Lookin' for people in the Springfield area who raise birds...

[mrsgenealogy]

Originally Posted by firebll31

I had a parakeet for 7 years, named Rowdy. He was a joy although he never learned to talk. He was very good at non-verbal communication-I always knew what he wanted by the way he dinged his bell, shook the cage or squawked. Would love to have another bird but with 2 cats and a dog inside......
I also had free roaming chickens for a while and loved to watch them interact as they searched for food and taught the chicks. Oh, the panic when a hawk whistled overhead! Each had its own personality. Most didn't mind when you removed their eggs, but some were just naughty. Always fun to watch.

Isn't it funny how they figure out how to communicate with us, firebll? Pacer was the same way. What fun! I'd forgotten about that until you shared it.

We've thought of having chickens but haven't taken the plunge. I know we'd need a roost for them and my dh hasn't been much into building stuff since we've moved here. Hahaha!

Originally Posted by cali-grown

MrsG, I don't know anyone here that raises birds, but my mother-n-law used to have her aviary outside. They lived in TN and the climate was about the same where they were. My father n law put in a heater for the winter time and covered the sides in heavy duty plastic. The canaries they raised sure did seem to thrive.
You might want to look for a bird enthusiast website to find out exactly what other people do. I've seen aviaries that kind of look like pigeon coops (fancy ones) so that a heater can be used in winter without having to cover the outside.
I have a Quaker and bring him in for the winter, but he's outside all summer and part of fall. His coloring gets deeper in the humidity of summer. He does tend to pick up some of the calls from the wild birds that come around and fools me all the time.
Good luck to you!

That's a good idea that your FIL had, cali-grown! My husband is a painting contractor and he has big rolls of heavy duty plastic. It can be wrapped really tight so that it wouldn't be as noisy as tarp would be, too. I can imagine the noise could really scare the birds.

How fun! You have a Quaker! That's a great idea to just bring him in for the winter. That's funny that he's picking up the other bird's calls. Kinda like a Mockingbird in that way, huh? It's amazing how these birds will do that. I remember hearing about a parrot or parakeet, I can't remember which, that was adopted by a breeder. When she arrived, he learned that she could say with an accent, "My name's Lo-LI-ta!" Hahaha! Eventually, whenever he went out to the aviary, several birds would call out, "My name's Lo-LI-ta!" "MY name's Lo-LI-ta!" "MY name's Lo-LI-ta!" Hahahaaaa!

So, I see that you're a displaced Californian. Whereabouts are you, now?

[cali-grown]

Originally Posted by mrsgenealogy

Isn't it funny how they figure out how to communicate with us, firebll? Pacer was the same way. What fun! I'd forgotten about that until you shared it.

We've thought of having chickens but haven't taken the plunge. I know we'd need a roost for them and my dh hasn't been much into building stuff since we've moved here. Hahaha!



That's a good idea that your FIL had, cali-grown! My husband is a painting contractor and he has big rolls of heavy duty plastic. It can be wrapped really tight so that it wouldn't be as noisy as tarp would be, too. I can imagine the noise could really scare the birds.

How fun! You have a Quaker! That's a great idea to just bring him in for the winter. That's funny that he's picking up the other bird's calls. Kinda like a Mockingbird in that way, huh? It's amazing how these birds will do that. I remember hearing about a parrot or parakeet, I can't remember which, that was adopted by a breeder. When she arrived, he learned that she could say with an accent, "My name's Lo-LI-ta!" Hahaha! Eventually, whenever he went out to the aviary, several birds would call out, "My name's Lo-LI-ta!" "MY name's Lo-LI-ta!" "MY name's Lo-LI-ta!" Hahahaaaa!

So, I see that you're a displaced Californian. Whereabouts are you, now?

I never thought about the noise from the tarp.....you're so right! My Quaker can be quite comical at times but he only talks when he thinks no one is around or looking at him, but he did say "Here kitty, kitty" when my dh offered him spaghetti if he said that! That was the one and only time he said it too!
I'm here in the Lebanon area for the time being. Will probably be moving on sometime this summer, that's if the house sells. I'm crossing my fingers!

