Before moving to where we are now I helped out another breeder by taking his less beautiful babies, or ones that needed saving (inexperienced parents often make mistakes) to hand raise. He's no longer breeding cockatiels (he was finding it too much around shift work) but he does have other birds that are happy just to breed once a season.
Last summer was the first time I did it for myself. Just yesterday a pair I have separated off were checking out the nestbox.
The hen isn't hand raised but because most of our other birds are she's become pretty tame and she's very smart and cheeky. Her partner is a bit of a character too. He's hand raised and makes me laugh when he dances in slow motion.
no wonder it's rainy over there.
