onyxena -
I'm also as east coast transplant (Philly to be exact). I moved here for graduate school but love it so much I am going to stay. TGF does good work but their adoption process is insane and they make no distinction between first time bird owners and long term bird owners.

I'd suggest visiting Avalon if you haven't yet. Jen and I go by every couple months to play with the birds and to keep in touch with the people there. If you are interested I can call up and ask them what other reputable dealers are around for Hyacinths. I remember they mentioned a couple good ones and I pretty much take Avalon at their word when they recommend a person.

I'm not looking into other breeders myself because I'm about 3-5 years out from getting a Hyacinth but if you are closer I can try to get those names for you.

Jared the infections were before we brought her home Thank God. They had to take care of her at the store. I was lucky even though she was still on 2 feedings we never had that problem. You have to be careful with them as they have a high mortality rate before the age of 1 year. They do take a long time to wean. Angel was just shy of 12 months when she weaned. As I said before she was lazy and liked to be fed by Momma.

JR let Shadow know that we think about him a lot. Give the cutie pie a kiss from us.

Thanks Jared! I am kinda looking at the same time frame you are, but possibly sooner. Hubby says wait a few years, I say why wait? I will definately be interested in other breeders etc in CO. Maybe we will end up with clutch mates in a few years! We should stay in touch on the subject! That would be neat.
I have only been back in CO for about a month, though I grew up out here. I would love to visit Avalon, how far is it from Denver? Is it near Sally Blanchard's store in Loveland at all?

Hi,
I don't think the other breeders are in CO. We seem to have a dearth of breeders in CO. I could not find a single Siamese breeder here. Now this is just me but I think the cost of a plane ticket, in the grand scheme of how much the Hyacinth costs, is minor so I'll travel if need be when the time comes.

Sally Blanchard is about 15 minutes from Avalon. We board our macaws with her when we go away and visit occasionally to just say hi. She is actually on the way back to 1-25 so you could hit up Avalon then head to Sally's then head back to the interstate. I think Avalon is ~ 1 to 1.5 hours from you if you take 1-25 to (I think) exit 255. That's probably the fastest way there.

If you go make sure to take home one of the red fronts. They need a good home.

I'll call in tomorrow and ask which breeders they recommend.

Todd Marcus is a great store, I shop there myself. He's got a huge markup on his birds - hy's run around 20,000. I got my baby hy from FLA for 7500 from the breeder that breeds for Parrot Jungle. If you like I'll email him asking if it's ok to give out his email address.

Last time I was there over the summer they were around $11K. They had some very rare birds for $20K, like black cockatoos and blue mutation amazons. $75k isn't bad! did you have to wean yours or was it finished? Like I said I am like Jared and still doing homework and just kinda lookin around for when we are ready. But yeah, a plane ticket etc doesn't seem so bac consideering what you're already spending!

Todd's Hys list for $10K but you do get some perks when you buy one.

He does get some unusual birds in some times and they are a little more.

Todd was going to wean Angel fully but there was a situation that arose and we took her home a little early.

Jeanne that is a really great price. Your baby is really beautiful.

Dh's dream bird is a Hy...unfortunately, I've heard from 3 different local people
some really bad stuff about them. If those of you that own them could address
the issues I've heard I'd appreciate it.
One of my dear friends did a lot of work with hy's. She says they *stink*, especially the males, and are loud (obviously!) and extremely hard to work with...bear in mind her job was training them for shows, and most of the time she was dealing w/ force-weaned birds. Director and VP of the bird rescue I volunteer at both say they'd *never* keep a Hy - because of the loudness (again, duh!) stench and serious attitude problems.
Everything I've read online of people owning Hy's the owners are tickled w/ their birds, and describe them as big blue puppies...

I've also heard the same things about BP2's - yet JR and Gary are thrilled with Shadow... (that's my dream bird!)

wendy

all birds are loud, we know this (especially macaws). it all depends on the individual bird (and owner) as to how loud. i am the type that isn't bothered at all by macaw screams, but cockatiel shrieks can fry my nerves.

ivy smells lovely, usually like bananas (her favorite food!) it seems to me like birds take on the odor of what they eat; ivy smelled like fruity pellets when i first got her but that went away after a day of healthier foods. and she is a doll to work with.

any bird that was force weaned is going to have serious behavior problems, IMO. i'd have an attitude problem myself if i was forced to grow up before i was ready.

I'd be worried about the health and hygiene of a macaw that "stinks"--any macaw. Loud? You betcha they're loud when they want to be--but Mikey Blue has yet to rattle the windows with a scream. He vocalizes a lot, but frankly, Arthur and his "monkey calls" is louder.

I'd also wonder about the training methods of someone who can't successfully train a Hyacinth. Yes, my boy can be rather headstrong at times--I guess you could call it "attitude", but he responds SO well to positive reinforcement. He also knows what "no" means, as well as the "evil eye", if he does get to feeling sassy, and needs to stop what he's doing NOW....

Of course, Mikey won't be 2 until July, so he has a long way to go before he's an adult. It'll be interesting to see how 8 or so years of training will affect how he behaves as a "grown up".