Budgie Parakeet (Budgerigar) Breeder in Colorado

Family-Raised, Hand-Fed, Socialized Budgie Parakeets!

Our young daughter does an excellent job of helping to train and socialize the chicks.

We are a small hobby budgerigar (budgie parakeet) breeder located in Fort Collins, Colorado. We raise three types of budgies: the small, agile American; the large, mellow English; and the moderate American x English cross (my personal favorite). Our small aviary is run by a family of three and the birds are raised in our home. Our budgies are our beloved family pets and treated with the utmost respect and love. Our family is attached to each and every budgie as most of them have been with us since birth and have been handled from day one. We know and appreciate the personalities of all of our feathered friends. Our birds’ lives are filled with play, exercise, flight, nutritious food and companionship.

When our babies are fledging (weaning off hand-feeding formula, flying), I start training them to hop onto my hand, even fly to it when called. Their reward? Organic hulled millet and smooches! The babies are raised in our busy home office/homeschooling room where they receive 6-10 hours a day of care, play and companionship. Our flight cages are huge and on rollers, allowing them to be rolled into adjacent rooms for a quick change of scenery.

Even though our budgie parakeets are first and foremost our fun pets, we never breed them without a serious mind. Our selective breeding program focuses on health and temperament. Their beautiful color varieties and mutations are icing on the cake!

We select birds with curious, confident and playful personalities to use in our breeding program because temperament has a genetic component. Then we pull their chicks from the nest box when they are three weeks of age to lovingly hand-raise and hand-feed them around the clock for the next three to five weeks. Each chick gets fed, held and cuddled a minimum of 112 times before they are weaned! It’s one heck of a time commitment but the results are totally worth it!

Why we hand-feed the chicks

Hand-feeding budgie parakeet babies is a HUGE time commitment. By the time they've weaned, we've fed, cuddled and smooched them at least 112 times!

While a small percentage of commercial production “bird mill” parakeets (the kind found at most pet stores) can be tamed given plenty of time and patience, you are much more likely to enjoy your budgie if:

1. she is selectively bred with personality and temperament in mind, and …
2. she is positively imprinted to humans at a very early age.

Our primary goal as hobby breeders is to create the most lovable, well-rounded feathered friends. Therefore, we combine both nature AND nurture into our selective breeding program!

And we do much more than hand-feed them…

Exposing very young animals to novel, positive experiences helps them learn how to handle stress better and grow to become more confident as adults. And the more time they spend in the company of humans, the more likely they are to include YOU as one of their flock!

While the babies are learning to eat a variety of wholesome foods on their own, we continue to handle and socialize them several times every day. They eat dinner with our family, ride on our shoulder while we push the vacuum, and cuddle with us while we work on the computer or watch movies. We encourage them to come to our hand and step up on our finger. They are introduced to a variety of novel toys, places, people and situations and encouraged to explore. They are allowed the space and opportunity to learn to fly and safely navigate our home. Our baby flight enclosures and play gyms are located in our busy home office/homeschooling room where they receive 6-10 hours a day of companionship and care.

No seed junkies! We wean our babies onto a wide variety of nutritious foods.

We are committed to their health

We feed our budgies a wide variety of natural, organic and nutritious foods including organic sprouted seeds, legumes and grains; organic vegetables and fruit; mashed hard-boiled eggs; organic whole grain bread; organic baby food (made for humans); millet sprays; a wide variety of herbs and spices; and finally (and very sparingly) a seed mix. A fresh cuttlebone and a mineral block is always within their reach. This early exposure to foods (other than the seed-only diet typically fed to pet-store birds) creates birds who readily accept a varied diet that will increase health and longevity. Please read our Budgie Parakeet feeding recommendations and sprouting directions for details.

We “abundance wean” our babies which means that rather than arbitrarily pick a convenient date and rush it, we allow them to tell us when they’re done with our supplemental formula feedings from a syringe and ready to eat 100% on their own. Typically our babies are ready to go to their new homes when they are 6-8 weeks of age.

One, Two, Or More?

Budgie parakeets are highly social animals and crave companionship.

A solo budgie is a depressed budgie. So unless you can spend hours every day keeping one bird company then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND MORE THAN ONE. Some people worry that if they keep more than one budgie, the birds won’t bond with them. But consider this: wild budgies are social flock animals who live in large communities — they have lots of friends! As long as you spend ample time with them, they will consider you a part of their flock family and bond with you as well. Two or more budgies can come out of their cage and play with you, then keep each other company when they have to go back ‘home’ to their cage. And watching budgies interact with one another is VERY entertaining — it’s one of the highlights of budgie keeping! Without exception (that I can recall), everyone who has adopted one budgie has soon come to the conclusion that two would have been better.

Available Parakeets and Budgies for Sale:

Our sweet, hand-fed, family-raised and socialized baby budgies are selectively bred for temperament. You aren’t likely to find parakeets like ours at a pet store (where they obtain their birds from large commercial production “bird mills”). This puts our babies in high demand — they are typically reserved well before they are born. Please visit our Adoption Waiting List for timely updates and prices. On that page, we also post information on adults available now.

