25/05/2026
🚨 STOP NORMALISING THE SALE OF UNWEANED BABY PARROTS 🚨
This needs said clearly.
A 2 week old conure chick is NOT a “pet-ready hand-reared bird.”
It is a fragile neonate that still depends entirely on experienced care to survive.
At this age these babies require:
• round-the-clock feeding
• precise brooder temperatures
• strict hygiene control
• crop monitoring
• daily weight checks
• experienced emergency intervention if something goes wrong
One mistake can kill them.
No genuinely welfare-focused breeder should be advertising a 2 week old chick to inexperienced pet owners as a “hand-reared bird” for them to finish themselves.
That is not hand rearing.
That is passing the hardest, riskiest stage onto the buyer.
And charging £300 for a 2 week old conure chick purely because it is a certain mutation or colour is disgraceful in our opinion.
At that age, the breeder has not yet completed the actual hand-rearing process:
❌ the sleepless nights are not finished
❌ the weaning process is not finished
❌ socialisation is not finished
❌ behavioural development is not finished
❌ stability and independence are not established
A fully hand-reared bird should leave confident, healthy, properly weaned, and genuinely ready for a home.
Not as a vulnerable baby still needing intensive survival-level care.
Reputable breeders sell PET birds when they are actually ready to be pets — not when they are still dependent chicks.
The reality is breeder-stage chicks of this age are commonly much cheaper because the buyer is taking on:
⚠️ the risk
⚠️ the responsibility
⚠️ the potential vet bills
⚠️ the possibility the chick may not survive
Bird welfare should NEVER come second to making money.
If someone is willing to hand over a tiny 2 week old chick to just anybody with cash, people need to ask themselves one question:
Is this genuinely about the welfare of the bird — or the money being made from it?
Welfare first. Always. 💚🦜
-Northern Fenix Parrot Rescue
