Читать книгу Keeping Gray Parrots - Klaus Beckmann - Страница 12

The early days

When I began keeping parrots in 1988, it proved to be an extremely difficult undertaking to obtain husbandry information for these wonderful sentient beings.

Breeders made immense efforts to keep their “science” secret. In fact, some of them still do that today. It was hard to find any informative literature on the market. Back then, the Internet did not exist yet and consequently, parrot forums were not accessible either. I am completely serious when I claim to have learned all that I know today entirely on my own.

I analyzed and studied the behavior patterns of my birds through intense observation. I watched how they acted in specific situations. For years, I documented the behavior and the body language of our birds in statistics.

I am familiar with every act and every emotion. Obviously, I made mistakes in the early days of keeping parrots, but I never made the same mistake twice. My utmost priority was always the welfare of the birds and I made sure not to engage in any experiments.

Nowadays, a few clicks online is all it takes to get all the necessary information to provide the animals with a life that fosters their wellbeing. Of course it is important to ascertain that the information is actually helpful and beneficial. That’s definitely not an easy feat. Especially those who are new parrot keepers are literally swamped with information and obviously have a tough time determining which sources are trustworthy and which ones are not. Time and again, I am flabbergasted by the hair raising advice given in most forums. The welfare of the animal is clearly considered less important than the human ego, which reigns supreme.

Experiments are common-place, and armchair veterinarians share their collective, of course non-existent, expertise. The victims are almost always the birds.

Over the decades of pursuing my hobby, I met a lot of people. Through the years, I built a network of veterinarians, professors as well as animal nutrition scientists, etc. I can consult these individuals any time I need assistance. As a result, true and lasting friendships have evolved from these relationships.

On the other hand, I have gotten to know quite a few experts who procure their knowledge exclusively from the Internet. They peruse one study after another and demand evidence for everything. They have never kept their own birds and possess merely theoretical knowledge. Without a doubt they have never actually used their theoretical knowledge on live birds.

I prefer the practical interaction