African Grey

A few pics of an African Grey, i'm handrearing for my daughter

Frankie aged 2 Weeks 4 Days




Frankie aged 3 Weeks 4 Days




Frankie aged 4 Weeks 5 Days




Frankie aged 5 Weeks 6 Days




Last pic was a week ago so due a pic today will add it when i get one

Im aware that you do keep other birds and you obviously know what your doing, but when you do this handrearing is it basically to acustom them to humans or is there more to it exacly? I know African greys are very intelligent and suffer if they are properly cared for and stimulated, what bird then would you recommend for something intelligent but doesnt need constant caring like the african grey?

greys are so cute when they are babies with their big black eyes, can see my fellas eyes starting to change now again as hes getting older. good luck with frankie

Hi Greecko,

Yes a lots got to do with them imprinting on the humans as being theier parents and to have them used to interaction from as many people as possible as well as household noises. If taken from the aviary after being weaned by the parent birds and brought into the home, the sights and sounds of lots of people could stress them out as well as other household noises.

My birds i handrear are used to all the family members including grandkids( noisy pets they are lol) and to my rottweiler and household sounds.

I don't handrear all my birds i let the parents rear some too that way it stops the parents birds rejecting chicks in future and to allow full term rearing which is benifical to the parent birds, also if people are looking aviary birds i have some and i also keep some for myself.

These are just my opinions and everyone else might not agree, i'm no expert i just keep the birds as a hobby.

If your looking to get a intelligent bird but one which doesnt reply on as much interaction as a grey, i'd suggest a conure... green cheeked being the less noisy and come in a variety of mutations, they are comical lil birds.

I'd advise getting plently of toys for any bird kept single and try to avoide the cheap ones, as i've heard to many stories of the hooks being sharp and injuring birds and links not the right size on the toys enabling the bird to get head or legs trapped.

The best thing is lots of imteraction between you and your bird.



Thanx Sally yep its great seeing them change nearly daily, Frankie isa real pain the thumping at 5am looking a cuddle has lost its cuteness lmao, but he's so soft just wants to cuddle up to you all the time.

oh i know that feeling, nothing better than getting summoned to the cage at 6am because someone has woken up and thinks that everyone else should be awake too. im in trouble when my fella figures out how to say my name at the minute he just shouts his own name up the stairs followed by im a good boy lol its only cause hes cute he gets away with it

Lmao how old is your one and any pics?

just put up some pictures of him a few mins ago, hes 14 months at the min

Cheers Sally

Great info Dee, as always.

I fully agree, there are a hell of a lot of benefits to hand rearing birds destined for home life and regardless of how the bird was raised, they will still go through their 'teenage faze' and I think personally, it is generally easier to deal with when the bird has known you and only you as they can have some separation issues sometimes when taken away from the parents too late in the game and that causes more problems to deal with, but like Dee, that's my opinion.

Obviously this isn't a golden rule as they are all individuals and my Georges 'teenage stage' wasn't bad at all, he was actually really good especially compared to some of the stories I've heard over the years or some of the problem birds I've taken from people but a lot of it are people induced problems and not the fault of the bird at all. (sorry for the little rant, it's been cut WAY down lol)

I completely forgot to say that Frankie is totally adorable. I love how soft their beak is at this stage and you have to update the thread Dee, dying to see more images and thank you for sharing!

Sorry Tan been busy the past few weeks forgot about updating.. i'll get a few pics today.. He's just over 10 weeks now.

Total smasher Dee! and thank you for the update :)

Do any of your forum people ever sell Grey eggs?

Hi Tan not that i know off and I wouldn't allow the posting of egg's for a variety of reasons.

What members do off the site I can't say.. thats up to them just I don't allow it on site

Thanks for the info Dee. I only wondered as I got some rats a while back & got chatting to the guy about all sorts, as you do lol he used to breed Budgies & I think he said other birds too but asked me why don't I take away my Greys eggs if she lays next year and try her out with a fertile one (because I told him George layed four eggs this year) as it was a waste if she was sitting anyway. I told him I honestly never thought about it, am totally against breeding 'him' for my own reasons (one being I got him as a youngster, have him 12years now and he is part of the family & was never intended as anything bar a companion) & never seen any for sale so didn't even know if it was possible in the first place. He'd said it was as people will sell them and it went out of my head till I replied to this post so just wondered do people actually sell them. I know anything is possible and I'm sure all sorts go on all over the place no matter what the interest or hobby is but just curious I suppose.

Is it something that is frowned upon in the Bird world? Sorry for all the questions Dee but as always I appreciate the replies my dear :)

Wow Frankie is the the best,i used to have 40 budgies!!!Id say Frankie is kinda like having 40 budgies all rolled into one bird,best of luck with him id love one some day!

