uh require uh a second type of nest,
20:33this is it. It's basically a nest with
20:35an entrance on the bottom. It duplicates
20:38that same zigzag where they go up,
20:41around, and down. And that's what that
20:42nest looks like on on the inside. You
20:46basically fill it up with pieces of cork
20:48that you buy at Home Depot or Lowe's.
20:50You glue them together using Elmer's
20:52glue. You create a solid block. The
20:54birds tunnel, they chew, and they nest.
20:58This is particularly good for blue
21:00crowns and Mexican green conurs. Next,
21:07a different version of a U-shaped nest
21:09for cockatus.
21:11Next,
21:13a nest for African grays with a an
21:16entrance. And this duplicates what I saw
21:18in West Africa. The pair selected a nest
21:21where the male could sit at the entrance
21:23looking out while the female incubated.
21:27This type of nest is widely used in the
21:29country that produces more African grays
21:31than everybody in the world together,
21:33South Africa. Next,
21:37and then for egg breakers,
21:40uh, you need to make it a challenge.
21:43They can't just look down into the nest
21:45and see the female. You need to block
21:47the visuals. Why do birds break eggs?
21:50One, because they're maladapted. They
21:52were hand reared, made into pets. They
21:55don't really know how to behave like
21:56birds or simply because they want to
21:58mate. They chase the female out, break
22:00the eggs, she's got to cycle again. So,
22:03what you do is you just create baffles
22:04so that the male looks in and can't see
22:06the female at the bottom of the nest.
22:08This is one type of nest. This is very
22:12good for conjurs, bluethroated conjurs,
22:15for example. They're notorious for egg
22:16breaking. also narrow and deep boxes.
22:20This type of box also works well for
22:22galas or rose breast said cockatus.
22:25Another species that is notorious for
22:27egg breaking. Next,
22:33if the the standard nest with the
22:35baffles doesn't work, this is an
22:38adaptation for a nest where the egg
22:40literally rolls out of uh out of control
22:43and the birds uh uh can't get it and you
22:46can remove the egg for artificial
22:49incubation.
22:51Next,
22:53for Broeras, another test termite
22:57nesting species, what we do is we
22:59literally have a long box. You create
23:03sections with cork. So, they have to dig
23:06through, then they have to find a way to
23:08get to the next chamber and then to the
23:10next chamber. Darkness and this activity
23:13induces the gonads and it encourages
23:16breeding. Next,
23:21why do we use cork or pieces of wood?
23:24Because in the wild, birds do not find a
23:27pre-made nest with pine shavings. They
23:30find a cavity that's been opened by
23:32woodpeckers or by rot or a fallen
23:36branch. And then they've got to prepare
23:38it. And that preparation changes the
23:40direction of their attention from the
23:43male wanting to mate and possibly
23:45killing the female to saying, "I've got
23:48to make a nest. I've got to help her
23:50prepare it because if she doesn't, she's
23:52not going to breed and we're not going
23:54to be able to have sex." So, what we do
23:56is we fill the nest up with chunks of
23:58wood and let them chew. We know that the
24:00darkness induces ovulation and
24:03testicular development, and it also
24:05encourages breeding. Next.
24:09And you make nest inspection part of
24:11your daily routine. People tell me, "Oh,
24:14when I open the nest, they break eggs."
24:16Why are they breaking eggs? Because
24:17suddenly you're intruding. You should
24:20make it part of your daily inspection,
24:25even when they're not nesting.
24:27And then outside the breeding season, if
24:29you can pair the birds together, they
24:32often change partners. They don't mate
24:34for life like many people believe. Work
24:37done by Chris Roelly in in in Australia
24:40and Rose Preset Cockatu showed that they
24:42divorced commonly. Subsequent work in
24:45other parts of Australia and and in
24:48Florida on Pharaoh Macaus shows that hey
24:51they switch partners all the time. Give
24:54them an opportunity if they don't breed.
24:56If you have three pairs of birds that
24:58after the third year have not nested,
25:00put them all together. Let's see if they
25:02switch partners. Even when they breed,
25:04if they stop breeding, do the same
25:06thing. Encourage them to find new
25:08partners. This invigorates them and
25:11stimulates them to breed. Next
25:16here, these were proven pairs that
25:18suddenly decided, hey, we don't like our
25:21old partners.
25:23Next,
25:28hand rearing as we know it today really
25:32evolved in the 1960s.
25:34Prior to that, there are reports in in
25:38the archive of Indies in Seville dating
25:41to the era of discovery
25:43uh where uh they reported that Indians
25:46would chew roots and plants and feed
25:48baby parrots from their mouth. But as we
25:51know it today, Ava culture uh started
25:54handwriting in the 1960s and formulas
25:57have changed a lot since then. For
25:59example, if you look at Velma Hart, who
26:02was an early Ava culturist, um she would
26:05add a couple drops of of cognac to the
26:08formula. Uh and this isn't something
26:11that somebody told me. I was fortunate
26:12enough to meet Belmaart and she just
26:15said, "Look, it makes the babies uh more
26:18comfortable."
26:20Obviously, we don't add uh liquor
26:22anymore, but we understand that their
26:24nutritional needs are very important and
26:26that you should rather than mixing a
26:29hodgepodge of ingredients, always try to
26:31get a pre-formulated formula, pellets,
26:35and formulas are all based on poultry
26:38research. Very little research has been
26:40done on the requirements of parrots, but
26:42empirical dayto-day use has shown that
26:46they work. And for those of you that say
26:48there's a lot of research to feeding uh
26:51uh sprouted seeds or this hodge podge
26:54mush uh that they call chop. Uh there
26:58isn't any. It's empirical. It's all
27:01somebody feeding it. The birds ate it
27:03and now it becomes the new wonder uh
27:06elixir.
