Good Joel. I hate to see fertile eggs taken from loving parents.

I'm sorry I even started this post. Can it be deleted please?

I feel it should NOT be deleted (IMO) and btw, you did not respond to my offer.

I am not going to allow my birds to breed just to ship them off. This was an unintentional breeding and will be the last. I am NOT a breeder of Caiques. There are plenty of babies out there and I am not going to add to the population.

The only babies I raise are requested in advance from friends and family for my hand feeding experience, and then I purchase the babies from responsible, reputable breeders with a history of awesome babies.

As the subject title states... I am no breeder by any means.

I am not going to further this discussion as this is way out of hand. A simple post stating my excitement, and my worries that I let the eggs incubate this far, turned into ridicule on how I handle unwanted baby birds in my home. Joel, you are a breeder of birds. Knock yourself out. But that is not what I do.

I completely understand your point of view Deb. When Arty shipped Mira to me we believed her to be a female going to live with my male, Mollie. I was already looking at websites to purchase fake eggs from should that ever happen. Baby pigeons are not something I need!

If I had a male CAG and Ollie laid fertile eggs, I would definitely replace them with fakes. Other people have different points of view. Mine is that I don't need the added responsibility, and there are already too many homeless birds in the world. Seeing Gayla's thread on TGF helps to illustrate that. (Not that I feel breeding is bad...just that it's not for me).

Thank you Camille! Your input is GREATLY appreciated! I am all for breeding birds, just not the ones I have in my home as companions!

I understand your view too, Deb. As you said, the caiques breeding was unintentional. I think it's responsible of you to have homes lined up if the eggs hatch and things turn out well - and I hope things turn out well and we can see these little ones grow up!

I am not simply trying to be argumentative Deb. I was just trying to discuss things you brought up, now & before (by giving options also) - so please relax a bit. Btw, I believe anyone on this Board is entitled to express an opinion on anything someone else said etc... You initiated a topic that is worthy of discussion IMO, I then responded and you responded back. Isn't taking turns a fair way to do things, like in debates etc..... If you do not want this to go any further by allowing me to find something else you bring up to respond to, then maybe you should not say anything else?

I guess it boils down to whether one is pro-life or not. Being a bird lover, I don't like to hear about bird life being snuffed out (in any stage) by tossing it in the trash etc... I can't simply sit back and say nothing - thus the reason I replied to your open post which is my right. This is a discussion board with the Love of Birds as its' central theme.

I feel if you don't want babies, then don't let your birds mate. Simple as that. JMO ..... If there were plenty of Caique babies out there, why are the prices so high for them. Doesn't supply & demand work with them also.

I feel a need to respond or talk to people who have no problems with destroying life because that is simply the easy way to handle things (that is what it boils down to - sounds like to me). I am pretty sure I will never change your mind on this issue (from the way you are talking) but I had to try by making you the offer I did. Is that so wrong for me to do.

Maybe our "discussion"/opinions just may influence the choices others may make in the future, hopefully (as far as I am concerned anyway), positive choices rather than negative ones are what should be promoted both on this Board and wherever. Again, JMO.

Sarah..... Deb said she is going to remove the "nestbox", not separate the parents and/or supervise them while they are together in the future - so no more fertile eggs result. Thus, in a way she is still "intentionally" allowing breeding in the future.

I think I need another cup of Cappuccino.

I understand that Deb has said she will remove the nestbox. I still believe that it's beneficial for the parents to have contact and interaction with each other. Sure there's still a chance that they will lay eggs in the future (I know nothing about breeding, but I do hear that some species are less likely to lay without a nestbox present). I know that you're against replacing fertile eggs with fake eggs, but to be honest I'm not completely against it and am rather on the fence about it.