For those of
you who do not breed parrots, here is
the strictly financial reason for why
parrots cost so much money using an
example pair of Blue & Gold Macaws on a
pellet diet:
1. Weekly Food Cost: $20.00
2. Heating/Lighting: $5.00
3. Vet/medical (Annual/52) $3.00
4. Cost in time at about $8.00/Hr to
change cage liners, feed & water about
30 minutes a day: $4.00 7 days week
because we don't get a day off = $28.00
5. Cage/Equipment maint and replacements
including perches: $5.00
$61.00 per week which is $3172.00 year
just to have the parents.
Ok Now let's say they lay an egg
(again, costs are per week).
1. Cost of maint for equipment (brooder,
incubator, thermostats, scales and
feeding items): $4.00
2. Cost of food: $15.00
3. Heating/Lighting including clean air
etc: $8.00
4. Cost in time for changing liners,
cleaning etc: $40.00
These costs are the same for the first 8
or so weeks which gives us: $536.00.
Then assuming the breeder needs to raise
the chick for the first 12-18 weeks
(lets just say 15 weeks)- we decrease
some of the above costs for the
remaining 7 weeks lets say $400.00.
That's $936.00 so far and we haven't
spent any money to compensate ourselves
for our time spent feeding these babies.
Costs for feeding would break down
about like this (let's just say $5.00
hour to keep it simple).
1. Days 1-5 at least 7 minutes per hour.
2. The rest of the feedings take about
15 minutes each on average to feed,
clean, pet and play with each baby.
This totals about 100 hours @ $5.00
that's $500.00 in time - Of course, this
doesn't obey any labor laws or the
federal min wage or anything else, it
assumes the breeder is volunteering
himself.
Anyway that's $936.00 + $500.00 which
brings us to basically $1436.00 in time,
costs and efforts to raise a single blue
and gold from baby to weaned.
Now we have to spend time and effort
finding a buyer for this parrot, caring
for it while we look, Vet bills for the
baby parrot, and on and on. If the
original parents have 6 chicks a year
you can divide the costs to raise the
parents (3172) by 6 = $530.00 of each
check needs to go directly to pay for
upkeep on it's parents. this brings the
Blue & Gold Macaw's Costs to the breeder
to about $2000.00. Even if you drop off
the cost of Time from the equation and
assume the breeder is donating his/her
own time to the care of these birds you
still have the costs of about $1300.00-
$1500.00 for each baby raised.
When we sell you a parrot for $1000.00-
$1200.00 or whatever, that's where the
money is going. Most breeders are
actually loosing money and don't even
realize it. Do People seriously expect
us to sell them a parrot for half what
it costs us to raise it or less let
alone, FREE?- Excuse me while I laugh at
the thought....
These totals are on a pellet diet alone.
Parrots can not just live on a strict
diet of Pellets only, They also need
Fresh Fruits, Vegetables, seeds of many
kinds, Millet Spray and Fresh Sprouts,
Meats etc.
Printed with permission from Chad
Kovac, the website owner of
Aviary.info
