Flamingos

[Mama duck 8]

Flamingos???? I dont think those are legall

 

[Blob Chicken]

Quote:
No. They are legal.

....

..

........

...

......................

...

 

[Mahonri]

I always keep a few around cuz they are so pretty... but they sure do have skinnylegs....

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

 

[chickenzoo]

that would be the cheapest and easiest way to have Flamingos..........

 

[toejam]

Quote:
They are legal, and basically every animal is legal if you have proper permits and approval(for some).

 

[DevSA]

Hey there Kmoreau.
Flamingos are very hardy and easy birds to keep.

They breed better in flocks then with just 1 or 2 pairs.
And Mud is much better than sand for there nests.
In South Africa they go for around R6000 to R8000 a pair

 

[Resolution]

Once your flock is established at least one or two pairs will breed every year. They do have quite a bit of odor and that may be a turn off. When I first started with flamingos all I could purchase were a number of hybrids from zoos around the country and a very few individuals of the Chilean, the Greater and the Lesser. I eventually gave up on the Lesser - though I wish I hadn't. The first year there were just three flamingo, one very tall Greater X Caribbean and two Andean hybrids ( no one is sure if they were descended of James or Chilean as all three species were maintained together at the park). I remember having read old National Geographic articles about flamingo creches and determined that if I were to make my flamingos less flighty we needed to create a creche for them. I purchased 25 white Chinese goslings from Stromberg's Chicks and Pets Unlimited ( this was mid 80's during their heyday) and managed to imprint the goslings on the flamingos who were fascinated with them from first sight. Over the years I managed to purchase several more hybrid flamingos when the zoos were purging all their hybrid stock. I've also received some imprinted flamingos from zoos over the years. They do stand apart from the rest of the flock at times and love to get frisky with the bisky. I feel sorry for them as flamingos are such social highly evolved creatures.. It does them no good being isolated in a group or all by themselves as pets. We never encouraged breeding from the hybrid colony and strangely many of these same birds are still alive and behaving as if they are no older despite their having been moved from California to New York. Many of the pairs appear to be same sex couples but the hybrids provided a social environment for incoming Chileans, which are the species I find easiest to work with. The best and least expensive flamingo food is made by HMS Zoo Diets but I've learned to supplement this seasonally to reduce soybean meal dramatically during the reproductive season. I've also discovered that crows are the worst enemies of flamingo breeding as they snatch every egg as its laid on the island.

If you are interested in something closely related to the flamingo that is much more appropriate on a small pond, you may want to explore the possibility of keeping a grebe or two. They are amongst the more common birds maintained at many wildlife rehabilitation centres (depending what part of the USA you are in) as they often collide in flight with objects that permanently damage their wings. If you can obtain training and the appropriate permit you may be able to adopt some as we have.

 

[DuranAndy]

Hey Resolution, What is it like keeping grebes?

 

[toejam]

Quote:
X2