27:08Next,
27:11hand rearing is an important tool
27:13because it allows uh increased
27:15production. I'll give you an idea. In
27:18one of the collections that I that I
27:20consult, um when a red tail black
27:24cockatu is allowed to rear its chick,
27:26it's a two-year process. When the eggs
27:29are taken, they can produce eight chicks
27:31a year. Why is this important? If you're
27:33dealing with an endangered species, you
27:36need to produce as many individuals as
27:38possible to try to increase your
27:40numbers. Even when you are working with
27:44a mutation, the same, you need numbers
27:46to be able to try to establish that
27:48mutant. Next,
27:53you need to identify the hand feeding
27:56tool, and there are countless. Um, I
28:00like this syringe uh with a spoon
28:03because it it it stops uh the crop being
28:06punctured or uh aspiration that often
28:10happens when a person uses a silicone
28:13catheter or a stainless steel tube.
28:16Macaus pump hard and people if you don't
28:19have a grasp for that beak, you can
28:22puncture that that crop wall. I get
28:25messages weekly during the breeding
28:27season. My bird has developed the
28:29hematoma. It's got a hard ball. You've
28:31punctured the crop. Next,
28:36learn proper formula preparation. Read
28:38instructions. Some formulas become lump.
28:42A lump that you could use as wallpaper
28:44glue. Understand the instructions.
28:47Always heat the water and then add
28:49formula.
28:51No formula tells you to add it to cold
28:53water and then heat it. And the amount
28:55of time that you heat it, how long it
28:57should be heated for that needs to be
29:00described in the instructions.
29:03You may need to cook some of the
29:04carbohydrates in the formula or they
29:07become a gel. And how do you cook it? By
29:09warming up that water, adding the
29:11formula, agitating it until it cools
29:14down, and then feeding it. Next,
29:18use a electronic thermometer. Look, we
29:22are in the 21st century. Science is all
29:25around us. I still see people putting uh
29:28formula on the back of their wrist. When
29:31I was a kid, my dad owned a restaurant
29:33and he had a cook that would fry food
29:36and he would stick his hands in the fat.
29:38He had a huge tolerance for heat.
29:41Imagine
29:43sticking your finger in that formula and
29:45saying, "Oh, it's fine." And then
29:46burning the crop of the babies.
29:49People, it occurs weekly. I get messages
29:52constantly of this is happening. Not
29:55only is that a very a very painful
29:57situation. Many of the chicks sadly do
30:00not survive. Get a good electrome
30:03electronic thermometer. Agitate the food
30:06and take a reading so that you get a
30:08reading of the entire uh formula.
30:11Next,
30:14and understand the need for fat. Um,
30:18here are two kites. One fed 21, one fed
30:2010% fat. Hatch the same day, same
30:24parents. The eggs were artificially
30:25incubated. The eggs were held until
30:28there was a clutch and then they were uh
30:31incubated together. This teaches you
30:34that fat is very important even in
30:37species like cockatos that don't have a
30:39fat requirement as they get old or
30:41Amazon that are prone to obesity. When
30:44they're young, they they coordinate
30:46nesting with the fruiting of certain
30:49trees that produce highfat foods. Next,
30:55and understand that chunky formula are
30:58very important for palm cockatus, high
31:00macaus and golden conjurs. I recently
31:03had someone in Switzerland reach out to
31:06me because they had lost I don't know
31:08how many palm cockatu babies and I said
31:10starting at day six add chopped up nuts
31:14and chopped up broccoli to the formula.
31:15Oh, they'll die. No, they won't. You
31:19know what? He's rearing the baby
31:20successfully.
31:22These species, I've seen them in the
31:24wild. I've climbed trees. The parents
31:27literally stuff whole foods down their
31:30crops and they're digesting it. They've
31:33evolved for this chunky form food rather
31:37than this fine smooth formula. That is
31:41what most people feed. You use regular
31:43formula. You use chunkiness to it. Next.
31:49And here it is. There's a baby palm
31:51cockatu. And that's the chunky uh bits
31:54of of ground up macadamia nut. You can
31:57see some pieces of broccoli there.
32:00Unfortunately, I was taking the picture
32:01and feeding the palm cockatu chick at
32:03the same time. So, most of the
32:05chunkiness had already gone into the
32:07crop. Next,
32:12I like to feed chicks the minute they
32:14hatch. this nonsense of giving them uh
32:18lactated ringers
32:20uh for 24 hours because uh this is good
32:24for them. I've climbed enough trees uh
32:27uh to tell you that the parents feed
32:29them the minute they hatch. I've seen
32:32Amazon chicks that were still wet from
32:34hatching that had already food in their
32:36crop. We feed them the minute they
32:39hatch. We don't wait 24 hours uh and
32:42during this process give them uh fluids.
32:46We feed immediately on being fine on
32:48finding them. Next,
32:52we keep the crop full all day. Uh it's
32:55only allowed to empty at night. This is
32:57what happens in nature when people tell
33:00me, "Oh, I've got to let the crop empty
33:01or I have health issues." Then you've
33:04got a husbandry problem, not a diet
33:07problem.
