Dumbest Things People Have Said About Your Chickens/Eggs/Meat - Part 2 : Chicken Boogaloo.

[ShrekDawg]

Just saw this post on a local facebook page. [COLOR=1D2129]ISO: FERTILE EGG of chicken, duck, turkey, etc,.. My Macaw has laid eggs every year for the past 5-6 years. This year she has become extremely protective of her egg for the first time. If something does not hatch from under her, I am afraid that she will feel that she has not done her job correctly, as she does not understand that it is not fertile. I am afraid that if she does not bring an egg to fruition that she will suffer emotionally. I thought that if I can find a ferti[/COLOR]le egg that she is able to bring to fruition, that she will feel that she has done her job correctly. I have NEVER seen her act like this before and I am greatly concerned about her mental well being. Please feel free to call me if you have any fertile eggs that she can foster. I am willing to pay if need be. [COLOR=1D2129]Some many potential issues with this scenario...[/COLOR]

Baby parrots are like songbirds when they hatch, and are naked and nest bound, unlike chicks,poults, or ducklings. That poor parrot would be really confused if its chick got up and followed her!

I don't know though, even though some stuff could go wrong i dont necessarily think the post itself was dumb. Parrots and birds in general are incredibly smart and she could very well suffer emotionally. Of course she could also not and they'd never know unless they tried but i say it's definitely a very real concern. She could always lwt it hatch and then put the babies in a brooder. There was actually a woman on here who let her Cockatoo raise some eggs for the same reasons and was successful and the bird was VERY happy. I will see if i can find the thread

 

[junebuggena]

Because robbing her of her new born chick is less traumatizing than an egg not hatching...
Not to mention that poultry chicks do not have the instincts to open their mouths for feeding.

 

[Bantambird]

Parrots are very smart and long lived, so I suppose you might train them to accept different things, but in the wild parrots nest inside tree cavities and the young don't move around much, so I'd still be wondering how the parrot would be able to connect to a baby that acted in such a different manner than its nature would expect. But, as a mother, I can appreciate the desire to procreate. Quite the conundrum!

 

[junebuggena]

The woman also doesn't clip wings, so the whole pop under mommy for a warm up is going to be impossible if mommy is up on the bookcase. She also has several cats. Just too many potential problems. She still insists it's the greatest idea ever...
Might be great for the macaw, but it's a bad situation all around for the chick.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I admit I didn't necessarily think about the taking the chick part, that'd definitely be stressful, but then again like i mentioned there was a lady who did it with her cockatoo so it might be possible.

Anyway you both make good points about the other stuff too but i wasnt really specifically saying whether it was a good or bad idea or not but more just saying that the idea itself, the thought of the bird being distressed, wasnt necessarily dumb because to me when i first read it it sounded like that could have been what you meant but sorry if that wasnt the case.

 

[Bantambird]

Nature can be very interesting. There are cases of humans being raised by other animals, and it seems the most common are wolves or dogs, who find very young humans while they have very young pups of their own. The mothering instinct kicks in and instead of eating the helpless child, she cares for it.

 

[Athaid]

Nature can be very interesting. There are cases of humans being raised by other animals, and it seems the most common are wolves or dogs, who find very young humans while they have very young pups of their own. The mothering instinct kicks in and instead of eating the helpless child, she cares for it.

How would that even work? Do they drink the mothers milk and eat raw meat?

 

[Bantambird]

Yes. They would have to become a member of the pack.

 

[Athaid]

Has that ever actually happened? A human isn't physiologically designed to consume raw meat, and it certainly wouldn't be very nutritious. The milk, perhaps, if they were raised on it. They would still produce the enzyme necessary to absorb the nutrients. But it wouldn't be the same as the milk they would get from a member of their own species.

I could believe a human being raised by apes, but wolves? Eh, I don't know..

 

[junebuggena]

It was the whole, I need a chicken, duck, turkey or other fowl for my parrot to hatch and raise, that I think is dumb. If you really want her to be a mom, fine. Go find a parrot breeder that will let you have an egg or two. Do not subject a poultry-type bird to being raised by a parrot. Their young develop at very different rates, and have very different needs. The macaw's mothering instinct is to provide round the clock feeding, warming, and helping the chick defecate, for months on end. Poultry chicks are off and running within hours of hatching, and need little from their mothers other than warmth for a few weeks. How is that macaw going to cope with a baby that doesn't need her mothering instincts? Far more distressing than an egg never hatching, in my opinion.