I am a 32 year old, stay at home mom of 3 ages 15, 12 and 6. I moved
from Colorado to Oklahoma in September 2005 and I love it here.
My passion for birds began when I was 10 years old. My grandparents
bought me a green and yellow budgie (parakeet) from a pet store just outside of Sun City, Arizona. He was hand tame and was
a complete sweetheart so I named him "Lover Boy". He learned to say a few things like his name, "I'm Tellin" (my cousins and
I use to tattle-tale on each other constantly) and "Where's George?" (which was my grandpa). Soon I got another budgie, a
little blue hen that I named "Small Wonder". Don't ask me why but I have always been one to give most of my animals unusual
names like Tuna for a dog and Cereal for a cat. I was 4 years old then lol. Lover Boy and Small Wonder never
had babies for me but that was ok, I loved having them around regardless.
My father and I moved to Ely, NV when I was 12 years old and he
bought me a Lutino Cockatiel who I named "Cuddles". She was one of the sweetest hens I have ever been around. She was never
in a cage and would sleep on her play gym on top of my dresser at night and fly over and wake me up every morning. I have
been 100% hooked on birds since then. As sometimes happens in life, I went to live with my mom in Colorado and I couldn't
take her with me so she was able to go back to the people that hand fed her and I still miss her to this day.
Between the ages of 14 and 17 I had Finches and Budgies
and was hand feeding wild baby birds that people would bring to me. I met the father of my 2 older kids around that time and
his family happen to be related to Bernard Roer of Roer Bird Farm in Arizona and that is when my interest in raising and breeding
birds became my focus. I got my first several pair of tiels from him.
When I was 19 we turned our garage into my "bird room" and
I was raising Budgies, Cockatiels, Patagonian & Half Moon Conures, Cordon Blue, Gouldian, Zebra & Spice Finches.
I took in my first rescue bird then too, a 12 year old Mollucan Cockatoo named Jake.
I found myself getting a divorce at 22 and moving to Las Vegas.
I had to sell off my flock to make this move but it didn't take me long to get started again! I stuck with my cockatiels and
took on the task of raising Senegal's. They were a lot of fun but nothing comes close to the passion I have for my tiels!
My first year in Vegas I raised/hand fed 87 babies all by myself! I got married again at this time and we moved back
to Colorado where I had my 3rd child who is special needs and a total blessing on so many levels. I sat up
a 8 x 10 greenhouse out in my backyard and raised nothing but my beloved Cockatiels. Shortly after that, I found myself
going through divorce #2 and I was devastated by the fact I had to once again give up my flock. I didn't think I had
it in me to start over again after that.
I went for 2 years without having any birds and then my grandma
gave me back one of my very first babies that I hand fed. A normal grey male tiel named Zeek. He hatched in 1998 so he was
7 years old when he came to live with me. He had a very good vocabulary and could "sneeze" VERY realistically. He would even
pick his little foot up and move it towards his beak as if he were trying to cover his face lol. Zeek moved from
Colorado to Oklahoma with me and in April of 2007 he came down with a respiratory infection that hit hard and fast. He left
this Earth 3 days later at 9 years old. He is greatly missed. I still find myself sometimes waiting to hear him "call"
for me when I come in the front door.
For my birthday in May of 2007 I went and picked up a pair of Cockatiels
that some peopole no longer wanted. A Lutino hen named Baby and a Normal Grey male named Einstein. In August I met Sarah
when I went and bought 2 cockatiels from her. I then decided to let Einstein and Baby have babies of their own. Einstein was
not the best husband to Baby and I had to remove him from the cage so that she could lay her 4 eggs in peace. 2 eggs
were good so I fostered the eggs out to some of Sarahs birds where they hatched in September 2007 and were foster fed
until they were 10-12 days old and then I took over. To my surprise and Sarah's as well one baby is a Cinnamon Lutino
named Armando by my boyfriend and the other one is a Cinnamon Lutino White Face named Eshno, which means "snow".
Sarah and I have become good friends over the last several months
so we decided to work together and start up Redbud Ridge Aviary. She has Armando and Baby at her place and Eshno still
lives with me. Einstein went to live in Moore ,Ok. with a wonderful family.
I currently have 5 adult pair of cockatiels and 5 little
Budgies in my home. One pair of tiels is actually Sarah's that started breeding here a few days ago. You can see
pics of Jericho and Shallicho on her Sarahs Flock page.
One pair Sarah and I "co-own" together. An Emerald male and his
Normal Grey/EM hen that we acquired from Robert Harris in TX. The EM male is from Mason Aviary stock and he is a beauty!
His mate's sire is also Mason stock.
I have things set in place to where I will also be getting another
pair from Robert in March. A White Face Lutino male and his Lutino hen. These two birds are big, robust breeders. I can't
wait to get them here!
MyTiels are all in their own cages so I know who is with who and it also gives me
a pretty good idea of what I'll be getting mutation wise. I usually only set a few pair up at a time so that I have babies
available throughout the year but with all these pair being new I decided to set them all up at once to see what will happen
and then I can plan accordingly for 2009.
We'll see what happens with the Budgies as well this year.
So, there ya'll have it! That's how my passion began and where I am with it now. I strive
for healthy, happy, loving handfed babies and do not want to get overwhelmed to the point where I cannot give each
pair and every baby direct attention on a daily basis or, in my opinion, I fail as breeder.
Thanks for reading and God Bless!
~Heather~
