Aussie Finch Forum

Howdy. OK parrot folk, what's your experience with using handreared birds for breeders? I have deliberately steered away from using handreared parrots at all, but was offered a handreared 2yo Regent cock recently to go with an aviary bred hen of similar age and thought I would give it a go. He may be hand reared, but has always been housed with other Regents as a group(both tame and aviary bred). My personal opinion is that seeing as he has been with other Regents and has not just been a pet in a cage, he should be right. I don't think that Polytelis have the same reputation as rosellas, Bluebonnets etc. in regard to handreared birds being poor breeders. But anyway, what's your experience?

My best breeding parrots are my 6 year old hand reared Quarrions .
They were meant to be both males then Ollie started laying eggs , anyhoo when they were 4 years old I gave in and gave them a nest box ( couldnt stand her broodiness any more ) and they haven't looked back.
Healthy young from unstressed parents , they dont care if I go near them or the nest . Bob ( the male ) gets a bit agro at times but that's males for ya .

Have had 2 good years of 3 clutches each year, neither of them lost condition or weight . This year they were moved to a bigger aviary under the back veranda , the new found room to move meant they were too busy having fun to breed but that's ok , they are still my little mates .

I have no problem saying yes hand reared parrots make great parents . however that's going on my experience . Others may disagree , I guess it comes down to the individual birds , instinct etc . Dont forget the first 1 or 2 clutches are a learning curve for any new parents.

The only problem I had with H/R Blue Bonnets was they belt the living S#$T out of you, apart from that, never missed an egg, 100% fertility from 3 pr for 4 seasons. As long as they have been socialized with other birds at some point in their life, even if it is will being reared & weaned, you should have no problems, regardless of species. Breeders I currently have that are h/R include, Scalies, Littles & Purple-Crowned Lorikeets, Green Cheeked Conures, Major Mitchells, & even a Rose-Crowned Fruit-Pigeon. In fact the best season I had with Little Lorries was a direct result of a H/R hen having 3 cluthes, & will still come up & give you a kiss, just don't go near the nest while she's in their. H/R can actually improve breeding results of some of the shyer birds due to the fact they have no fear of humans, so don't panic when you approach the cage, but again I stress they need to be socialized with other birds & not reared on their own with only human contact, that is where the problem lies.

Great advice VR1Ton- I totally agree.

Yep, I think you may be right. As long as the bird in question has been socialised with others of its own kind (as in this case), there should be no problem. I would still be reluctant to try and breed with someones pet however. I will give this new Regent a go . Bought an aviary bred pair yesterday, 3yo cock/2yo hen. Already have a 2yo hen here so will be interesting to compare the results from the 2 different pairs.
Beautiful birds Regents. Only kept smaller native parrots til now, so a new species for us. Would have loved to have gotten a pair of Superbs this year too, but with 2 pair of Regents now, have no more aviary space available. Their flights measure 4x1.2m, 3/4 roofed, double wired, seperating Bluebonnets and Mulgas etc. Got my logs ready for spring already.

In my experience hand reared parrots are terrible breeders.