33:09Next,
33:12the best way to deal with a slow crop is
33:15this papaya. Uh, you basically take dry
33:18papaya and seeds. You grind it up with a
33:20little pedialyte and you feed this until
33:22the crop begins to move. Once the crop
33:25moves, you then start blending in some
33:27formula. And I learned this uh going
33:30camping in Cape York in northern
33:32Australia
33:34uh uh to look at palm cockatus. And when
33:38we stopped along the way, they were
33:39buying an ungodly amount of meat. We
33:42would not be able to have ice for the
33:44length of the trip. And I kept saying,
33:46"This meat is going to decompose."
33:49And what they did is they wrapped it up
33:51in in in papaya seeds. And lo and
33:54behold, the meat lasted far longer than
33:56did the ice. So I said, "You know what?
33:58I'm going to try this on chicks." And
34:00now this papaya cream is widely used
34:03across the world. Next,
34:07treat each bruder as a separate unit. We
34:10use different cups. We add the formula
34:12to that and then we feed. Next,
34:17mark your chicks to identify uh to
34:21permit monitoring their weights or any
34:23issues that you may see. You can use um
34:27genten violet that you can buy a small
34:29bottle for next to nothing at Walmart.
34:32You can use markers. You can use lots of
34:35things to mark them with. Uh I am not a
34:38favor in favor of using tyracks. I've
34:40seen many chicks lose a leg because a
34:42tie rack rack tighten around the foot
34:45and the breeder did not realize this.
34:48Next,
34:50keep chicks warm. Uh chilling is a major
34:54problem in slowed crops. Next,
34:59keep them dark. Uh, I have enough
35:02weights over 50 years to show that when
35:05chicks are kept in bright light, uh,
35:08their growth is impacted. Uh, when
35:10they're kept dark, they sleep longer,
35:13digest better, and are less agitated.
35:16Remember, they would be in a dark cavity
35:18until they're ready to feather out.
35:21Next,
35:24weigh them regularly. Establish baseline
35:26data for your collection. Um, I have
35:30data that goes back 50 years of most of
35:33the species that we still breed. And
35:35whenever there's a doubt, I have I have
35:37averages of many chicks. I look at the
35:40average and say, "Okay, this chick is
35:42growing normal or this chick requires
35:45some extra attention."
35:47In my books, I try to give a lot of
35:49references on weights because of that.
35:52And I try to also point out when the
35:55eyes open, when the feathers first come
35:57in, because if there's deviation from
35:59this, there may be stunting. Next,
36:04observe, observe, and observe. Um, we
36:09started handing kes from day one because
36:11we wanted to increase our production.
36:15And uh you know like most people I have
36:18workers that help me and it cost me 120
36:22grand a year to maintain my farms.
36:24That's excluding food. So obviously we
36:27needed to make money and we were
36:28breeding uh more chicks to cover this.
36:32We only breed a certain amount of chicks
36:33that we know we can give them the proper
36:35care but I don't want to make money from
36:38my birds. I need to cover my expenses.
36:42So kesikes were in great demand and we
36:44wanted to increase production but we
36:46found that we were losing them
36:47constantly. Well being the typical anal
36:51veriral that I am, I installed cameras
36:53in the nursery and they showed me that
36:56the chicks were aspirating after we were
36:58feeding them. They would get agitated,
37:00fall on their backs and aspirate.
37:04I decided that I would keep them in
37:06small cups penguin style for a few days
37:09and then the problems resolved. Why?
37:11Because they couldn't flip on their
37:13backs and aspirate.
37:15Next,
37:19deal with problems quickly. This thing
37:22of, oh, I can wait. I'll wait till
37:24tomorrow. Let me think about it. Uh, the
37:28problem will not go away. I have a real
37:31issue with um antibiotics. Some people
37:35kill them. Uh they overuse them. They
37:39don't have any science behind them. But
37:41I also have issues with people that have
37:43the science and say, "Well, you know,
37:45I'm not really in favor of using
37:47antibiotics."
37:48I am currently working on some phages.
37:51Fages are bacteria that eat uh are
37:54viruses that eat bacteria that you would
37:57add to the food. Um, I hope to have the
38:00study finished by the time the cockatu
38:02book is is completed so I can include
38:04that. And if not, I will obviously be
38:06doing videos and and articles on it. Um,
38:11so you deal with problems as they come
38:14along. You don't wait if the chicken has
38:15got yeast or if it's got a bacterial
38:18problem. Culture. Work with a vet. You
38:22know, I work I have 50 years of
38:24experience and I still work very closely
38:26with vets. In fact, at every consulting
38:28job that I have ever done, one of the
38:31requisites is that I have a vet on staff
38:34that works with me. Next,
38:40when chicks hatch with uh an open
38:43umbilical or an unabsorbed yolk, the
38:46general concept is you add betadine. Uh
38:49I found that simple white sugar, cane
38:52sugar, works far better. You literally
38:55apply it to the area and you use dental
38:57floss to tie but not sever the
39:00protruding yolk. The sugar dries it. It
39:03inhibits bacterial growth. Um and it
39:07resolves the problem. Usually when you
39:09have an un retracted egg yolk, there are
39:12issues with an incubator. People tell
39:14me, "Oh, but the digital reading," and
39:16here's here's what I meant by tying it,
39:18but the digital reader on the incubator
39:20tells me the temperature is right.
