A lot of America’s pet parrots and parakeets come from factory-style “hen mills,” new investigation finds

[ad_1] Statistically talking, a whole lot of your neighbors most likely have a dog or cat . However there’s a good likelihood that there are not less than a number of parrots in your neighborhood, too: About one in 20 US households owns not less than one pet hen.

There’s the favored parakeet, a small parrot native to Australia and different areas south of the equator; there are the cockatiels, who seem to have perpetual bed-head, with a tuft of feathers springing from their brow; and a various solid of different parrot species: macaws, lovebirds, amazons, conures, African Greys, cockatoos, and plenty of extra.

The US is dwelling to an estimated 13 million pet birds, most of whom are species of parrots. Their homeowners might love them, however holding them as pets raises quite a lot of moral questions since they spend all or most of their lives in a cage, unable to fly or have interaction in different pure behaviors, generally leading to indicators of stress and bodily points. And lots of are bred in inhumane situations. A brand new undercover investigation into three “hen mills” — high-volume, large-scale operations that breed birds for the retail pet market — reveals birds in small, unclean cages, and quite a few extreme welfare issues. Some specialists now wish to ban pet shops from promoting parrots and urge animal lovers to keep away from shopping for birds as pets sooner or later. Some 13 million birds are saved as pets in the US, making them the fourth hottest sort of pet and a large share of the broader unique pet market, which additionally consists of fish, lizards, snakes, chinchillas, and frogs. Cats and canines might get a lot of the consideration, however these smaller, extra wild animals account for round 40 % of the US pet inhabitants.

As cute as they could be, nevertheless, quite a lot of animal behaviorists, veterinarians, and ethicists are challenging the practice of holding these smaller species as pets.

For one, they’re largely wild, undomesticated animals, who’ve advanced to thrive in wealthy and sometimes huge habitats in nature. However as pets, they spend all or most of their life confined in a small cage or tank. Add to that the truth that homeowners typically aren’t properly outfitted to offer the enrichment and individualized care these animals want, and holding them as pets turns into rather more ethically thorny than it in any other case may seem.

The harms of hen possession stand out probably the most, if just for the stark cause that in captivity, pet birds can’t do what thousands and thousands of years of evolution has propelled them to do: fly. And given their advanced cognitive capacities , captivity is probably going notably aggravating for them — and exacerbated when saved alone, contemplating that many are extremely social.

Liz Cabrera Holtz of the animal advocacy nonprofit World Animal Safety put it bluntly: ”These are wild animals whose bodily and psychological wants usually are not even near being met.”

However even earlier than they’re purchased as pets, the enterprise of bringing the vast majority of these animals into the world typically includes critical hurt and neglect. A brand new investigation means that this is perhaps widespread once they come from “ bird mills ” — high-volume, large-scale operations that breed birds for the retail pet market.

Final yr, a prolific animal cruelty investigator who goes by the pseudonym Pete Paxton, because of the clandestine nature of his work, toured and covertly filmed a number of US hen mills and shared his investigation solely with Vox. He discovered soiled situations, 1000's of birds stuffed in cages, and alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act, a federal regulation that units minimal welfare requirements for among the pet breeding trade.

Over the course of his profession, Paxton has investigated some 300 manufacturing unit farms and slaughterhouses, and greater than 1,000 pet mills. He has seen animals crushed, starved, hanged, and shocked. Even so, he was nonetheless stunned by what he noticed within the hen breeding operations. “I didn't count on it to be as unhealthy because it was,” Paxton informed me about his new investigation , which has been shared solely with Vox and is among the first such exposés of the trade that provides pet birds to thousands and thousands of American properties.

Paxton’s investigation started final spring in South Texas, simply 20 miles north of the Mexico border. He was there to go to a hen breeding operation referred to as Fancy Parrots, which has greater than 3,000 parrots of assorted species on web site, together with African Greys, macaws, and cockatoos, locked in rusting cages throughout 17 barns. (The descriptions of Fancy Parrots and the opposite services under come from Paxton’s investigation video.)

It was “very loud — a number of birds calling out to us,” Paxton stated, evaluating them to pet mills he’s visited, the air filled with hen screeches as a substitute of canine barks.

On a tour of the power, Paxton was informed that a number of years in the past, some 20 birds died throughout a chilly snap. The barns every had a roof however no sides, which meant they might get some contemporary air and daylight, nevertheless it additionally meant they had been weak to climate extremes not discovered of their native habitats.

Among the birds had plucked a few of their feathers out, which Alix Wilson, an unique pet veterinarian, informed me is irregular. “Birds of their pure atmosphere wouldn’t try this as a result of their feathers are so important for survival,” Wilson stated.

The explanations for feather-plucking are sometimes behavioral in nature, Wilson stated, attributable to boredom, stress, or sexual frustration from the lack to mate, although it will also be introduced on by disease or poor diet , in keeping with UC Davis Faculty of Veterinary Medication.