Tan wrote:Thanks for the info Dee. I only wondered as I got some rats a while back & got chatting to the guy about all sorts, as you do lol he used to breed Budgies & I think he said other birds too but asked me why don't I take away my Greys eggs if she lays next year and try her out with a fertile one (because I told him George layed four eggs this year) as it was a waste if she was sitting anyway. I told him I honestly never thought about it, am totally against breeding 'him' for my own reasons (one being I got him as a youngster, have him 12years now and he is part of the family & was never intended as anything bar a companion) & never seen any for sale so didn't even know if it was possible in the first place. He'd said it was as people will sell them and it went out of my head till I replied to this post so just wondered do people actually sell them. I know anything is possible and I'm sure all sorts go on all over the place no matter what the interest or hobby is but just curious I suppose.

Is it something that is frowned upon in the Bird world? Sorry for all the questions Dee but as always I appreciate the replies my dear :)

Sorry Tan I don't understand that bit...i'm not Blonde i swear just grey lol.

I'm not sure if its frowned upon in close circles but I've heard of people selling parrot eggs when in fact its pidgeon eggs they are selling, also to sell an egg you'd have to make sure the person has all the right equipment etc and knowledge.

Then comes in the fact is the egg even fertile. If taken from under a hen thats been sitting how would you transport a fertile egg to keep temps etc right.

I'm no expert Tan and these are just my views, I just keep the birds as a hobby.

I know selling unweaned chicks is frowned upon but between people who know what they are doing and know each other its sorta accepted, just not selling to just anyone.

Thanx Tort,

lol he's not as bad as 40 budgies but he sure is demanding with your time, all he wants to do is cuddle up to you.

He should be going to new home in a few weeks( daughters house) I'm gonna miss having him here, but by then i'll have some cockatiel chicks in to handrear so will keep me busy till i get my own grey after xmas.

lol sorry Dee. George laid four eggs this year, infertile of course and I replaced them and allowed 'him' to sit on the eggs for 28 days before removing one every few days till he had none left. I chose to do this because the first time 'he' laid was two years ago, a single egg and I was there when it happened, he did not seem to know what was happening and sat on his perch while it arrived allowing it to fall to the ground and seemed very confused and all he wanted was cuddles, this year however, 'he' went off his food and got busy making a lovely messy nest type thingy (for a Grey lol) and showed all the signs eggs were coming so because this time around he seemed to be very in tune with what was going on, I wasn't going to remove them without replacing with fakes when he obviously wanted to sit so he did & was a wonderful mother to his fake eggs :). You know how I feel about caged birds mental health and all we can do to help them live happy lives trying to avoid behavioral problems as much as possible and this was one of the things I thought to do and reckoned it would avoid the total tantrum and the depression removing the Eggs can bring on (or so I've read a lot over the years). SO this guy, upon hearing I had replaced the eggs with fakes and allowed him to sit for four weeks asked me did he loose interest and I said no, he was as devoted to them on the last day as he was when the first egg arrived and he said about getting my hands on fertile eggs and get him to hatch them as it was a waste of he was going to sit anyway.

Pigeon eggs, wtf, nice people Good points Dee. Never ever thought about that, you are taking someone at their word so unless it is someone personally known to you it would be a big, big risk trying to source possibly fertile eggs and then temps ect....I don't see my George ever hatching out a chick as if and when he lays again, he will get back his fakes. It was so sweet to watch how much he cared for those flippin eggs Dee. Oh I think I have a photo of the eggs after I took them away, must have a look.

lol I love the way your still calling her he even after laying eggs.

If you join a parrot site someone may have a pair that wont sit on eggs and allow you to hatch the eggs for them.. long shot but possible.

Can the guy who suggested getting fertile eggs not put you in touch with someone?

Irish_Vampire wrote:Thanx Tort,

lol he's not as bad as 40 budgies but he sure is demanding with your time, all he wants to do is cuddle up to you.

He should be going to new home in a few weeks( daughters house) I'm gonna miss having him here, but by then i'll have some cockatiel chicks in to handrear so will keep me busy till i get my own grey after xmas.

thought you werent getting a grey

Lmao@ sally u better hide behind that couch... i'm not getting a Grey its mmmm ahhh the wife thats getting it... yes thats my excuse and i'm sticking to it

Irish_Vampire wrote:lol I love the way your still calling her he even after laying eggs.

If you join a parrot site someone may have a pair that wont sit on eggs and allow you to hatch the eggs for them.. long shot but possible.

Can the guy who suggested getting fertile eggs not put you in touch with someone?

He was a he for almost 10years before I found out he wasn't it just doesn't seem right calling him anything bar him (plus I don't want him going through an identity crisis )

That guy said he'd done it over 20years ago. I don't actually know him, just someone I got chatting to when collecting something but I'm not really wanting to, just curious about it.

Irish_Vampire wrote:Lmao@ sally u better hide behind that couch... i'm not getting a Grey its mmmm ahhh the wife thats getting it... yes thats my excuse and i'm sticking to it

yeah yeah sure.....you keep telling yourself that

You could get a male bird Tan for it... nice lil babies lol

lol@ Sally i am i am