39:23Incubators need to be calibrated. We
39:26calibrate ours every year and we use
39:29calibrated thermometers that are the
39:32same that NASA uses. They're very
39:34expensive, but I don't want to kill a
39:37chick. I don't want my negligence
39:39because I didn't have an calibrated
39:41thermometer to check the incubator
39:45uh be the cause of death. Next,
39:49that was the same chick, by the way,
39:50seven days later. You can still see see
39:53vestages there of the uh dental floss
39:56that was used to tie but not sever the
39:58protruding yolk. Next,
40:02when legs are spled, I don't like to
40:05necessarily tie them. I like to use a
40:07sponge because the sponge provides some
40:10body support and doesn't have the chicks
40:12sit in awkward positions. We need to
40:16provide these babies with the best care
40:18and the best attention that's within our
40:20realm.
40:21Next,
40:24when there is a a maloclusion, the top
40:27beak uh goes into the bottom one. It's
40:30very common in in palm cockatus that are
40:32artificially incubated. Um you can
40:35either next
40:39glue a tip of a straw to the upper beak
40:41and glue it with crazy glue. The that's
40:44the chick on the left is the same chick
40:46as you're seeing on the far right,
40:48Malucan cockatus. Or you can do the
40:51following next.
40:54Sorry, I don't have the video the image
40:56there. You can basically tie the beak
40:58shut using duct tape at night. Um, and
41:01you place it in proper shape and then
41:03you just tie the beak together so that
41:06the upper mandible can't go into the
41:08lower mandible.
41:10Next, uh, maloclusion macaus is quite
41:13common. This happens as a result of
41:16feeding from only one side or the chick
41:18going hungry, not getting enough food,
41:21not having enough fat. It grabs a side
41:23of the container and begins to pump as
41:26it does as the beaks deviate. Next
41:30solutions are a very deep tub. Uh, in
41:33this case, these are garbage cans. Next,
41:38and aligning, sorry, I thought I had the
41:40image there. aligning the the beaks when
41:43you feed or feeding from alternate
41:45sides.
41:48Um toll restricting syndrome or
41:51constricting syndrome. You see it there.
41:54It's quite common in Amazon and Macaus.
41:57It seems to be uh you also see it in
42:00African parrots. It seems to be related
42:03to a lack of proper humidity. When it
42:06happens, you have to cut the ring or it
42:09will strangulate the toe and you will
42:10lose it. Next,
42:14when there's yeast, um, you can tell in
42:16the mouth. You can generally smell the
42:18the the
42:20uh the clustrdium or the yeast in the
42:22mouth. Um, you can prophylactically
42:27uh get a gallon of water uh and add some
42:30gentin violet as a dye. It is not a
42:33medication. It is a dye that strangles
42:36that kills the yeast and you can use
42:38that say one week a month if you have
42:40fungal issues in your nursery and you
42:43basically dye it to the color of my
42:45shirt. That's why I wore this colored
42:47shirt so that this would be the color
42:49you would dye the water. Gentin violet
42:52does not require prescription. It's a
42:53dye and it's sold in Walmart for
42:56example, I believe also in CVS and and
43:00Walgreens drugstores. Next,
43:05understand the idiosyncratic behaviors
43:07of some chicks. Macaus, if you keep them
43:09in a dark room and you suddenly flip on
43:11the lights, will flip on their backs.
43:14Leave a night light on. Talk to them
43:16before you come into the room. Let them
43:18know you are entering. Um, these animals
43:21are very smart and quickly realize
43:23routine. Even small chicks. When macaw
43:27flip on their backs, they can aspirate.
43:30Next,
43:33vomiting during the first feeding in
43:34[ __ ] as they feather out is quite
43:37common. All you do is feed less amount
43:38of food during the first feeding and
43:41then the second feeding you go back to
43:42normal.
43:44Next,
43:46maintain strict hygiene. The greatest
43:49problem that I see in a culture is poor
43:52hygiene.
43:54It is probably the number one killer of
43:57chicks and the number one problem of
43:59gram negative bacteria and avaries.
44:02The perception that hygiene is this is
44:06not correct. You need to change chicks
44:09constantly. You need to clean aviaries.
44:13The disturbance will not stop your birds
44:15from breeding. It will not kill them. On
44:18the contrary, they adapt to the hygiene
44:21and they survive and they breed and they
44:24stay healthier and you have less
44:25bacterial issues. Next,
44:29you wash your hands. This particular
44:32aviary, the guy said, you know, I don't
44:34understand why my babies are all dying
44:35from gram negative bacteria. Well, look
44:38at the caretaker's fingers.
44:40He had dried feces from cleaning adult
44:43bird cages.
44:46Next,
44:48when planning to make young future
44:50breeders, rear them with their own kind.
44:53If not a similar species, allow them to
44:56become birds. There are two ways you can
44:59produce fabulous pets. One is you
45:02co-parent. You handle chicks that are
45:03being parent reared. Or if you hand rear
45:06them, allow them to play, allow them to
45:09reinter, allow them to become birds
45:12before they become pets.
45:14Next.
45:18And this nonsense claim that I hear all
45:20the time that oh hand weird birds will
45:22never uh be su successful parents.
45:25That's nonsense. Here are two different
45:27pairs of rose proced cockatus with their
45:29chicks. Both of them were third
45:31generation birds reared at my house. All
45:33I did when they were being hand reared
45:35is I handre reared them in groups and I
45:39allowed them to fledge and interact as
45:41groups for three years. Then they were
45:42paired and used for breeding. Next,
45:47when you hand rear different species,
45:50understand that there are some diseases.
