Peter and Piper are a proven pair of Senegals that we recently aquired from a reputable breeder who is retiring from the business.  We hope they will quickly settle into their new accommodations and feel right at home.

Our Easter chick is weaned and in his own cage!  He is a male and we have named him Ricky.  We chose the name because our Chattering Lory, Quincey, is always giving orders to someone named Ricky who must have been a member of his previous household.  We thought it only appropriate that he have a new flock member with the same name!  Ricky was our first fully co-parented chick.  He is very snuggly and tame  and readily steps up for anyone who approaches him.  He is learning to give kisses and becoming more adventurous and playful every day.  Eventually we hope to pair Ricky with a co-parented female and continue our co-parenting approach to the next generation.

Welcome to Zip and Pixie!  Our tame pair of White Bellied Caiques are friendly and full of fun.  They have very quickly become integral members of our "flock."  They come to us from a wonderful aviary in Owen Sound Ontario and have always received the best possible care and socialization.  This really shows in their sweet dispositions.  Although they will not be ready to breed for another year or so we think they will be perfectly suited to our co-parenting approach.

Nellie and George's chicks are doing well. Nellie and George have accepted me as a co-parent and so I have decided to use a combination of hand feeding and co-parenting with these chicks. They are just starting to get their pin feathers. Will post new pics soon.

Nellie and George have two beautiful chicks hatched on May 14th and 15th!  The photo below is the chicks at 3 weeks.  Their eyes are just starting to open.

On Easter morning our first Caique chick hatched.  It is an "only chick" and it's parents, Booters and Chompers, are fairly tame.  We thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try the co-parenting technique of raising a tame chick.  Each morning and evening we handle the chick while Booters and Chompers enjoy some out of cage time.  So far it is going very well.  Booters and Chompers do not seem to mind us handling the chick.  The chick is growing well and has learned when it gets to come out and play.  It is waiting for us at the nest box door when we go in to get it!  We will be keeping this chick ourselves but if all continues to go well we will continue to experiment with this approach for future chicks.   In this way our chicks will be hand tamed yet still well socialized with other birds.  Our breeders will also get the satisfaction of raising their own young.  The chick is not yet DNA'd and we have not picked out a name for it.  At the moment we just refer to it as our little chicken nugget!  If you have any experience using a co-parenting approach I would love to hear from you.