[christina0001]

I have birds but don't raise them; I would think it is too cold for them outside once winter starts. I think you'd need to have them indoors.
I would be interested in a bird club, if one were started. We just got a Moluccan cockatoo who is so sweet and friendly. My bf also has a double yellow headed amazon but I think this bird will be moving back with a former owner in the near future.
I have had a devil of a time finding a good bird vet. After much research, the most highly recommended ones I have found, and that sounded the most knowledgeable, are Sunshine Animal Hospital in Springfield and James River in Nixa. We are going to try out the one in Springfield in two weeks. I would have loved it if there were a bird club with members I could have talked to, to see who they all used.
As for stores that sell birds, the best one seems to be Pet World, which is across the street from Battlefield mall. It seems clean and well kept. There's another pet store with some beautiful birds on the southern outskirts of Springfield, and it had some lovely birds, but it didn't seem quite as nice/clean.
Please send me a DM if you decide to start a birdclub. I'm a little over an hour away from Springfield but I would still be interested.

[mrsgenealogy]

Originally Posted by cali-grown

I never thought about the noise from the tarp.....you're so right! My Quaker can be quite comical at times but he only talks when he thinks no one is around or looking at him, but he did say "Here kitty, kitty" when my dh offered him spaghetti if he said that! That was the one and only time he said it too!
I'm here in the Lebanon area for the time being. Will probably be moving on sometime this summer, that's if the house sells. I'm crossing my fingers!

When my Pacer was little, he was like your Quaker, cali-grown. He seemed quite shy about it or was it just that he loved the sound of his voice with an accompaniment? I can't remember if I mentioned this before but we often turned on a cassette recorder to tape him while we were out of the room and we learned that he said things we didn't even know he could say!

So, your home is for sale, huh? Where to from Lebanon? Are you leaving MO?

Originally Posted by christina0001

I have birds but don't raise them; I would think it is too cold for them outside once winter starts. I think you'd need to have them indoors.
I would be interested in a bird club, if one were started. We just got a Moluccan cockatoo who is so sweet and friendly. My bf also has a double yellow headed amazon but I think this bird will be moving back with a former owner in the near future.
I have had a devil of a time finding a good bird vet. After much research, the most highly recommended ones I have found, and that sounded the most knowledgeable, are Sunshine Animal Hospital in Springfield and James River in Nixa. We are going to try out the one in Springfield in two weeks. I would have loved it if there were a bird club with members I could have talked to, to see who they all used.
As for stores that sell birds, the best one seems to be Pet World, which is across the street from Battlefield mall. It seems clean and well kept. There's another pet store with some beautiful birds on the southern outskirts of Springfield, and it had some lovely birds, but it didn't seem quite as nice/clean.
Please send me a DM if you decide to start a birdclub. I'm a little over an hour away from Springfield but I would still be interested.

Wow! You've got the BIG BIRDS, Christina! Those are beautiful birds, too! I haven't gotten so far as to think about finding a bird vet, yet. It makes sense that if birds aren't very popular in this area that a bird vet might have trouble finding work, though.

Oh! I went to Pet World two Saturdays ago! It was so fun picking up the birds in the cages! I haven't held a bird in so long! Actually, the parakeets were still not very friendly but the cockatiels were precious and it was all my husband could do to keep from taking one in particular home with us! I don't know what that other store is in south Springfield, though. Do you have any idea what street it's on or at least what direction the street runs?

Since I don't have any birds right now, I don't have any plans to start a bird club in the near future but I'll let you know if that ever happens. If you want to be sure I can find you if that time comes, just send me your email address in a quick DM so I can reach you even if you are no longer coming to the forum. Haha! Weirder things have happened!

[cali-grown]

Originally Posted by mrsgenealogy

When my Pacer was little, he was like your Quaker, cali-grown. He seemed quite shy about it or was it just that he loved the sound of his voice with an accompaniment? I can't remember if I mentioned this before but we often turned on a cassette recorder to tape him while we were out of the room and we learned that he said things we didn't even know he could say!

So, your home is for sale, huh? Where to from Lebanon? Are you leaving MO?

Oh, my quaker isn't shy, he just doesn't like to talk in front of anyone! He's 16, so he's not a youngster! Definitely a strong personality!

Yup, we'll be leaving MO. Don't know where to yet. Uncle Sam will let us know soon enough though!

[christina0001]

I want to say that the other pet store with birds is on Rt. 65 southbound. I'll try to pay better attention next time I am in the area. There is also a pet store on 13 southbound on the northern part of Springfield that I haven't gone in yet, but it looks pretty big so they might have birds, too.

[mrsgenealogy]

Thanks, Christina!