Parrot keepers... Bangkok trip(lots of pictures)

That will be great..
I will arrange with you before I arrived.

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Hi Silvanus,
I'm glad we signed up before registration was closed. The trip is just a week away. Any further details regarding itinerary? Hope to spend time at Chatuchak market as well.
Cheers,
Ronnie

I will be travelling to Penang with my thai counterpart Mr Lee tomorrow and will return early next week. Rest assured we will be going to Chatuchak market and a few other birdshops. A very reputable Avian Vet may be joining us there too...

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Petsfanatics.com has no multi-million dollar marketing campaign or celebrity sponsors, but we do have something even better—you. If you enjoy Petsfanatics please consider telling a friend, sharing it with anyone who loves pets, or writing the author of a media article that overlooks us.
PETAS [Pets Enterprises and Traders Association (Singapore) ] - Committee Member
Founder of Merlion-K9 Training
www.merlion-K9.com
Public Relations Officer
FYNNMOOD GOLDFISH CLUB SINGAPORE
Public Relations Officer
Pets Community at The Serangoon
Member of Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT)

Hi all,
I know that some of you are eager to hear updates on our parrot farm visit and I would have reported 'live', macham CNN, if not for a cranky laptop. Anyway, we arrived Friday 6th, free-and-easy. A few went shopping while the rest of the boys went to paint the town red.

Saturday was more exciting. After a hearty continental buffet breakfast, Mr Lee brought us to a bird store near Chatuchak weekend market. Prices of toys and accessories were very good, and we did end up lugging back kilos of macadamia nuts. I didn't need much but a few more cement perches won't hurt either :lol:

While we were already so close to the weekend market, why not pop in to 'check it out'? Heh, that's probably the understatement of the year since you'll need at least 2 days to fully cover the area and d@mn... it was hot and humid. Fortunately, there was an impromptu arrangement to visit one of the parrot breeder within Bangkok. So yyyaaaayyy... we're off to see some birds!!! After an hour's drive, we arrived at the breeder's residence and my first impression was WOW!!! It was like a walk-in sanctuary and the place is huge!!






Excuse the butt shots... I was in awe and lagging behind in the group, poking my nose into every enclosure!


ekkies!!


Catalina Macaw


Millitary Macaw


Green Wing Macaws


Blue and Gold Macaws


Larger pic here
Red Fronted Macaws


Red Fronted Macaws Larger pic here
and here



Scarlet Macaws


Towards the rear of the premises, there were a few 'small-bird rooms'. Here's one of them.



Two nestling Green Wing Macaws and a larger view here



We were fortunate to drool over the cute nestlings but also more eggs in the incubator


Mollucan Cockatoo Babies.


Mollucan Cockatoo Babies when they are a few days old.


View of incubator and brooders


Two more Mollucan Cockatoo nestlings


Our host with a young Harlequin macaw, housed in a double-door walk-in enclosure


lai lai... come closer lah...


Group pic before we hit the road


Our guide cum host cum pau-ka-liao, Mr Lee with Silvanus... and that sardine packed mini van!

PLEASE NOTE! When replying, please please... DO NOT quote the entire post! It will slow everybody's page download and probably toast my Photobucket account!! Thank you for your consideration.

The second breeder we visited was another 2 hour drive to a province outside of Bangkok. My butt was aching but it was worth it!! My take? Fort Knox, Alcatraz... and d@mn impressive!!!


A long passage runs across this very large compound and it is divided into 'sectors', each with individually secured entrance... for obvious reasons! <wink>


Spiked high walls... reminds me of a detention facility in Changi and oh, that's our host in yellow T's.


On our left, it's one enclosure after another, each as large, if not larger, than a typical HDB bedroom!


On our right, more enclosures!! All the breeders are flighted and as you can see from later pictures, the freedom and space really keep the birds' plumage in prime condition.


The enclosure is sheltered towards the rear and pretty dark as is. That's a huge pair of Black Palm cockatoo!! Swee...


Larger pic here
Major Mitchell 'Too... gorgeous aren't they?!!


Tweety teasing a Galah


Larger pic here
Milli-Gold Macaws


Catalina and Green Wing Macaw


The group admiring yet another fine specimen



Larger pic here
Catalina Macaw


Larger pic here
Red Fronted Macaw, Such a healthy, gorgeous pair... I'm at a loss for words


Millitary Macaw


I'm not sure if the weather is typical for this time of the year but it sure is HOT!! A sprinkler system effectively cools off the ambient temperature... and I'm getting wet!

Directly opposite the high walls, is a stretch of smaller enclosures housing a variety of smaller and mid-sized parrots.



Sun conure pairs greeting (squawking) their drooling guests.



CAIQUES!!! My favorite cuties!! These are commonly called "Black-headed caiques" ... pronounced "kai-eek".


Another shot of this lovely pair



The odd couple. A Green-cheeked conure with an unusual color variant. William, is this a separate species and what's this known as commercially?


Another pair... wish I could tuck them into my pockets...



From the entrance, this will give you an idea how large one sector really is!!


Again, impressive specimens! Green Wing Macaws


Durcorp 'Toos


Larger pic here
Wah... picture perfect! Blue and Gold Macaws.


As we move back towards the main facility, more rows of cages... and more room to upgrade! *green with envy already!*


In a separate building, houses the incubation and brooding setup. One ducorp cockatoo nestling in a cup (take-away, please! *wink*)


A Harlequin macaw chick


Two cute and naked Mollucan Cockatoo nestling. They seem to be saying, "Bring me home ley"


... and this one reminds me of black chicken in tonic soup! Hahahahaha!!!


All that drooling makes us one hungry lot! A yummy seafood treat from our host.

Later that night, we made a brief stopover at a holding facility. It's dark but I'm glad these few pics made good.

Blue and Gold Macaws Envious, aren't cha?


Three macaws of a kind.... Millitary , Blue and Gold and Green Wing


Go home liao lah... stay tuned... more to come!!

Came Sunday morning, 8th June, we were all eager to visit more facilities.

However, this particular location is a private residence!!! Hard-core hobbyists sia..

A huge aviary, larger than my hall, houses one pair of Hyacinth macaw. I was told that this is a very very rare sight!


More aviary greets awed guest from the main gate.


*somebody please pass me the ***... I'm drooling all over*


This Hyacinth Macaw looks wet because it was raining earlier.


More aviary. Blue and Gold Macaw and Scarlet Macaw.


Another soaked pair of Hyacinth Macaw.


More later... must work leh

Later, after another 2-hour drive and a sumptuous lunch (and delicious ice-cream), we arrived at this breeder's facility.


The entire facility comprise of different sizes of enclosures. In some areas, it's a double-floor setup with stairways in the rear. The enclosures on the right houses mostly macaws.


An overview. With so many enclosures, all of us were busy looking around (and gawking). I must admit that this breeder is very innovative and resourceful, maximizing the most number of birds in a rather limited space. I understand that another 30 cages will be rigged up on the roof-top!!!


Food preparation area.


Small parrot breeding pairs are housed in this stretch of cages.


But... the most interesting area is where all the nestlings are!! Here's one basket of Sun and Crimson-bellied conures.


WALAUEH.... another basket of naked Sun conures!!!


Incubator and brooder setup.



....and that concludes this one-of-a-kind exclusive-visit tour. I hope those who missed the registration date will now have a better idea how the big boys up North does it!! Enjoy!!