45:53Cockatil, love birds, budgies, and
45:57ringnecks are toxic Marys in an aviary.
46:01Many of them carry many diseases. If you
46:04hand rear them, hand rear them in a
46:06separate room.
46:08Wash your hands and have strict
46:10biocurity.
46:12Next,
46:15pseudamonus is a common problem. They
46:17get bent necks. These are signs that
46:20something is wrong in the aviary.
46:22Understand these issues and treat them.
46:25Don't believe that you can just medicate
46:28the bird and everything will be fine.
46:30Find the cause of why this is happening
46:33so it doesn't recur. Next.
46:38Claustrdium is a very big problem and I
46:42see it more and more worldwide. It
46:44started in the US. I now see it in
46:46Europe, in Asia, across the world.
46:50Um, even if you maintain strict hygiene,
46:53this is one of those that can easily
46:55escape. when it does, and the vets will
46:57will will obviously uh uh lambast me for
47:03this, but you can use metronidisol
47:05treated water um to make the formula
47:09twice a day. And you may, if you have
47:13constant issues with claustrdium, you
47:15may want to use this uh as a
47:17prophylactic once a month. I don't
47:19normally recommend prophylactic
47:21medicine, but this is one of those cases
47:23that if you have a lot of issues, you
47:25need to treat because if not, you will
47:28have high mortality and it is a painful
47:31mortality because the chicks literally
47:33bleed in the intestines. Next,
47:39here's another case. In an eclectus or
47:42in cockatus, they literally turn white.
47:46Next
47:48polyoma is this bruising.
47:52Every single day during the breeding
47:55season of ringneck parakeetses, I get
47:57messages, sir, my chicks have these
47:59hematomas. What medicine can I give
48:01them? Uh, this is a virus. This is very
48:06difficult to treat. There is a vaccine,
48:08but this is a virus. You should exclude.
48:11You should test all your ringnecks, all
48:14of your birds, all of your your
48:16cockatil, all of your love birds for
48:19polyoma and circle virus. Circle virus
48:22is beacon feather disease. Once you get
48:24these diseases into your avaries,
48:26they're very difficult to eradicate. You
48:29need to be prepared to burn perches,
48:31burn nest boxes, change your air air
48:34conditioning system. It will require
48:37tremendous work. It is much better to
48:41start off with clean stock than deal
48:44with a problem once it occurs next.
48:48And there's a vaccine as I said and it's
48:51available only in the US. It is a killed
48:54vaccine so it's safe. Um it's not
48:57available worldwide. When you use it in
49:00kes you must use one shot of betrol. If
49:03you don't for whatever reason you
49:05experience mortality. Next,
49:10understand the the re disease risk and
49:13uh uh stay a breast of new findings.
49:16Here are three vets. Dr. Susan Club, Dr.
49:19Noiset Fernandez, and Dr. Stacy Galis
49:22from Australia. So, you've got three
49:24continents. You've got Noah from Spain,
49:26Stacy from Australia, Susan from the US.
49:29I consult with vets all the time. I want
49:33their opinion.
49:35Next,
49:38beacon feather disease is a growing
49:41menace. When you see birds starting to
49:43turn yellow, when they lose their flight
49:45and tail feathers,
49:47uh when the beak begins to overgrow,
49:50this is a serious disease with no
49:53treatment.
49:54Uh there are some vaccines being
49:57developed. There are some drugs that
49:59hold promise. Nothing is concrete yet.
50:03test the birds and exclude them because
50:05this is a virus that lives in dust.
50:07It'll live decades
50:09and it will kill chick after chick after
50:12chick. The newer strains that are
50:15circulating even impact adult birds. I
50:19have seen it in birds that I knew from
50:21the 1970s that suddenly came in contact
50:24with infected ringneck parakeetses,
50:26contracted it and have died. Next.
50:32And in palm cockatus, for example, it
50:34turns white feathers. There's no turning
50:37back.
50:39These birds are as good as dead. Next,
50:44a typical sign is these pinch feathers.
50:48Um, it starts off with tail and and and
50:50flight feathers being gone. Then there's
50:53progressive loss.
50:55um the bill overgrows
50:58and then they die.
51:00Next,
51:03as I said, a vaccine is being developed.
51:06Um nothing yet, but uh there is hope.
51:11There's hope that something will be
51:12done. This one was tried in Africa. Uh
51:16uh I did some trials. It works on some
51:19species, not all. Um you need to use it
51:22very early on. Uh so it's not a
51:25practical solution yet. Next,
51:30born a virus or PDD is another threat.
51:34It can lay dormant for years. I know of
51:37cases where single pet birds were
51:40suddenly moved from inside the house to
51:42the outside because the house was being
51:43remodeled. Where the bird was moved from
51:45one room to another because the room was
51:47being painted. Where a second bird was
51:50brought in. No one knows what triggers
51:53born virus PDD but it is deadly. There
51:57is no simple cure. Yes, you can keep the
52:00birds alive with drugs but uh we don't
52:04know how long they can survive on these
52:07drugs and we don't know how long uh it
52:10will be uh before a vaccine or solution
52:14is found. Next,
52:18papillomomas is another one highly
52:20contagious. It's less common now. It was
52:23very common in Macaus when they were
52:25imported from Guyana and Bolivia and in
52:28Amazon parrots and hawkheads. When it
52:30happens, this one is highly contagious,
52:33but you can keep the birds alive and you
52:35can even produce healthy chicks from
52:37them by feeding them hot peppers daily.
