Wow, Just found out breeders work for Peanuts!

[tamaran2]

I just found this on the net. I'm sure most of you have already seen it but it blew me away at the cost and I thought I would post it. My hat is off to anyone who breeders these beauties for a living.

I gained a whole new respect for you breeders tonight. You guys work for peanuts! You have to love it cause the money doesn't seem to be there.

================================================== =======
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, Hard boiled Eggs, Meats etc.
Printed with permission from Chad @ Aviary.info

[Kevin]

The real money for breeders is in economies of scale.... bigger operations can do it...

[felisdomesticus]

same thing goes for cat/dog breeders--if you do it right and show your animals, get them titled, etc. and then breed them to improve the breed--you're lucky if you break even.