Cockatiel Pricing
What's included in a Piper's Aviary Baby?
* A hand raised loving baby.
* 72 health guarantee
* Hatch certificate with baby's footprints
* DNA sexing certificate (when applicable)
* Care packet from Association of Avian Veterinarians
* Bag of our food that baby was weaned on
* Bag of millet
* Bag of familiar foraging supplies
* Familiar toy (Made by Savannah's Toy Shop)
* Photo album of photos from hatch to going home
* Cuddle bone (when available)
Standard Lines
Natural Line $240
Whiteface Line $250
Cinnamon Line $250
Lutino Line $250
Combinations of Standard Line $260
Specialty Lines
Single-Factor Dominant Silver Line $270
Emerald Line $280
Pastel-Face Line $260
Yellow-Cheek Line $280
Combination of Specialty Line $280
*ANY MALE PEARLS WILL LOSE MOST, IF NOT ALL, PEARL PATTERN ONCE REACHED MATURITY.
The Process
Once eggs are laid, there is a 17-21 day incubation period prior to hatching. When eggs are hatched, they remain with parents with daily nest checks until pulled for handfeeding.
When babies are pulled for handfeeding they are DNA sexed (when applicable) and foot prints for the Hatch certificates are taken. At this time, babies are banded with our custom Piper's Aviary closed leg bands.
Our babies are hand fed from 2-3 weeks old starting at 4 feeds a day. Babies are fed quality formula and supplemented as needed. They are placed in a brooder tank that is heat and humidity controlled. Babies are offered millet and soft pellets to begin the weaning process. Weights are monitored and recorded daily during weaning process. When the babies drop to 2 feeds a day and feathers are opened up, they are moved to the big kid cage with a nanny bird. While in the big kid cage the babies will learn from our nanny birds how to maneuver throughout the cage and how to locate food and water. Once babies reach 8 weeks old and start refusing full feeds, the last feed will be dropped and babies will be monitored for weight loss and other signs of regression. When the babies pass the week of observation, arrangements with new owners will be made for pick up.
Additional training is available upon request, free of charge. This includes harness training and exposure to things that may be within your home such as dogs, cats, children, or loud noises. The options are wide open. Just let us know your daily routines and we will work with the babies while they are here at Piper's Aviary to make the transition into your home as smooth as possible.
72 Hour Health Guarantee
Our babies go home with a 72 hour health guarantee. We strive for healthy, disease free babies going home with their families. We encourage families to get their babies vet checked upon bringing them home. If the vet finds any disease or illness within the first 72 hours, Piper's Aviary will either give a full refund or an exchange for bird of same sex and mutation once available.
Quarantine period is a safe and encouraged practice for bird owners. Birds are easily susceptible to many disease and illness that can be fatal. If there are other birds in the home, new birds must remain in quarantine for at least 30 days to monitor for any signs or symptoms in order to protect your flock and new bird prior to introduction.
Additional testing is available at buyers cost prior to babies going home upon request. Tests available are for the following diseases: Psittacosis, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease, Avian Polyomavirus, Avium Bordetella, Pacheco's Disease, and Psittacine Proventricular Dilatation Disease. We will only charge what the laboratory charges us. Depending on what tests you may want completed, price is $70 for full panel. These are the tests we run on our aviary bi-annually to ensure a disease free aviary.
Certificates
Our babies come home with two certificates. A hatch certificate, which is an original Piper's Aviary certificate. On this certificate you will find the mutation of your baby, hatch date, parents names, band number, gender, date baby went home, and adorable little foot prints.
The second certificate is the DNA certificate. This certificate specifies which gender the baby is via DNA as well as optional health testing that may be done (paid for by buyer). A baby will not come home with a DNA certificate if the baby is from a sex-linked pairing and no optional health testing is done.
What is a sex-linked pairing?
The known sex-linked mutations are lutino, pearl, cinnamon, and yellow-cheek. The males pass the gene onto the daughters and the females pass the gene onto the sons. Based on the parents mutations, this may create a sex-linked pairing. Which means, the sex of the baby will be known once the mutation of baby is known. DNA will not be required to know sex.
If buyer wishes to have a DNA sexing done on a sex-linked paired baby, the cost will be provided by buyer prior to sample being taken and sent to lab which is $12.
What does Piper's Aviary feed?
The answer is easy, everything! We feed our entire flock a wide range of different brands and mixes of pellet and seed. Along with a large variety of fresh chop which includes vegetables, fruit, grains, nuts, and sprouts. We raise birds who are use to a large variety. No bird will leave a "picky" eater. There is a lot of different information regarding what is the best diet. There is so much different information out there that can cause controversial debate on diet. To avoid the controversy, here at Piper's Aviary we offer everything. We purchase in bulk the best quality of both worlds. From Roudybush to higgins, vita-seed to safflower. Too much of anything is a bad idea, so variety is the key. We send home a bag of our current mix home with each baby. We hope all families will continue to provide a wide variety to their babies after leaving our aviary.
Leg Bands
Why does Piper's Aviary use leg bands? Aren't leg bands dangerous? Can I purchase a bird without a leg band?
These are questions we often hear regarding the use of leg bands. The leg bands we use here at Piper's Aviary are closed leg band (other option is open leg bands). When you hear of accidents involving leg bands and injury with birds, 99% of the incidences occur with open leg bands. Closed legs bands are one solid piece and must be placed on babies by a certain age making the closed band the only identification that will hold up in court if a legal matter should arise. With the band being one solid piece, you don't have the chance of it getting snagged on anything which drastically lessens the chance of injury. But why do we band our birds? Banding the birds helps breeder with record keeping and also acts as an identification. Birds of the same mutation often look identical making if very difficult to tell them apart. Using the band ensures that the right baby is going to the right home. Our bands have our aviary's name " Piper's Aviary" on the band. If your bird were to become lost, our aviary is easily located via google search which can result in you and your bird being reunited quicker.