52:41Um, I always recommend a cornbread that
52:44you add chili paper pepper powder to and
52:48then you uh you feed that to the chicks
52:52to the adults. Once the eggs are laid,
52:54you take the eggs out, you disinfect
52:56them, and you can incubate healthy
52:59um young, produce healthy young from
53:01those eggs. Next,
53:05this is how bad papalomaas can get. And
53:08you see a bird that was uh brought to me
53:12uh in that stage. It was literally
53:13dumped at my doorstep. And several weeks
53:16later after being given hot peppers, you
53:19see the bird, same bird on the right.
53:22The problem is they've got to be kept on
53:24peppers their whole life. Next,
53:30you know, managing a collection is much
53:32more than feeding good food and
53:34cleaning. You need to be involved. Um,
53:38this idea of uh putting food out,
53:41washing cages and ignoring the birds,
53:43that doesn't apply. Um, I work for a
53:47fuel company and I look at my birds very
53:51early in the morning and I look at them
53:53when I come home from work and weekends
53:56I work uh there are no breaks. There's
53:59no New Year's Day, no Fourth of July.
54:02They need attention every day.
54:05Next
54:08When you have pairs that don't produce
54:09eggs, culture them, look for the cause.
54:12Simply being told, "Oh, well, I need to
54:15repair them." Uh, there's usually a
54:17reason why the birds are not producing
54:19fertile eggs. It's either because
54:20they're imprinted or their diet is wrong
54:23or they have a bacterial issue. Find the
54:25causes. Next,
54:29antibiotics should only be used as after
54:31sensitivities. These are these are
54:34culture plates. And you could see that
54:37that big circle tells me that would be
54:40the perfect antibiotic. The one that has
54:42no circle around it would be the wrong
54:44one. So you just don't grab something
54:46off the shelf and say, I'm going to use
54:47this. You find out what antibiotic will
54:50work. Once you establish historical data
54:53for your collection, then you could say,
54:55you know what, this antibiotic has
54:57worked most of the time. You take a
55:00culture before you use it. You consult
55:02with your vet. And then if your vet says
55:03yes, go ahead and put the bird on it.
55:05You put the bird on it. Next,
55:09uh, I thank you. I try to share as much
55:12information as I can. Um, I I have
55:16donated the rights to my books because I
55:20want to um I want a culture to succeed.
55:24We have a lot of challenges from
55:25governments across the world that want
55:28us to um to not be able to keep pets.
55:32Ava culture boommed during COVID. We
55:35realize that keeping pets is mentally a
55:38healthy uh exercise. I encourage you to
55:42keep Ava to to follow AVA culture.
55:45Question the sources
55:47and ask a lot of questions. When people
55:50challenge me, I never get angry. On the
55:52contrary, I say, you know what? I'm
55:54proud that they're challenging me with a
55:56question. That means they're seriously
55:58interested. When I go online and I see
56:00self-p profofessed experts giving advice
56:03and no one questioning them, that's very
56:06sad because that is a recipe for
56:08disaster.
56:10Chris, I don't know if you have any
56:11questions.
56:12>> Yes, I do, Tony. So, um, hopefully, and
56:16I know you're very busy, so I appreciate
56:17you doing this. So, let me just, uh, get
56:20my view here.
56:24Go self view. All right, there we go. I
56:28just made sure everybody saw your
56:29beautiful face with the PowerPoint. Uh,
56:31a couple things. So, in US agriculture
56:33right now, people are having challenges
56:35breeding African grays, which is
56:37probably one of the more popular
56:39parrots. Any uh tips or suggestions of
56:42what you
56:42>> Well, what we're seeing with the African
56:45gray is a is a recipe that we created
56:48for disaster. No one kept young.
56:51Everybody was selling babies. And these
56:54imprinted birds, everybody said, "Oh,
56:55we'll recycle them when somebody doesn't
56:57want a pet." Well, they're imprinted.
56:59They don't know how to behave with
57:00another bird. That is very dangerous.
57:04What what it what it's happened is is
57:06that these birds don't know how to
57:08behave like a bird. They don't know how
57:09to mate and they just don't breed. If
57:12you want to breed African grays by
57:14youngsters, spend the three to four to
57:17five years that it takes to maturing
57:20them and raise them.
57:22So basically patients that people don't
57:24have because they're able to sell them
57:26for a premium.
57:26>> You know, I get messages weekly of
57:29somebody saying, "I bought a pair of
57:31birds. Uh I want them to start
57:33breeding." Look, if parrots were that
57:36easy to breed, they would be as cheap as
57:38chickens. They're not. They're expensive
57:41because they require patience,
57:44a good investment in food, time, energy,
57:47avaries, etc.
57:50Um, recycling birds from the pet trade.
57:53Recycled macaw and amazon are fine. You
57:57can recycle all the African grays you
57:58want. It's not going to uh mean that
58:02you're going to be able to breed them.
58:03Maybe 10% will adapt and learn to be
58:06birds. The rest just don't. The males
58:09don't know how to mate. The females will
58:11lay eggs, but the males have no clue how
58:13to mate. Buy youngsters if you can still
58:15buy them. Race them together.
58:19and wait the time.
58:21>> Just imagine the investment will be huge
58:24because each year that goes by, these
58:25old African grays that were wild imports
58:27pre-192
58:29stop breeding and there's fewer and
58:31fewer chicks. That's why the prices have
58:33exploded.
