Cockatoo Ranch - HEART

08/11/2025

I know lots of people struggle when their birds suddenly need to be put on medication’s or given hand feeding formula, so I thought I would show you one of the tricks that I use.
Ideally, you should already have them trained and comfortable with this. 
I try for cooperative care when I can, which unfortunately is not always possible. Thankfully, he is readily taking his medication’s on a small piece of Hawaiian bun, so I’m not going to have to use force at this juncture on anything with him.
 Cheech just got here yesterday, so if his first experiences with me are negative, it can permanently damage our relationship and his trust of me, which will make everything more difficult, plus stressful for him.
It’s not crucial that he has a certain amount of this a day, I just could feel his keel bone, plus the vet records made mention of him being underweight.

02/11/2025

Good morning village, for those of you that did not see coffee with the critters this morning, Lara Joseph is going to start doing workshops with Jason Crean, down at his new facility in Orlando, Florida.
This is the link to it, it is beyond a reasonable price, but if you are too far away to do that, I am also going to share the link to the new podcast that they are doing.
The the first episode is free, after that, it will be extremely simple to watch them. If you are not already a member of team thrive or the parrot project, that will be all you need to do to receive access to those, as well as so much more. 
These platforms give you tools to do better for the parrots in your care. 
We should always be striving to do better, which is not just one thing, but multiple …so whether it’s investing in going to workshops, webinars, online training courses , or purchasing items like what Jason sells that are helpful to keep them healthy, enriched, and leading the best life possible in our care, it is what they deserve from us.

https://youtu.be/NLPlot6GaR8?si=vwJkbsTemI5SSm5S

Enriching Avian Welfare Through Foraging: Strategies, Science, and Inspiration SATURDAY, December 6, 2025 11am-2pm Biodiversity Bird Blends Shop & Avian Education Center 5817 S. Orange Ave. Orlando, FL 32817 Birds have evolved to spend most of their days foraging so we need to provide these opp.....

27/10/2025

This was my friends bird Mango who had a broken leg, I think this was his second follow up visit.
In this video, she is explain
how we’re going to start PT and the reasons why . I have three previous videos of him, one of them has radiographs, and then two of them changing his splint.
My friend was told by a different vet that they would not be able to splint this, I don’t remember specifically, but I think they were talking about amputation .
No joke guys, I could’ve splinted this if I had to, so please do not listen to a vet if they are giving you dire consequences like that, reach out to others .
Just because they didn’t have the skill set to do it doesn’t mean it can’t be done, it just can’t be done by them. 

27/10/2025

Here is the vasa parrot that I took in just so he could have the rest of his cut primary feathers pulled.
This is a bird that had been fully flighted, and then not only were his flight feathers trimmed, they were trimmed in a way that he just dropped, which can be very mentally and physically traumatic for them, so in cases like this I try to have those feathers pulled, you can’t do too many at a time, so this was two individual vet visits . 

27/10/2025

We need about another million people just like this guy, or I should say the parrots out there need them.

Someone on Instagram commented, “Is there any ethical way in which one can ‘acquire’ a beautiful parrot like Jack-Jack? And what is your stance on having Quaker parrots ethically?”

I’m not the oracle of ethical bird keeping. My birds were an accident. It just happens to animal people as they grow up. You become the person to pick up the fledgling that your neighbour’s cat caught. Had I been born in Florida, I’d probably be losing limbs helping poorly crocodiles. We were the people you called if you had an animal and you didn’t know what to do with it, and that’s how Jack happened.

Many of you have fallen in love with my delinquent plucker, but there are still some who would disregard a bird like Jack based solely on her naked pink tiddies. So, what would I do if I had the space and time for another bird? This is my honest answer.

I would choose the plucker. The older bird. The bird who hates children if I had a child-free home; the one that hates men if I had a man-free home; the one that hates women if I had a woman-free home. I’d choose the bird not based on how many feathers are missing from its chest, but based upon what I could afford to give emotionally - to repair the damage that captivity has caused to that bird’s life. And if the feathers never grew back? I would accept my flock without conditions.

It’s natural to want the dancing cockatoo with the perfect plumage. But have you ever seen Audrey, that naked cockatoo, dance? She could end wars. And then there’s Einstein the Talking Texan Parrot! Adored from the moment he hatched. I couldn’t think of a more loved and well cared for bird. He is the centre of his family’s world and proof that even with the highest standards of care, they can still pluck… because plucking isn’t always battle-wound deep. Sometimes, it’s just something that happens to captive birds. And it can happen to any owner, under any circumstances. We can’t write parrots off just because we can’t see beyond surface-level beauty.

And if I WERE to approach a rescue and they asked to see my home? I would show them. If they asked questions about my finances, my free time, my commitments in life? I would answer with honesty. I would remember that their vetting is not a personal attack on me. They take and take and take from people just like me. The questions they ask, the rules they make - they make them out of wanting us to be the right choice for the broken bird that was placed in their care. They’re not there to make us feel good. They are there to keep animals safe.

I’m not sure I’d pass the checks for a rescue, should I walk in and share a check-list for the young and entertaining cockatoo I want. But maybe I’d get lucky, and the rescue would put aside my offensive attempt to commodify their animals and introduce me to a bird that would thrive in my space.

