Poultry with parrots et al

[Altair]

A strong part of me wanted to get a cockatiel at one point but, also being an owner of fowl, thought the two could share disease with me being the common denominator. I have no idea about the resilience of the parrot family and wondered if anyone here has experience with safely keeping both.

[Patrick]

A strong part of me wanted to get a cockatiel at one point but, also being an owner of fowl, thought the two could share disease with me being the common denominator. I have no idea about the resilience of the parrot family and wondered if anyone here has experience with safely keeping both.

Your instincts are right. It's not so much a matter of lack of resilience of parrots, it's just that often they're too valuable to take needless chances by exposing them to diseases. The many species of poultry and other birds which many of us keep outdoors, have a chance of spreading diseases between themselves too, but remember, they have been exposed to wild birds, shows, swap meets or what have you for generations, and often have built up somewhat more resistence to a lot of what they are exposed to, compared to parrots and other indoor cage birds. Ornithosis (psitticosis) is still a concern in parrots, and may sometimes lie dormant for long periods, only to surface later. It is much easier treating a few caged indoor birds than an entire barnyard full of outdoor birds, if they catch it from a parrot. It just floors me when I see parrot owners offering birds for sale at a poultry swap, or, worse, individual pet owners who think it great to show off a bird which rides around on her shoulder while she visits every poultry dealer in the place.

Some of it is just a matter of how much risk you're willing to take. I know people, even in the north, who keep rosellas and other parrots in their pheasant pens, and a lot of breeders in the South keep all of their parrots outdoors, exposed to a lot of what poultry are, although usually they are at least raised off the ground.

When some people think parrots, they consider inexpensive birds like cockatiels, lovebirds and some conures. When I think parrots, I think of the birds which I raise, like Amazons and Cockatoos, or Greys and Macaws. It's one thing to risk loosing some $20 birds which are easily replaceable, but another when you get into the hundreds of dollars, for birds which don't always breed quickly or easily. Being sensible about it helps a lot too. I keep a few pheasants or bantams under my raised California style parrot cages in my bird room, to eat wasted feed. These are always from well quarantined parents, hatched indoors and never have been exposed to the outdoors or to other birds that have been out. This isn't foolproof, as some diseases may be passed through the egg, but it's a big help, and the risks are reduced quite a bit. I also always service my indoor birds before going out to the barn, and never wear shoes that I've worn outside, in my bird room.

There's no reason why you can't keep a cockatiel indoors while also raising poultry outdoors. Many poultry breeders are known to be interested in all sorts of birds, and many of us keep them, in and out. Just use a little common sense.

[goosedragon]

I know this is a record but Patrick I agree with you again! My good Southern States feed dealer became a victim of the current hard times. While scouting for a new store I discovered that two out of three of the remaining feed stores have Parrot like birds in the stores. I said Parrot like birds because I know nothing about the difference between them. One place had a green bird about a foot long flying freely over the inventory and he was bound and determined he was going to take a nip out of me, and swore at me, so I left fast. The other store had Cockatoos, Cockatiels, and Macaws in large indoor cages but it was evident from the deposits on slow moving feed bags that something was allowed to fly free. I would have ruled them out anyway because of the rodent pellets that I also spotted.

[Patrick]

I support the keeping and breeding of most species in an avicultural situation, but as individual pets, it's a rare combination of the right bird with the right person with the right lifestyle for most of the parrots to make good long-term pets, in my experience. And I never thought that I would think this way.

[daisyduck42]

I have been raising chicken's and waterfowl for about 6 year's.I also own a Blue Front Amazon and had love bird's as well.I keep the cage bird's inside except for warm summer month's We take the Blue Front outside on porch a couple times a week in his cage.I have never had any problem's with disease etc.I wash hand's frequently after tending to outside bird's and wear croc's to to the coop's and leave them at the door.There shouldn't be any problem's If you keep your outside coop's cleaned regularly and dust for mite's even if you don't see them on a reg. basis.

[Altair]

Perfecto. Thank you all for you help. :)