58:35Imagine what's going to happen in 10
58:37years when people continue to still sell
58:39the babies they breed. Nobody has
58:41amassed a breeding group.
58:45uh and we'll be able to breach that that
58:48problem.
58:48>> So Tony for us uh in agriculture in the
58:50US to under to because a lot of us want
58:53to grow it, want to bring new people to
58:54the fold. You mentioned 1978 as a
58:57watershed year. It seems like a lot of
58:59things happened in the US and 1978. Why
59:02is always mentioned?
59:04>> 1970s and 1980s were Christmas.
59:08Species were flowing into a culture at
59:10an unprecedented rate. uh imports were
59:14allowed
59:15um of wild birds. Clearly that was not
59:18sustainable.
59:20But the law went from one extreme to the
59:23other. We should be allowed to import
59:25small numbers of birds without a
59:27consortium that some bureaucrat in
59:29Washington can decide whether they grant
59:31it or not. We should be able to import
59:33captive bred birds from captive breeding
59:35facilities. We should be willing to
59:37accept that the birds will be
59:39genetically tested to make sure they are
59:41genuinely captive bred. And what they do
59:43is they test the parents, they test the
59:45offspring. Yes, they're they're
59:47genuinely offspring. They're not being
59:50laundered through a collection, and then
59:53allow us to import a set number of
59:55birds, six of each species, for example.
59:58Five. Europe allows five pet birds under
1:00:02the pet bird rule. So they go to they go
1:00:04to some of these breeding facilities,
1:00:06they buy five pet birds, they get new
1:00:08blood, they can maintain the species.
1:00:11>> Uh question on golden conjurs. Recently
1:00:14in a US agriculture, we've seen a lot of
1:00:17people having challenges with golden
1:00:18conjurs. Um
1:00:21>> you want to feed them a mushy formula.
1:00:24They need a chunky formula.
1:00:26>> You know, on my on my YouTube page, uh I
1:00:29show them how to feed the chunky
1:00:31formula. If you try the chunky formula,
1:00:33you will not fail.
1:00:36>> By the way, I saw you feed the an
1:00:37African gray baby a chunky formula. And
1:00:41>> I I have to say, as someone that's never
1:00:43seen that before, it's jarring to watch.
1:00:46>> Yes.
1:00:46>> Obviously, you know what you're doing.
1:00:47But I'm just telling you from the
1:00:48perspective of you've only done smooth
1:00:50formula, you always when you see it,
1:00:52you're like, "Oh my god." But then when
1:00:54you know what you're doing, it's
1:00:55incredible to watch. I had to spend a
1:00:58year going to a therapist because I fell
1:01:00from a tree looking at chicks um and and
1:01:05watching exactly that.
1:01:06>> Wow.
1:01:08>> That's incredible.
1:01:08>> The injury here
1:01:10um taught me that feeding this liqufied
1:01:15formula was not the way to go.
1:01:18>> Now, as far as diet, you mentioned
1:01:20pellets. Obviously, like you said,
1:01:21sunflower seeds. There's no sunflower in
1:01:24the rainforest where they're picking off
1:01:25the seeds or whatever. um sprout the dry
1:01:29freeze-dried food like all these things
1:01:31are now coming out and you know what I'm
1:01:33talking about where you know for a bag
1:01:35of you know uh freeze-dried dandel
1:01:38whatever it is I don't know but um know
1:01:41dandelions are cold cold temperature
1:01:43plants how many parrots come from those
1:01:46cold areas you know we need to
1:01:48understand that everything is unnatural
1:01:50and and these proponents of these crazy
1:01:53things say oh you know pellets are
1:01:54unnatural well everything is unnatural
1:01:57Um, but pellets at least provide a
1:02:01balanced diet. Look, these people make
1:02:03these statements because they weren't a
1:02:04naval culture in the 1970s when we were
1:02:07losing birds left and right from dietary
1:02:10deficiencies. I get messages weekly from
1:02:12people in the Middle East who feed their
1:02:14African grays sunflower seeds because
1:02:17they believe that's the healthy diet.
1:02:19and watching these birds develop
1:02:22disease. Uh, you know, it's really sad
1:02:26that these birds are dying because
1:02:28they're fed uh u some of these diets.
1:02:31Feed pellets. Uh feed vegetables. I feed
1:02:3670% pellets, 30% vegetables, and
1:02:39depending on the species, I throw in
1:02:40some nuts. Periodically, I give some
1:02:42fruit for variety. Uh, you know, that's
1:02:45a diet that's been proven.
1:02:48when they tell me, "Oh, you know, my
1:02:50diet of sprouts and and and uh uh uh
1:02:54pansies is much better." Show me blood
1:02:57values. I can show you blood values of
1:02:59birds and pellets and vegetables. Show
1:03:01me blood values to show me that it's
1:03:03perfect. They don't do that.
1:03:06>> And just for a note, if anyone doesn't
1:03:07know who you are, it's not just your
1:03:09collection. You work on some of the
1:03:11largest collections in the world. So
1:03:12you've seen you're one of those people
1:03:14I've seen case studies across
1:03:15>> I've bred I have bred more parrots than
1:03:17anybody else in the world and I'm not
1:03:19saying that to toot my horn.
1:03:21>> On top of that you also are in front of
1:03:23the large you were you know director of
1:03:24Laurel Park. The the the amount of
1:03:26volume of data you have is incredible.