Our Adoption Procedure:

1. Respond to our pre-adoption questionnaire.
2. Email your responses to: Jen @ puppies are prozac . com (remove all spaces in the address first).
3. Upon approval of your questionnaire responses, I will add your name to the waiting list.
4. As soon as we have 3-week-old chicks in the brooder, I will email you (in the order of your waiting list date) and ask you to send a $15 (each) non-refundable deposit to reserve your hand-fed baby.
5. While you’re waiting for your parakeet(s) to be handfed and then weaned onto solid foods, please read our parakeet care information page, prepare a cage with the specifications outlined on that page, and purchase some appropriate food.
6. Most parakeets are weaned and ready to move to new homes when they are 6-8 weeks old. Sorry, no shipping. Pick up is in Fort Collins, Colorado.

A very content 6 week old grey-green cinnamon-wing English budgie.

Our Lifetime Commitment!

We commit to the well-being of the birds we raise. Should you ever need to re-home a budgie parakeet that you bought from us, we will take it back, no questions asked. We’ll even refund 20% of your purchase price!

How long does the laying, hatching, hand-feeding and weaning process take?

Tiny, pink babies hatch from tiny eggs. We let momma bird feed them in the nest for the first 3 weeks, then we take over with around-the-clock handfeeding so they grow up tame, tame, tame!

Once a breeding pair is placed together in a separate flight cage with an attached nest box, they typically spend 2-3 weeks bonding, then mating, before the first egg is laid. The hen (momma parakeet) lays one egg every-other-day until she has 2-8 eggs in her clutch (4-6 is typical). She incubates the eggs (lays on them to keep them warm) for 18-21 days until they hatch.

We let the hen feed her tiny hatchlings for the first 3 weeks so they get a good dose of the immunities found in the hen’s crop milk. Then we remove the babies from the nest box, place them in a temperature controlled brooder, and give them round-the-clock hand-feedings, care and affection for another 3 to 5 weeks. Therefore, assuming all goes well, we have tame babies weaned and ready for new homes 12-15 weeks after the breeding pair is put together (9-10 weeks after eggs are laid).

More Budgie Parakeet Pages:

Hand-fed Budgies and Parakeets available in Colorado!: Our family raises, hand-feeds, trains and adores Budgie Parakeets. Learn more about our selective breeding program and view our gorgeous, tame birds.

Inside Our Aviary: See where our birds live — flight enclosures, breeding room, play gyms.

Our Flock of Adult Budgie Parakeets: Take a peek at our gorgeous feathered friends. Lots of photos!

Adorable Pictures of Our Hand-fed Babies: Come ooh and aahh over all the cuteness and watch them grow up!

Pre-Adoption Questionnaire: If you are interested in adopting one (or more) of our parakeets when they become available, please respond to these questions.

Budgie Baby Waiting List: I know how hard it is to wait when you’re excited but I promise you, the wait is worth it!

FAQ (frequently asked questions): What is a Budgie Parakeet’s personality like? What are the differences between American Parakeets and English Budgies? How do you tell a male from a female? Should you keep one, two or more? How long do they live? Where did the species originate?

How To Care For Your Pet Budgie Parakeet: Learn about housing, cages, homemade aviaries, cleaning tips, health, safety, nutrition, exercise, playtime activities, toys, and more.

Bird Nutrition and Food Recommendations: Malnourishment is a leading cause of premature death in pet birds. We provide lists of healthy foods, and tell you how to grow your own sprouts.

Training, Talking, Tricks: Entertaining video demonstrations and informative tips.

Colors, Varieties, Mutations, Genetics: Budgie Parakeets come in a rainbow of colors. This page has beautiful photos and variety descriptions.

Bird and Parrot Playgyms, Stands and Perches for Sale: Learn how to make your own — or order a custom one from us.

Homemade Aviaries and Flight Cages: How to converted used furniture into large flight cages and beautiful indoor aviaries.

Hand-Fed Baby Budgies and Parakeets — Our Adoption Procedure:

1. Respond to our pre-adoption questionnaire.
2. Email your responses to: Jen @ puppies are prozac . com (remove all spaces in the address first).
3. Upon approval of your questionnaire responses, I will add your name to the waiting list.
4. As soon as we have 3 week old chicks in the brooder for hand-feeding, I will email you (in the order of your waiting list date) and request a $15 (each chick) non-refundable deposit to reserve your hand-fed baby.
5. While you’re waiting for your parakeet(s) to be hand-fed then weaned onto solid foods, please read our parakeet care information page, prepare a cage with the specifications outlined on that page, and purchase some appropriate budgie parakeet food.
6. Most parakeets are weaned and ready to move to new homes when they are 6-8 weeks of age. Sorry, no shipping. Pick up is in Fort Collins, Colorado.