The Moonshiner's Leghorns

[Miami Leghorn]

You hatch parrots?

Yes

 

[Miami Leghorn]

What colors is Moony planning for the first hatch? Or just whatever he can get in the incubator before its too full to work?

My guesstimation is...Lots and lots and yes

 

[ColtHandorf]

I want to see the parrots!

That's all @MIAMI LEGHORN. lol I don't do parrots anymore. I want to get back in to the little caged birds though, finches and the like.

I also want to see your geese because Pomeranians and American Buffs are my favorite geese breeds.

I'll start a thread for you and link it here so we don't derail Leghorn Senpai's thread.

Or just whatever he can get in the incubator before its too full to work?

I'm sure there's a plan. And he could tell us. But we all really think this answer is the correct one.

 

[Miami Leghorn]

You can get more chicks that way. And surprisingly some parrots are terrible parents.

Typically you really want the parents to learn how to be parents and raise the chicks until their pin feathers are opening up...but unfortunately some of these captive-bred birds are only good for breeding and laying eggs and some never learn how to incubate and raise their own... that's when we have to step in.

 

[Miami Leghorn]

Oh yes, and they take up way more time than chickens do.

Yep you're filling crops every time they're empty or every two hours...checking on temperature.. cleaning their poop... looking out for spraddle leg... making sure they're not chilled... making sure they're gaining weight...

 

[Miami Leghorn]

I'm sure they're better quality.

We
Shall
See

 

[ColtHandorf]

Typically you really want the parents to learn how to be parents and raise the chicks until their pin feathers are opening up...but unfortunately some of these captive-bred birds are only good for breeding and laying eggs and some never learn how to incubate and raise their own... that's when we have to step in.

So true. And then some breeders do weird stuff and don't tell you. I had a friend with a pair of Indian Ringnecks I think that were amazing parents until two weeks. And then they just stopped feeding. He called their original breeder and she said she pulled all her babies at two weeks. The parents didn't understand they needed to keep feeding them, so he always has to pull their babies earlier than the rest of his birds.

 

[Miami Leghorn]

So true. And then some breeders do weird stuff and don't tell you. I had a friend with a pair of Indian Ringnecks I think that were amazing parents until two weeks. And then they just stopped feeding. He called their original breeder and she said she pulled all her babies at two weeks. The parents didn't understand they needed to keep feeding them, so he always has to pull their babies earlier than the rest of his birds.

That's the problem.
I would rather raise parrots for sanctuaries ,wild parrot conservation programs,and zoos than for the public market because of that very same fact...
If you're selling it to the public market as a pet you don't want to let the parents raise the babies too long because then they will take forever to imprint with humans and the customer will be unhappy in the beginning.
When you do that long enough yes you're right,some parents pick up bad habits and stop being parents after a short while.
I have a pair of Yellow Napes that are in this transition right now; the last babies were pulled from them four years ago, since then they've refused to raise any babies, I have to pull the eggs out of the nest straight to the incubator.
I have been corresponding with a few professional breeders and they mix it up using incubators and broody chicken hens. I have not trusted broody hens yet, as a practice I plan on doing so in the future. But either way as soon as those babies are hatched with your broody hen you have to bring them into the brooder and start your feeding program.
If you're breeding them just to increase numbers in the wild it's always best to let the parents raise them so those birds know only Parrot life, not pet life and they will transition to being parents so much easier.

 

[Miami Leghorn]

 

[Miami Leghorn]

A comment/question/ observation about color and genetics... I have a hen that I received from an acquaintance who has a few leghorns in his yard... she's a product of a White Leghorn × Brown wild type Gamecock cross..her colors are almost identical as this rooster's are:
white with some splash with some light brown bleeding here and there. When I came to pick her up she was in a pen with her chicks... half of them were blue; the other half where light yellow,tan with a bit of darkening in the wing feathers too small to tell anyting.
I passed by his property yesterday to take a look at the chicks... the blue ones are staying blue with some darkening on their wing and tail feathers; the other half is white with light brown feathers and splashes of grey.
The sire of these chicks is a Brown Leghorn.
I should have taken pictures of those chicks I will go by another day and take some...the female, I will take a picture of her today to describe what I'm seeing.
But from what I see at face value,she seems to be controlling so far-on this one hatch-some of the color genetics on the chicks. He's also telling me that this hen's brother,a clutch mate, is exhibiting the same color as the white tan and blue chicks in rooster form. I have to see if I can get a picture of him as well.
I always thought that white was not that dominant and gave way to darker colors. I guess I have to do more reading.
Note: This pic is from the net not from the birds I'm describing,I'm using it for reference.