Does Anyone Have Birds?

[TwinMama]

We are considering getting 2 parakeets. We have never had birds before so we're doing our research first.

I'm wondering how daycare kids do with them. I wouldn't take them out of their cage during daycare time. I understand that it depends on the children, and for the most part my group is very respectful with our dog and fish other than the occasional "tap the tank" incident.

Any information you can give me on your experience would be appreciated.

[Annalee]

We are considering getting 2 parakeets. We have never had birds before so we're doing our research first.

I'm wondering how daycare kids do with them. I wouldn't take them out of their cage during daycare time. I understand that it depends on the children, and for the most part my group is very respectful with our dog and fish other than the occasional "tap the tank" incident.

Any information you can give me on your experience would be appreciated.

Health Dept and state licensing allows animals but birds are not allowable here. You might want to check to make sure you are allowed to have birds around the kids.

[flying_babyb]

I know I had birds and small children (I babysat at home. groups of 4 usally) and the kids loved the birds. They taught ours to say small words. Oh and i had one child who liked to tell the loud bird to Shut up. Of couse the darn bird learned that.

[Alwaysgreener]

They are loud, messy and bite.

I had one as a child and when it got out of the cage it would sit on a shelf and poop down the wall. My sister had one for her daughter and you could hear it 500 ft away, even with her house closed up. If a kids sticks his finger in the cage, they will bite.

[Cat Herder]

The lessons I learned.

• Dander is a problem for kids with allergies.
• They are messy and can poop almost 5 feet away, seems to be a favorite pastime of some of them.
• They do carry zoonotic diseases that can be passed to humans, so you have to be alert to their health and your cleaning practices.
• They are rarely, if ever, quiet.
• All of their medicine and vet care is expensive and difficult to find.
• They need medicine often around kids as they can't handle noise stress well, except their own, of course.
  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3668993/

[DaveA]

Chickens & Ducks but no inside birds. My rep freaked out enough about those. I can’t imagine the chaos inside birds would cause. ::

[Ariana]

I had a ****atiel as a child and I loved him! Yes he pooped when I let him out of his cage but it is easy to clean. I used to bathe him regularly in a bowl and he loved being dried with the hair dryer :: I trained him to sit on my finger and shoulder. I think for a daycare it would be fun but the bird would need to be trained first. My bird never ever bit me but I spent a lot of time training him and getting him used to me first. They can be a lot of work!