Bird Tip: Handfed does NOT = tame and handleable

Ok - I have to comment on this "handfed" issue.  I've handfed birds that I've intended to become future breeders.  Other than stuffing them with food, I don't play with them, I don't cuddle them, I don't do anything with them.  I let them grow up interacting with other birds and all they know is that they're birds.  Once weaned, these birds are completely unhandleable and not in the least bit tame despite the fact that I handfed them as babies.

Why am I bringing this to your attention?  Because a majority of my breeders have been acquired from people who thought they were getting a sweet, pet quality bird because they were told it was "handfed".  Not true!

When looking for a PET quality bird, keep the following in mind:

GOOD THINGS:
- The bird appears calm in general.
- The bird is calm while you're moving around checking it out.
- The bird may look at you curiously, or just seems unfazed by what's going on around it and may be exploring.
- The bird does not move away from you or otherwise appear nervous or shy when you slowly raise your hand towards it.
- The bird reaches out calmly/slowly with its beak to climb on your hand.
- You are able to easily handle the bird after a few minutes of both of you checking each other out.
- If in a cage, the bird does not go to the farthest point away from you.
- If in a cage, the bird is easily taken out of the cage (including by you).
- The bird does not appear to be afraid of towels.  Some time in its life the bird will probably get toweled by you, the vet, someone in an emergency or maybe for clipping toenails/wings.  Hopefully the bird's been introduced to towels in a positive manner so it's not traumatized when a towel's thrown over it for emergency or grooming.

DOUBLE PLUS GOOD (Don't disregard a bird that doesn't exhibit the following behaviors, especially if it's a very young baby):
- The bird moves towards you calmly in a friendly manner.
- The bird goes back and forth on its perch or the person selling it, body leaned forward towards you to try to get to you to meet you.
-  If in a cage, the bird comes out by itself to meet you.

UNGOOD THINGS:
- The bird bites you hard in a lunging, striking manner like a snake, and either won't let go or lets go immediately and tries to get away from you. (Well, I guess if you're masochistic and like to bleed, knock yourself out, this is the bird for you.)
- The bird lunges at you.
- The bird keeps trying to get away.
- The bird seems nervous about being handled.
- The bird seems scared/nervous of hands.  (I've seen a cage full of birds labeled as "handfed/handtame"; when I slowly raised my hand up towards them, they all run, some screaming, to the opposite end of the cage.)
- If in a cage, the bird needs to be chased around to get it out.

DOUBLE PLUS UNGOOD (caveat emptor):
- The bird bites the person who's selling the bird.
- The bird keeps trying to get away from the person who's selling the bird.
- The person selling the bird seems afraid or tentative about handling the bird.
-  If in a cage, the bird bites when anyone tries to get it out.
-  The person selling the bird puts on a glove or gets a towel in order to handle the bird.  (Ok to towel to clip toenails/wings)
- The person selling the bird excuses the bird's poor behavior and tells you, "Oh, it just needs to get to know you."  If this is going to be your first bird - Do you really want to lose blood, or do you want to be off to a good start with a nice bird?
- The person selling the bird excuses the bird's poor behavior and tells you, "It's a baby and just needs to be socialized."  **This one's a BIG crock of bull Shitake Mushrooms.  Whether you're buying a bird from a breeder or pet shop, a baby should be easily handled.  THE BREEDER OR PET SHOP SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN SOCIALIZING THE BABY TO PREPARE IT TO BE A GREAT PET.

 

Sun Conures, Jenday Conures, most cockatoos should be easily handled like this.

The bird may not let you immediately handle it like this, but the person selling the bird should be able to.

 

At the very minimum the bird should sit calmly on your hand.

The bird should calmly go from hand to hand and not be nervous or biting.

Note - reaching down and chewing/nibbling your fingers is NOT biting.

I'll post later about what is and isn't a bite.