Recently, I walked into a bird store I had never visited.  I was appalled and shocked at what I found.  Before I discuss this however, a little background info is in order here.  (Note. When I write these articles, I occasionally mention things I've written about elsewhere.  I have to assume people haven't read those articles and mention important info here). 

25+ years ago, I was doing rescues.  At one time, I had 18, all Macaws, Cockatoos, Amazons, etc.  I realized most of their problems we're cage related, so in 1992, I began to develop my Play Gyms.  I wanted my gyms to allow parrots to spend their days in a tree rather then a jail.  Since then, I've built over 9300 gyms, thousands of Hanging Gyms, and tens of thousands of in-cage perches and toys.  I introduced a brand new kind of wood for parrots called Bottlebrush.  For the birds lucky enough to use it, they and their owners won't use anything else, it's just that simple.  

So, here we are, June 30, 2007.  Our parrots are in BIG trouble, and it's the parrot industries fault.  

I walked into this store, and they had several plucked Macaws. As I looked at their cages, they we're all standing on Wooden Dowel or Manzanita perches.  One Macaw in particular was hanging from the side of his cage SCREAMING.  His chest, wings and tail we're plucked RAW.  

I drove back to my shop, made a Macaw size in-cage perch and filled a box with Chunks and Twigs and went back.  When I got back, the owner had gone for the day, so I gave this stuff to his employee and even offered to help install the perch.  I was told that wasn't necessary so I left. 

Several days later, I stopped by and was surprised to see the perch wasn't installed.  There was a different person there, and I asked about the perch and chunks.  I was told the owner THREW THEM AWAY because he didn't think they were SAFE.  

OK, let's look at what's wrong with this picture.  Locking these birds in cages to the point where they're self mutilating, literally so unhappy they're pulling out their feathers is OK, but TAKING A CHANCE and using Bottlebrush isn't SAFE.  Apparently, they think my real business is killing birds.    

I've probably rescued well over 30 birds.  I NEVER saw plucked parrots, ever.  I've only had one that was plucked in all my years and all my birds.  Yet, over the last 10 years or so, Plucking is becoming an epidemic.  Right now, this sign is posted all over my neighborhood.  LOST PARROT, WHITE COCKATOO, NO FEATHERS ON CHEST.  

I rescued these birds, rehabilitated them, and found them new homes.  It was always sad that people had bought these birds because they wanted to share their lives with a parrot.  Yet, in the end, it got so bad they GAVE AWAY their bird, and thanked me for taking them.  My gyms we're designed to make your parrot happy and contented so the thought of EVER giving him away would never cross your mind.  

So, why are all these birds plucking?  The answer, The parrot industry is letting down our birds in favor of getting your money. Today's birds are nothing like the birds I rescued 25 years ago.  Those we're all wild caught and hand tamed.  Today's parrots are hand fed, human imprinted and don't even realize their birds.  They think they're people like us.  When a person approaches, they're happy to see us, after all. people are Moms and Dads to them.  So why are we caging these birds?

Cages are big business for everyone, the manufacturer, distributor, retailer, everyone makes money selling you the biggest cage you can afford.  They propagate the YOU NEED A CAGE myth to get your money, it's just that simple.  And, caging today's parrots is not going to end well for them.  In my opinion, parrots are telling us they hate their lives so much, their pulling out their feathers.  If your 3 year old was pulling out handful's of hair, you would stop at nothing to find and treat the problem, no matter what it took.  

Yet, it gets worse for these birds.  Not only are they being caged, they're being fed Pellets.  Pellets are total garbage for birds.  (If I sound hostile, I am.  I'm sick of tiptoeing around this issue and watching what's happening to YOUR birds).  We're force feeding them a food that's completely unnatural, boring, and one they can't even eat in it's natural state.  Imagine feeding prisoners pellets, the same for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Well, we don't do that to even the worse dregs in society, yet we do exactly that to our parrots. 

In the wild, birds eat seed.  And, we used to feed our birds seed, and I still do.  But, now you're being told SEED IS BAD.  Well, guess where that came from, good guess, the Pellet Companies.  Seed is cheap, with not much profit.  Pellets are VERY profitable for everyone, so they scare you into buying and using them.  And, it gets even worse believe it or not.

Birds spend their whole lives on their feet, yet their perches are hard and slippery.  Manzanita, Wooden Dowels, PVC, Grapevine etc are offered to YOU for YOUR benefit.  Imagine spending your life on your feet 24 hours a day, with shoes a 1/2 size too small.  You can't sit down, so you just suffer.  At some point, pulling out your hair would hurt less then your feet, and it might seem like something to do.   

And, it still gets worse.  You're also told you must make your bird sleep 12 hours a day, because that's what they do in the wild.  Yet, in the wild they aren't caged, don't eat pellets and can stand on naturally barked tree branches and go wherever they want, whenever they want. 

