Do you think breeders of birds like parakeets inbreed a lot?
I think some of them must. I have had 3 parakeets and all of them have had some sort of problems. They are otherwise healthy birds and live pretty happy lives, but I really wonder because of the congenital defects they have.
My pair that I have now, the boy bird is very tiny and missing one claw, like it never grew, ever. He has a little less grip when landing because of that, but he is otherwise fine.
The girl's feathers on one wing don't fold correctly and she can't fly very well at all. She can't get more than a few inches off the ground and to get back into the cage she has to climb up on the couch so she is on the same level with it, sometimes she still doesn't make it the first time.
It just really makes me wonder if the breeders don't get birds from elsewhere often enough and they are just getting little defects from inbreeding.
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