[polti06]

Hi can anyone please advise us, our son has wanted a parrot for a good couple of years, he will be 12yrs old this summer, I thought he would have lost interest in them by now but his interest keeps growing!! we are a family of five,youngest child is 10yrs, we also own cats and have a miniature schnauzer.
We have never kept parrots before although we have had chickens for a good number of years.William has seen four birds that he likes but would any of them suit a young boy and his family, i realise these beautiful birds live for many years and so want to make sure i am totally happy if and when we choose one, the breeds he likes are:- Sun conure, Yellowed thigh ed conure, African Gray (congo) and the large Macows.
I was told by a breeder that the age to buy a young baby is when it is weaned at 12-14 weeks old and that it doesn't make a difference if the bird is male or female their temporment are the same. is this so!
Would the conures being a smaller bird make a better member of the family and be any easier to look after? the breeder said a Macow would be better as although it is large there isn't any difference in noise or temporment.
Can you house train them easily? How many hours a day should they be allowed to fly around, Sorry if i have asked some very straight forward questions but i don't want to get this wrong, this parrot will be a life long commitment on my part and i want to do it right. Thanks, looking forward to your comments. XXX
p/s if i was going to pick a parrot for looks it would be the sun conure(But i know the temporment is more important, hence i need your help PLEASE)