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A good friend of mine asked me to hand feed his hahns when he pulls them from the parents(if they hatch). This is his first and only pair of breeders and he has never had babies. There is no doubt he can learn to do it right. He has done his homework, and he knows I am there for what ever he needs. He had been looking forward to his 1st clutch for a few yrs now, but because of unexpected situations in his live, he has come to realize he cannot be 100% committed to the babies. I expected to "hold his had" thru the process, but I didn't expect to get the clutch from him. Other than wanting one of the babies for a pet, after weaned, he is open to my decision on how to work out a deal for hand feeding his clutch.

Should I just buy the remaining babies from him, and feed all the babies including his? Is splitting the clutch between us (half his, half mine) for the cost of hand feeding fair? Or should I charge him a price to hand feed them, and when weaned, they are his to sell/find homes for? What is a fair price for this service?

If the babies end up in my ownership, I will sell them as pets. I have no intensions on keeping any of them as pets for me, unless, for what ever reason, I cannot find them a good home. I do need 2 hahns for a mature male, and a mature female I have, but I need adult birds. I don't want to wait 2-4 yrs for these babies to mature. Hand feeding, for me is not that big a deal right now. I'm expecting to have babies a few weeks after his hatch anyway, so I am in the process of analyzing/sterilizing my equipment now.

I was given advice from some local breeders that when buying babies out of nest, half of what you sell the babies for is a fair price, good/bad advice?
What is the fair thing to do to help out a friend?

Thanks in advance..

I would think it is whatever you and the other person want to work out and what you feel is fair. You have to remember that if there is 4 babies and you hand feed all 4 and you split the sale of all 4 at 50% and just say they each sold for $500 each (I am not sure of current pricing on the Hahns) - you would get $1,000 but in that is at least 3 to 4 months worth of work, the formula, the care, bedding... and other things. Who would be the one to take on the expense of a vet bill, if any? Not sure if you breed or hand feed other birds but if you are already hand feeding other babies of your own, then certainly 2 more is not that big of a thing to do. If you don't have others of your own then you must think of the ties it has that go along with the whole thing... the commitment and dedication. I also feel the time and devotion of spending that extra time to make sure they are very socialized is hard to put a value on it... it's almost priceless!!

Certainly in my books close to $1,000 to make in 4 months or so it not that great of money... if you are doing it solely for the love of birds and are around at home much of the time anyway.... then you'd maybe have fun with it.

I agree. If you are doing it because you have other babies to feed or just for the fun of raising them then go for it. If you are concerned about the money think about that 1,000.00 over 4 months comes out to: 250.00 a month, 8.33 a day (30 days) or .35 cents an hour (24 hours). I had nothing better to do,
Like I said, if it's just to see how the babies are and have fun, then go for it, but if you want to make a little profit for your time, you might have to sit down and discuss things such as formula, food, bedding, cage, toys, etc with him.

I'm not doing it for the money, this is a friend that is just starting out. By taking his clutch in, it just means I will be starting my handfeeding routine 2 weeks earlier, if my guys stay on schedule. He won't allow me to just do him the favor. Because he is just starting out, and he is a friend, what I am leaning to is handfeeding for him, and having him give me one of the babys for the work/expence. By doing this, it will keep money out of the situtation. I'll approach it as more of a favor to him than anything else.

Your right not much in the profit area, but if I want to make a quick buck, I think I'm in the wrong business.

I agree about the money thing. I tell people if I didn't have birds I'd probably be driving a new paid off car, lol.

I would do it just for the experience of a species I don't raise, I think it would be fun. But you have people that are about the money and nothing more.

I am unclear, if he is just starting out, why are you handfeeding for him? Does he not know how or does not have the time and wants someone to hand feed all his babies that his pair(s) produce? Who is learning, you or him or both of you?

I once did some hand feeding for a guy who really just would buy and sell and he had like 7 of these Macaws (2 Green Wings, 3 Scarlets and 2 B&G's) they were pretty much feathered out at that time and the agreement was to hand feed and in trade I would get this Proven Pair of Orange Wing Amazons that he had... well, not hardly into the thing, less than a months time, I found out he wanted to take these young baby Macaws to and from bird marts... uh, no I do not exactly agree on you taking the birds and then bringing them back because you can end up having the birds catch some sort of disease to bring back to my birds... after the second time he took them to go to a mart, I said for get it and he finished hand feeding them or he ended up selling them to someone else who he was good at telling people on how easy it is to hand feed and try to give them a crash course on hand feeding... I hated the fact that he did that. I did end up getting the pair of Orange Wings and in fact he brought me these other two baby Orange Wings that were in the process of weaning which were not related to the pair I was getting but he said these two babies that he brought to me to hand feed over night and bring them to the mart the next day ... they were starving to death and I really thought they were not going to make it, well come to find out about 3 days later he called me up to tell me the one baby Orange Wing had died... uh, I can see why. They were not fed properly. I felt so bad for those birds... or any birds that passed through his hands. Oh sorry, I went off on this direction but it still erks me after 5 years later!!

This is his only pair of breeders, and has never hanfed. I've known him for many yrs, and told him, 3yrs ago when he paird these birds that if anything would become of this, I would assist him to avoid any mistakes that would cause a bird injury. Me, I do have breeders and have handfed many many birds. It is not by his choice that he cannot go thru and handfeed (with me overseeing him). Something beyond his contrtol came up that is going to dominate his time. It is breaking his heart that after 3yrs, he is now reaching his goal, he cannot finish. He has put his feelings aside and feels that letting me handfeed his babies is best for the birds sake. I tried not to charge him, but being the kind of person he is, he wouldn't allow it.

These babies will stay in my home until they are ready for their perminate home. I do not sell at marts, and have no intensions of bouncing handfed babies around. He knows this, and by me starting the babies, I will finish them, regardless if his situtation changes for the better or not, but believe me, his situtation will not go away in 3 or 4 months.

Ah, that's too bad that something has him torn into another direction... maybe it will be all better sooner than later.

Anyway, it's whatever you two can work out and both feel good about it. When you're already feeding some babies, what's a few more... more fun, right? Good luck to you both!

If it were me in this situation, with a friend, I would ask for half of the clutch and for him to pay for half of everything. Formula, bedding material, etc. Are you providing brooder or is he? That would be something else you need to figure out.
I think it would be more than fair to ask for half of the clutch and half of expenses. Especially since you will have you own to feed soon.

Good luck with whatever you decide.