About Silver Cloud Aviary

Silver Cloud Aviary is a family-owned aviary. Lia and Richard, with help from his Stepson Robert, operate SCA, and have been involved with raising birds since 1990. We owned our first large bird Casey a Congo African Grey in 1985. We currently raise African Greys (TAGs and CAGs), Cockatiels, Conures; including Green Cheek (GCC), Pineapple and Suns, SI Eclectus, and Western Rosellas

Lia is a stay at home mom so that she can spend plenty of time cooking and baking for the birds. This also allows her time to play with and socialize the babies. We have converted 1/2 of our home into different breeding rooms, a nursery, supply storage and of course a seperate hospital/quarantine area. We have a special playpen set up for our weaning birds to have some fun and get plenty of exercise.

We use Manzanita wood limbs as our main perches because this is a very hard wood. These allow for good foot exercise and development due to the difference in sizes of the wood. In addition to the Manzanita perches, we use calcium perches so that the birds can maintain their beaks and toe nails, and get additional calcium; rope perches for when they want to have a soft place to sit; and other types of wood because they are a good wood for them to exercise their feet, their beaks, to peel, chew and gnaw at; and of course the old stand by - the dowel, we use these because birds love to chew and this is a chew toy that is easily replaced. The way we look at it is that we don't want to sit in the same chair 24 hours a day, we don't feel our birds want to sit on the same type of perch all day.

We make the majority of our bird's toys, including millet and greens holders, nut rings (usually almonds for the larger birds), moppies, chewables, plastic chain bunches, wiffle balls laced with leather and beads, foraging toys, foot toys, muffin flowers, and toys similar to those you see in the pet stores. We feel it is important for the birds to be stimulated with many different types of entertainment. Afterall, you wouldn't put a toddler in a room with no toys and nothing to do!

Our handfeed babies are abundance weaned. We feel abundance weaning is the most effective way to introduce baby birds to new foods. As soon as we see them start peeking/picking at the surface they walk on we start introducing foods. They get bowls of seeds, pellets, sprouts, veggies and fruit. They do not start eating these foods immediately, they play with them a lot at first. After a while they start eating the foods we have provided and less of the handfeeding formula. There is no cut off date on the day we stop feeding formula; each bird is different and we allow them to let us know when they don't need it anymore. It is very common for us to have older baby birds take one or two bites of formula and they are ready to go back to their home and eat some adult food. We will not sell an unweaned baby so please don't even ask.

We teach all of our babies to step up and the command off. We feel that these are two essential commands for all companion birds to learn. Once they have these learned we feel it is easier to teach them other things. All of our babies get used to the daily sounds in a household so that they don't get frightened and bite or fly off. They are introduced to the sounds of the vacuum, cats, a dog, telephones, and television to name a few. We also make sure that they get used to brooms, fast hand motions, and misting with a spray bottle.

We make sure to towel the birds occasionally so that they will get used to it and not be afraid of it. During this training we also play with their wings and feet to make it less traumatic when they need their nails trimmed or have to visit the vet.

Our weaned birds are fed a daily diet of natural pellets, a homemade mixture of seeds, fresh fruits, dried fruits (sulphur free), and vegetables. We also alternate birdie breads, sprouted seeds, and rice or pasta daily, which provides them with additional nutrients and a variety of foods and textures.

We love all kinds of birds, and animals. We have established our backyard, and a wetlands area behind it that fronts on a river, as a National Wildlife Habitat. We have a large number of bird houses (20+ at last count), Owl houses, Bat houses, 8 different bird feeders, natural food sources, natural cover and hiding places. We have been rewarded with several dozen Goldfinches that flock to several special finch feeders just outside of the Family Room windows,that brighten our Springs and Summers. We have also been visited by Cardinals, Chickadees, Hummingbirds, Junkos, Robins, Starlings, Titmouse, Orioles, Woodpeckers, Rabbits and Deer.