We are owned by 8 Congo African Greys (CAGs). Some of our CAGs were rescues or birds with problems when we acquired them, so these birds will appear on my Special Birds page.
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Click to see the Development of a Baby African Grey |
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SKEETERSkeeter was our first CAG. She is now almost 25 years of age and is a real character. Skeeter arrived in our home when she was 57 days of age and still being handfed 3 times per day. I handpicked her while visiting the breeder when she was 17 days old. She was by far the most vocal of all the other babies in the nursery. When she arrived at our home, she was not very cute and at that kind of gangly stage. She reminded us of a big old northern mosquito, thus the name Skeeter. When she was approximately 6 months she uttered her first word and has never looked back. She has a very extensive vocabulary, as a matter of fact she is down right incredible. The thing that amazes me the most is that she makes up her own sentences and 99% of the time they make complete sense. So, I firmly believe that CAGs do not only mimic, but have a pretty good understanding of what they are saying. |
| Skeeter is very nosey. She always wants to be in the thick of things when anything is going on. The only way to get anything done is to put her back in her cage, otherwise it takes forever to work around her. Skeeter does some pretty neat things. She imitates water pouring, computer game sounds and many other noises. Probably the most irritating is the back up signal that she hears on the snow plow equipment. Skeeter's favorite person is my husband. She would bite me as look at me. But, I suppose she has the right to choose who she wants to be her best friend. She is one who always seems to say the right thing at the right time and people are always most impressed with her speaking abilities. |  |
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DIGGER Digger was our first hatched baby Grey. She was 15 years old on January 11th of this year. I pulled her at 2-1/2 weeks of age and handfed her. Of course, all the nervousness of handfeeding my first larger bird went along with it. I loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her and just could not bear the thought of not keeping her. So, it was decided when she was very young that she would remain with us. Digger also has a very large vocabulary. She will talk your ear off if given half a chance. We lived at a former address for many years and when asked where she lived, Digger would reply with the appropriate street address. Now we just have to try and teach her the new address. |
| We moved twice during the course of one year, with one move being a major move. Poor Digger just could not handle the stress and started plucking her feathers. Now, after many months in our new home, she is finally putting her clothes back on. Digger loves to imitate telephone conversations. She rings the phone [ring spacing is perfect] and then will say Hi and proceed to ask for one of my friends. She will talk away for a bit and then say she has to go, and even has the hang-up click down perfrect. We had to laugh one day as she was jabbering away and then said "Have to run now, someone is at the door. I'll phone you back." We got a real chuckle out of that. So, just goes to show that yu have to watch what you say, as they will pick up most everything you say. She is so smart. When I was working, she would look at me and say "Mommy's got to go to work" as soon as she saw me dressed. Yet she never said it on a Saturday or Sunday. Now that I am home, she says "Mommy's got to go out". Their intelligence still amazes me, even after all these years. |  |
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BABY GREY Baby Grey was another sweet little baby that we just could not part with. She was born January 24th, 1997. It didn't seem to matter how many names we came up with, nothing really suited her. So the name Baby Grey just seemed to stick. Ane she must love her name, as she says it all the time. Her talking abilities at such an early age were extrardinary. We maybe would have sold her if the right person had come along, but deep down we really wanted to keep her. She is such a sweetie. She will grab your finger [not biting] and say "Don't you bite! Then she laughs hysterically. She goes through toys like no Grey I have ever seen. She chews and chews. She hangs from her toys [sometimes by 1 toenail] and whens he gets really excited, forgets to hang on. She is one that will entertain herself by the hour. Never seems to get bored. She will talk your ear off if you give her the chance. She loves to be petted and can certainly make your day when she says in her sweetest little voice "I love you". She is a joy to have around. |
| We have one breeding pair of Congo African Greys named Abby and Darcy. We have no pictures of them, as they "run and hide" whenever they see the camera. We have had them for approximately 21 years. They were in our home for almost 5 years before they decided to bless us with our first baby Grey. We have had on an average of 2 babies per year since. They are beautiful birds. Darcy is a normal looking Grey, but Abby is the most beautiful silver color. She is such a light silver that she appears to be white in many areas. We have gotten some beautiful babies from them. They are a funny pair. They are not tame, but when they are nesting or have eggs r babies in the nest, they come running to the front of their cage for kisses. Can't explain it as this is not normal for breeding birds, especially ones that are not tame. | OUR BREEDING PAIR |
You can see the rest of our Greys on our Special Bird pages.
Keep checking my site, more pages to come.
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