The Complete Guide to Raising Pet Birds for Profit: The Greatest Backyard Business Ever

Rating:
Summary: Great information, very complete
Review: A very well written book that will hold your interest so much that you will find it hard to put down. Very thorough, with step by step instructions on breeding, feeding, housing, and marketing of parakeets, cockatiels, lovebirds and finches, either as a hobby or commercially. The most complete book of its kind.

Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read in awhile !
Review: After leaving a 20 year career with the government, I was hoping to find something more creative. While looking for information on buying a pet bird for my daughter , I happened across not only a great book about birds but also a new career. Although I will be starting at the hobby level at first , with the straight forward advice and information in this book I really feel I can expand this to any level. This book reflects 25 years of some one elses hard work and experience. Not only did I find the information on raising birds fascinating but there is a wealth of knowledge for anyone looking to start their own business.

Rating:
Summary: An exceptional book packed to the brim with worthwhile tips.
Review: Aside from the occasional typo or grammatical error, I found this to be the best of its type since Wendell Levi's Making Pigeons Pay. In some ways, in fact, this book is superior in scope to Levi's.

A great deal of the book is oriented to pet bird wholesaling. There also are well-written chapters for each of the top sellers - parakeets, cockatiels, finches and love birds. I found each of the bird breeding-specific chapters to be helpful, although further details should be included in a future edition.

I am hopeful the author, or another capable writer with experience, will soon issue a similar book for the more lucrative Parrots, Macaws, and so forth.

I further also hope somebody with experience will soon offer books for the other pet trade groupings - reptiles; marsupials, rodents, and so forth.

Hmmm...perhaps Breaking Free can do so and can then publish an Encyclopedia of Pets & Exotic Animals? Guess what...it is now in preparation and completion is scheduled on 1 September 2005. Interested parties should email LJ at ljsbreakingfree dot com.

We at LJ's Breaking Free intend to list this book for readers for it truly is one of those gems that people can use to find their freedom from corporate wage-slavery.

We also shall be seeking the publisher/author's permission for e-Book rights. In time, this book should be at the top of our best seller list - Bill Anderson, (LJ), Breaking Free.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book on raising small birds
Review: I was looking for a secondary income when I ran across this book. I found that the pet business is a huge business that I had never really thought about. I have always loved birds and animals and this book had the information that I needed to get started with a small business of my own. After reading the book through twice, I knew this was something that I would enjoy doing. I located a wholesale buyer in my area who agreed to buy my production. The book is well written, very interesting, and easy to understand. After reading the book you can clearly see that the author is an animal lover and is very much interested in the welfare of the birds, since he discourages anyone from entering this business solely for the financial rewards. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to breed the smaller types of pet birds, either for fun or as a small business.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book includes a lot of information that would take the average person years to learn. Not only does it cover breeding various species of birds, but it covers different ways of marketing them as well. It even covers shipping birds via the airlines, which opens up larger markets for most people. If you enjoy birds and are considering turning your hobby into a small business, this book is a must have.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have Book if You Are Considering Breeding Small Birds
Review: This book is full of information on the breeding and raising of parakeets, cockatiels, lovebirds and finches and includes several chapters on the marketing of pet birds, including how to ship birds via the airlines. It covers in detail both cage and colony breeding methods. It is essential reading if you are considering raising pet birds, and should be read cover to cover several times to absorb the information before you begin. Although I have raised birds for several years and consider myself an experienced breeder, I found much information in the book that I can use to make my small operation more efficient and profitable. For the beginner or the experienced, this book is extremely valuable and will enable one to benefit from McDonald's years of experience with exotic birds. He is quick to point out that while raising pet birds can be a profitable business or hobby, that a person must truly love and enjoy animals if they are to succeed in this business. There is no room for doubt that James McDonald is a true animal lover and puts the welfare of animals at the top of the list. In the closing part of the book he makes references to biblical scriptures, pointing to the fact that we all have a moral responsibility and obligation to the ethical and humane treatment of our animals. I recommend this book for the hobbyist as well as for the serious breeder of pet birds.