1:03:29>> Yeah it's 50 years and when I started
1:03:31out I was a kid nobody wanted to share
1:03:33any knowledge with me. The old-timers
1:03:36you know brushed me off. So I had to
1:03:38learn and I fell down many times.
1:03:41>> The the lost many many birds by under by
1:03:44thinking that a parrot seed mix and
1:03:46apple and grapes and and banana were the
1:03:49right diet. They're not.
1:03:52>> You know, uh you you you probably could
1:03:54answer this question. I'm seeing this on
1:03:55Facebook groups because there's
1:03:56thousands of people of, you know,
1:03:58whatever the bird they're into. And
1:04:00these birds will pass away at 20 years
1:04:02old from a stroke or different weird
1:04:05things. Is that because people are
1:04:07giving them human food with high salt
1:04:09content or different things like that as
1:04:11they're eating?
1:04:12>> I think a lot of it is because
1:04:14>> birds.
1:04:15>> Yeah. Yeah. I think a lot of it is some
1:04:17of these crazy diets. My grandmother had
1:04:19a double yellowheaded Amazon that died
1:04:21at 50. That bird uh never had sunflower
1:04:25seeds. It only ate vegetables from the
1:04:27table. And when we ate beans, it would
1:04:29eat beans. So basically it would eat
1:04:32beans, it would eat vegetables, and
1:04:34periodically it would jump down and eat
1:04:36dog kibble. We're talking the 1970s,
1:04:39>> right?
1:04:41>> You know, we didn't know any better.
1:04:44>> I see many birds that are fed some of
1:04:46these obscene diets that live to be 20
1:04:49and 30 and they have atherosclerosis,
1:04:52right,
1:04:52>> and blindness and all kinds of issues.
1:04:56I'm sure people ask you about that
1:04:57because I I I haven't been doing this
1:04:58for as long as you have, but I'm getting
1:05:00asked like, "Hey, my bird mysteriously
1:05:02passed away." Blah, blah, blah. And then
1:05:03you're thinking,
1:05:04>> well, there was there was an art there
1:05:05was a book by Mrs. Emman, and Emma Moon
1:05:08produced the first uh Latino cockatil.
1:05:11In fact, they were called moon beams.
1:05:13And in her book, which was published in
1:05:15the 1970s, she said that the average
1:05:17lifespan of a cockatil was 10 to 12
1:05:20years and that they would die of
1:05:22exhaustion after 12 years. was they were
1:05:25dying because of poor diet. Today,
1:05:27cockatil fed a good diet live to be 25
1:05:30to 30 years.
1:05:32>> Yeah, it's incredible how much we've
1:05:34learned. Um, so Tony, what uh you travel
1:05:38the world and you see all the different
1:05:39places. The challenge we have now and
1:05:42I've gone to a lot of young
1:05:43agriculturists. people are afraid to
1:05:46because in the US they're afraid of
1:05:47being targeted. Um not from fellow
1:05:50agriculturists but from just regulations
1:05:53unfortunately.
1:05:54>> Look I I I I never like to talk politics
1:05:58um because I am apolitical. I worked for
1:06:01a congressman when I when I graduated
1:06:03from college and I realized that
1:06:05politics are very dirty both sides of
1:06:09the the aisle and uh the recent sides
1:06:12meeting um the the US contingency that
1:06:17includes many AR groups were bitterly
1:06:20complaining that they couldn't take
1:06:21their huge delegations because USAID
1:06:24funds dried up. I'm very glad they were
1:06:27taking 50, 60 people at taxpayer expense
1:06:30to lobby against animal keeping. Now
1:06:33they've got to pound the soil and get
1:06:35money and they don't stay at fivestar
1:06:38hotels and can't have uh thousand meals.
1:06:42They've got to eat at McDonald's and
1:06:43stay at at uh uh threestar hotels. Uh
1:06:48politics need to stay out of a culture.
1:06:51As long as we follow the law and we
1:06:54provide good husbandry, we should be
1:06:55allowed to keep birds. I am hoping that
1:06:58the pendulum that swung way to the
1:07:01opposite end will somehow find its way
1:07:04in the middle of the road.
1:07:06>> Right. And you've been you've seen it
1:07:08you've seen it from a level that very
1:07:09few people could understand.
1:07:11>> Oh, you know, I' I've sat at meetings at
1:07:13sides meetings where I've been told uh
1:07:16better dead than bred. They would rather
1:07:17see a species become extinct than
1:07:19captive bread.
1:07:21Is it because they could raise more
1:07:22money as the thing is going extinct? It
1:07:24doesn't make
1:07:24>> Oh, you know, absolutely, man. It's big
1:07:26business. Uh when when you are an animal
1:07:29rights person, I want to make sure you
1:07:31don't have an air conditioner in in your
1:07:34house. I want to make sure you don't
1:07:35wear leather shoes and you don't eat
1:07:37regular food because you know what?
1:07:39Every time you eat food, some piece of
1:07:42land has been cleared to harvest fossil
1:07:46fuels. You're destroying the
1:07:47environment. So, you know, let's do an
1:07:51introspective look before you start
1:07:53pointing fingers. As Hyen Sealman once
1:07:55said, never point one finger because you
1:07:58have three fingers pointed back.
1:08:00>> Now, because you you traveled the world,
1:08:01I I was very fortunate to go out to the
1:08:04Philippines and uh meet a really great
1:08:06man, TJ, and his little daughter, Mikos,
1:08:08who has Michael's aviary. What's your
1:08:10view on agriculture in other parts of
1:08:12the world? Where where did

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