We called
the breeder to put our names on the list for a baby green wing, but there
were two other people ahead of us. Jerry almost had me talked into
the umbrella that would be hatched in only a few more weeks.
After all, that was a baby, but I held out for my greenwing (doggie)
bird.
When the call
came that the people backed out of purchasing the green wing I cried with
delight. After getting over the initial shock I wasn't sure this
was the right thing to do. The green wing was no longer a new baby
she was several months old. We decided after a very long discussion
to make the trip to Ohio. The Ohio pet bird show was also that weekend.
If the greenwing didn't work out we could at least spend some time at the
bird show looking for toys before returning home.
The next morning
I called to order a new cage. I had it shipped express so it would
be here and set up when our baby arrived home. I always ordered
our cages from a dealer in Michigan. They were very nice to work
with and always had better prices than the stores in town. In the
past two years we purchased three of the large parrot Prevue-Hendryx cages,
but this was our first Prevue-Hendryx Macaw cage. The cage would
be shipped the following morning. My son-in-law put it together while
we were in Ohio. Everything was perfect!
When we arrived
in Ohio we called the breeder immediately. We told them it was getting
a little late and didn't want to bother them. We would stop in the
morning before going to the bird show. We really wanted to go see
the baby parrot but knew (from experience with our babies) that it would
only upset the routine of bedding down the babies, at that time of night.
Our arrival was
announced by the greeting of the beautiful Hyacinthine followed by the
other parrots who shared the entry way. Compared to our townhouse
I was envious of their large beautiful home filled with birds in every
room. Everything was in a managed disarray of birds and their belongings......from
food to incubators... toys to playpens filled with darling little congo
african greys.
The breeder came
into the room with my little...did I say little?.....JozeyJo in all
her beauty and glory. She was a doggie bird!
( the name was already reached before we ever left home) She was
huge, much larger than I had expected. She should have been
on a "leash" not the breeders arm!! I wasn't sure I could even hold
her, my wrists are extremely small.
Jerry spotted
my apprehension and was a little put back himself. The beak was massive
and searching for a place to grab onto. The breeder flopped her around
like a rag doll as we watched in amazement as this beautiful baby tossed
back and forth looking for the breeders playful hand.
When Jerry reached
for the parrot she became a bit aggressive with the breeder then again
when Jerry was holding her. We knew this was probably due to stress
with all the excitement and our tension at first seeing her.
After she settled
down I held her for a short time until she became aggressive again.
My heart was broken I knew it wasn't going to work out for us or her.
The breeder agreed that she needed a home. She was unable to give
her all the attention she was requiring at this time of her life.
She was there much longer than she normally allowed a purchased baby
to stay. The circumstances were such that she had no choice and then
she received the news that they wouldn't be taking the baby home.
We wanted this
baby so badly that we thought she may settle down once we got her home
in our environment and the breeder agreed. But we knew how unfair
it would be to take her home if we were not comfortable. We
decided to talk about it over lunch before attending the bird show.
Before making our final decision we decided to visit the green wing
again, after the bird show.
Again, the green
wing was especially aggressive with everyone. I'm sure some of it
was our tension she was picking up on, but even if that were the
reason we couldn't take a chance with the small children at home.
The breeder agreed with our decision. It would be better to
wait for a baby. She added our name to the top of her list
of waiting parents. That made us feel a little better but it
didn't help the long painfully disappointed ride home. The green
wing did find a good loving home so that was very happy news to all of
us.
The
search for my doggie birdie was well under way. Fluffy (our
goffin cockatoo) was so sweet we thought maybe an umbrella cockatoo would
be a nice addition to our family. They were very pretty and a little larger
than our other babies, but still they didn't look like a doggie bird.