If you take every question as a personal attack, you’re not rescuing a bird - you’re shopping for the next material thing that you’ll lose interest in. Birds and Beaks Rescue and Rehab might just be my favourite rescue in the world - because of their unapologetic honesty to us greedy humans. If you don’t have an ‘am I right for this commitment’ attitude, isn’t it best to find out before making the commitment? Even if it stings your pride a little.

Parrot rescues are overflowing. Birds like Jack are constantly rotating homes because of their long lifespans, expensive vet bills, and complex needs. Let’s heal the hurting ones in rescue. Choose the plucker.

Jack wanted to reply to the last query and says, “There is no ethical route to owning a Quaker parrot - don’t ask such disgusting questions…” (Jack has a step-bother called Yoshi and he is a Quaker parrot and she finds him to be loud, rude and completely unethical to have to put up with)

27/10/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19qzNEWj7V/?mibextid=wwXIfr

TO CAGE OR NOT TO CAGE???

By: Natural Inspirations Parrot Cages

I often hear people proudly exclaim that they “never cage their birds.” They show pictures of a parrot happily sitting on the open door of a cage and feel that this open-door policy gives their bird a better quality of life than those closed within a cage. When asked if I cage my parrots, my reply is always the same – “I cage mine all of the time… And so do you!”
Here’s why.
The first thing I’d like to discuss is what “caged” really means to us and what it means to our birds. “Caging” is the act of limiting space, choice, or area. This translates to our pet parrots as limiting freedom of movement, freedom of expressing behaviors, and the freedom of decisions. I often hear (which is fantastic by the way) “my bird has a whole room; he’s not caged.” Yes, he is. His cage is the size of the room in which he is kept. The cage bars are solid walls and windows. Even if they are allowed to free range in your home (which is dangerous and usually quite unsanitary) the house is still a cage. A house is still much smaller than ANY parrots’ natural range and confines them in freedom, space, and choice. If you put your parrot on a stand that he cannot get down from….he is caged on the stand – with or without bars. If your bird is too afraid to get down off of his cage and “stays out on top all the time.” He is STILL caged. His cage bars are just fear, or clipped wings, or some other physical barrier that is limiting him from descending to the floor and chewing something expensive or important of yours. These birds are every bit as caged or confined as ones who are kept inside an enclosure.
Many of you know my macaws live on an open play gym. But I seriously considered enclosing it many times. When birds are “out” of their cages, they lose all the bars – read ladders - to climb across, to hang from while playing with toys, and slide down like a fire pole! Not to mention hanging from the top of the cage (how many of your birds play like a bat?) Bars also allow you to attach a variety of toys and perches to make your enclosure a wonderful stimulating environment that far surpasses sitting on the barren top of an open cage.
Large cages or aviaries, bird rooms, outdoor aviaries, as well as large out-of-cage play areas can all provide wonderful enriching housing options giving our feathered friends a wide variety of toys to play with – leather ones, wood ones, ones that rattle or clang, foraging toys, shredding toys, toys with different textures, colors, and sounds. Both caged birds and birds ‘caged’ in non-traditional housing can and should enjoy enclosures large enough that they can choose to be in front of a window, or not. They can and should offer your beloved birds room to climb, hop, play, fully extend their wings and vigorously flap them unencumbered. Both caged birds and birds who are “out all the time” can live enriched lives or suffer from a boring, desolate, lonely, and unhealthy environment – whether sitting on top or inside of their cage.
So the question is no longer “Should they be caged or not?” as captivity is in essence caging, but what quality of life do they have in their caging - whatever “caging” looks like in your home. Do they live with other birds in a social flock environment? Are there toys, foraging opportunities, or movement options in your bird’s habitat to keep them mentally and physically healthy? Is their environment clean? Do they have the space to fully extend and flap their wings? Do they have bathing opportunities? Are they safe from predators or harmful situations? Are there swings, ropes, boings, or nets? Are there different types, diameters, and orientations of perching options for optimal foot health or do they stand on a cold, square, metal door or cage top for most of the day? Do they have a possible change of elevation within their environment, can they climb high if they get scared or go down to a lower level?
After looking at what restraint and caging translates to in a pet home, the REAL question truly becomes: Did I get a large enough “cage” that can allow this animal to have an exceptional quality of life with an enriching environment and freedom of movement to express its full range of motion? THAT is the question we should all ask ourselves, regardless of how we choose to ‘cage’ our birds.

27/10/2025

Here is Dr. Scott Echols out in Salt Lake City, Utah explaining what he found by doing a CT scan on Grayson, plus what was done with that information . I cannot say enough good things about my experience there.
There are so many things that can be taken care of with our birds that most people believe they just have to live with so I hope everyone that watches this gets a better understanding .

25/10/2025

The time is almost here village, we are going to start cataloging items today!!
If you have something to donate, please reach out to me. I am doing it a bit different this year based on input I got.
So it will now be a two week auction, the first week you can bid or choose the win it now option, the second week it will be bidding only . 

11/08/2025

Here Shami is showcasing another great product from the Rock Star Rescue Tour, this one donated by My Safe Bird Store, owned by the fabulous Kathie Hahn

08/08/2025

This has some wonderful information that I wish more breeders, as well as rescues would become familiar with, as it can really help with quality of life .
when we know better, we can do better.

The Early Parrot Education (EPE) & Weaning Program is designed to align with a young parrot's key developmental stages. This program provides essential lessons for a parrot's life as a companion animal, with initial stages implemented by breeders. Retailers and pet owners can continue the program wi...

05/08/2025