Nature vs Nurture raising?

[Alyce Johnson]

I'm a firm believer that they need to learn how to be birds. There's a lot to being a bird - the preening alone is a big deal & they don't seem to be totally "hardwired" as to how to do it correctly. I think pulling them too early results in a lot of the problems we later see, such as plucking. I suspect a lot of that could be avoided if the birds had a good solid "base" both emotionally and in terms of learned behavior, about how to be "proper" birds.

I think also it's like breastfeeding a human baby - there are lots of long term health benefits to breastfeeding that we are continuing to learn about (more than just immediate immune system boosting, although it certainly does that too). I think it has to work the same way physically in birds - there are bound to be many benefits from letting the parents feed them.

I think co-parenting is best. I'm not a breeder though, so I don't know what the time line would be like for starting them on more feedings & increasing interaction with humans. Probably different according to the species of bird, I'd guess. I also think it's a good idea to let them fledge, for a variety of reasons, mostly to build confidence & teach them how to properly use their wings. Birds who understand what their wings are actually for seem less likely to mutilate them, whereas many severely plucked birds have destroyed their wings.

[Ainon]

All my birds have been fed by their natural parents - all of them (1 amazon, 5 budgies, 1 tiel) have become tame, even the two budgies who didn't have any personal contact with humans before 2 years of age

My amazon is a natural (ie parentfed) and he is as tame as a parrot ever could be.

[RachelLynn]

I have let my birds raise their last few babies (I only let them have 1 or 2 a clutch usually) and they have turned out great. Cosmo is my most cuddley, sweet little tiel and a big mommas girl and she was parent raised. Anyone that met her would think she had been hand fed. I think its a little easier with 1 baby though.....a little easier to tame them because more time goes into that baby but it can be done with more...just takes extra time. If you just take the time to socailize them from little babies they turn out just as tame as hand fed plus its more fun that way...you get to play with them and let the parents do the feeding.
I take my babies out every day from day 1 just to check on them but it also gets them a little used to being handled. At around 10 days old I start to take them out a couple times a day for around 20 minutes or so. Once they start to get more feathers in I take them out for longer periods of time and more often. I think it works better if you take 1 out at a time so you can give all your attention to that baby.

They learn to eat faster on their own then hand fed babies and they learn to fly faster too. They learn alot from their parents that a hand fed bird might not get a chance to.