Your birds are in crisis, either now or in the future.  If you're doing what you're being told to do by the parrot industry, caging, pellets, sleep, etc. your birds life is only going to get worse, not better.  And one day, perhaps the screaming gets a little more intense, or you notice a small patch of down, or see feathers on the floor of the cage.  Your first instinct is to visit your vet, great for him.  They're run all the tests, you'll pay lots of money, and in the end, find nothing wrong.  Vets don't look at your birds life, they look at your birds body.  

I realize I'm painting a pretty bleak picture here but I'm really frustrated.  I've spent the last 16 years developing my Bottlebrush stuff to PREVENT this from happening, and if it is already happening, to help reverse what damage has already been done.  Yet, most of you have never tried my stuff, and as I tell my kids, you don't know what you don't know.

I know, I've heard all the excuses.  Here are a few common ones.

• I've never heard of Bottlebrush so how do I know it's safe?  To me, this implies that I don't care about your bird, and would use something unsafe.  If I killed birds, how long would I be in business?
• I don't want to have to replace the branches, I'll just buy one that's INDESTRUCTIBLE AND EASY TO CLEAN.  You'll get your wish.  Your bird won't use it, so it will be  INDESTRUCTIBLE AND EASY TO CLEAN.
• Your gyms are expensive!  Compared to what, some wooden dowel thing!  The branches are one big chew toy, so you don't need to buy any more chew toys.  You'll actually save money with my gyms.  
• I would never leave my bird out!  I don't tell you to.  What I say is over time, YOU will realize how much your bird loves his tree, and YOU'LL realize he loves it there, and leaving him there will be so natural, you'll realize it really does work.  (Right now, there are THOUSANDS of parrots living free lives on my Play Gyms.  If yours aren't that's not my fault). 
• My friends on chats, boards, whatever, say your crazy, it can't be done.  If they haven't tried my Bottlebrush Gyms, how do they know?  I really wish people would talk about what they know, not what they think they know.  
• The trays don't look big enough to catch all the mess!  There are 2 options here, make the tray bigger, or the branches shorter.  Making the trays bigger means more expense, so my gyms would cost more.  Making the branches shorter would give your bird less usable space.  I choose to give your bird the most usable perch space so your bird likes his gym and will use it.
• How do I know me and my bird are going to like it?  Well, you can look at my Happy Letters page, Client Happy Letters, what my clients, and their birds, think about my Bottlebrush parrot stuff.  When have you ever seen that many client letters?  And, my guarantee is simple, love it or return it. All I ask is that you return it in the same condition as you got it.  Depriving your bird of one of my gyms after they've experienced one would be bird abuse. 
• I've bought play gyms before, and my bird didn't like them.  So you give up? Have you ever bought a car or house you didn't like?  Did you give up on cars and houses?
• Birds begin to exhibit these kinds of behaviors, and are told to buy a bigger cage,  the ultimate irony.  You need to change the way your bird lives his life, not buy a bigger prison.   

So, why is the parrot industry at fault here?  They know what I know.  Cages haven't changed much over the last 25 years, but our birds have.  Sure, they offer cage top play areas, but these actually make your bird MORE cage aggressive, and more nervous and apprehensive.  The Pellet companies know birds don't eat a stable diet, they're foragers, they eat what's ripe, blooming or blossoming.  Plus, they have no saliva, the least they could do is make them soft and moist like dried fruit.  Why don't they, I actually had an Avian Vet who makes pellets tell me they're hard and dry to extend SHELF LIFE.  And the 12 hours sleep thing is promoted by people who don't understand birds and how they live. 

They want you to think your birds are delicate china doll like creatures.  They want you afraid so you'll buy their magazines, lighting, disinfecting stuff, and visit their chats, blogs and posts everyday, so you don't miss something important.  You'll never read articles like this in the bird magazines.  This one article would cost a magazine their Cage advertisement and Pellet advertisement.  I don't accept any advertisement so I can say what I think, it's just that simple.  And, for those of you who know and have spoken with me, my standard comments are RELAX, BIRDS ARE AMONG THE HARDIEST ANIMALS IN THE WORLD.  Yet, this really has me concerned, and you need to be concerned as well.  

Our birds are telling us their lives aren't working, the old ways of keeping birds are causing today's birds to literally hurt themselves.  If you have a bird that's plucking, you have to change that birds life now.  It won't get better, it'll get worse.  Plucking and self mutilation are becoming common and the norm.  This incident just brought into focus a problem I've been seeing more and more.  I'm doing something about it every day of my life.  

If your bird is doing fine, let's keep it that way.  My gyms can prevent your bird from ending up like these.  That's what I developed them to do, and what they do.  But, you need to use your common sense and help me change your birds life.  I'm here, ready willing and able.  Now, it's up to you.

Wayne