At hen mills, bigger parrots are caged as mating pairs, and parakeets are caged in teams. The birds first mate within the spring, and per week or so after mating, the feminine will lay a clutch of about two to 6 eggs. The eggs of bigger parrots are usually taken away and positioned in synthetic incubators, which might set off the females to put extra eggs. After the chicks hatch, they’re reared both by people or grownup parrots.

Finally, the juvenile birds are bought, often at a number of months of age, for hundreds to thousands of dollars every.

About 20 years in the past, Wilson briefly labored at a parrot mill. “I rapidly grew to become conscious of the problems of simply confining these animals and simply principally breeding [them] for revenue,” Wilson informed me. These points included combating, which resulted in wounds and lacking eyes and toes; resource-guarding (some birds holding different birds away from meals); parent-chick separation, both instantly after start or post-weaning; and cramming birds into crates for long-distance transportation to pet shops.

Chicken breeders are legally required to provide enrichment for his or her birds, resembling perches, swings, mirrors, and different objects the birds can manipulate to specific pure behaviors. Fancy Parrots does present perches, however when Paxton requested about different enrichment, he was informed that the US Division of Agriculture “wished toys in all of the cages; how silly.” They'd recommended to the USDA inspector that they might give the parrots bamboo, which the birds prefer to chew on, although Paxton didn’t see any.

Fancy Parrots declined an interview request for this story.

Throughout the tour, Paxton was informed that Fancy Parrots provides to a “Petco distributor.” Petco declined an interview request for this story, although a spokesperson stated over electronic mail that “Fancy Parrots shouldn't be nor has ever been a Petco vendor.”

This can be true. However it is usually doable Petco does promote birds from Fancy Parrots, which underscores a serious subject in monitoring unique pets in the US.

Breeders usually don’t market their juvenile birds on to massive retailers like Petco. As an alternative, the animals first get bought by middleman operations referred to as brokers. The “Petco distributor” may properly be a dealer that Fancy Parrots sells to, which then sells to Petco. (Petco didn't reply to follow-up questions on whether or not it'd not directly supply birds, by way of a dealer, from Fancy Parrots.)

Months after visiting Fancy Parrots, Paxton headed to Central Oklahoma, the place he toured an enormous parakeet breeding operation about 70 miles east of downtown Oklahoma Metropolis owned by a household named the Pletts. There, he discovered rows and rows of tiny cages stacked atop each other, every filled with birds, totaling some 7,500 animals. Among the cages had been caked in feces.

The parakeet mill, he stated, reminded him of egg-producing operations, the place chickens are crammed into stacked cages — “manufacturing unit farm-like,” Paxton stated.

Paxton documented a pile of lifeless parakeets and severed physique components in a trash can, together with one lifeless hen positioned headfirst right into a pink Solo cup.

<img alt="" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-8.46.42%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=8.0235602094241%2C0%2C83.952879581152%2C100&w=2400"/> Rows and rows of stacked cages at one of many parakeet breeding operations. SEED/World Animal Safety

<img alt="" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Screenshot-2025-09-22-at-9.32.51%E2%80%AFAM-1.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.9890167364017%2C0%2C84.021966527197%2C100&w=2400"/> An Amazon parrot and a cockatoo parrot have a look at one another from separate cages. SEED/World Animal Safety

One of many homeowners is heard saying on the video that some birds peck at one another, which causes accidents, and he can’t promote those which might be pecked at. These ones are killed, the person explains, by suffocating them in luggage.

“There are at all times some lifeless,” the person is heard saying. “All the time.”

The proprietor of the power didn’t reply to a number of requests for an interview.

Paxton visited one other parakeet breeder in Oklahoma, some 60 miles farther east, run by relations of the Pletts. The operation had two barns holding 1,500 birds complete. In a single barn, the birds allegedly had no perches or enrichment of any form, that are required by the Animal Welfare Act. Paxton additionally discovered a number of lifeless, featherless chicks decomposing atop cages.

“Each services had been filthy, with each floor I may see being dusty, soiled, and in some instances piled with manure and outdated feed,” Paxton stated.

In 2024, an inspector with the USDA, which enforces the Animal Welfare Act, found at least six birds on the operation confirmed indicators of warmth stress, after the barn temperature had reached 93.4 levels Fahrenheit with a warmth index of 110.7. On the time, additionally they discovered not less than six lifeless birds.

The USDA categorised it as a “direct” violation of the Animal Welfare Act, however solely issued an official warning — which amounts to a slap on the wrist — somewhat than a license suspension or perhaps a nominal advantageous.

When reached by telephone, one of many homeowners of the operation answered however didn't reply to requests for remark.

As horrible because the situations had been, they could be typical of how most soon-to-be pet birds are reared within the US, somewhat than exceptions.

“These hen mills I filmed usually are not outliers,” Paxton stated in his investigation video. “All the locations that I went to are USDA-licensed, authorities regulated. Primarily, these locations are working legally and [largely] in compliance, so in the case of hen mills…that’s nearly as good as a spot can get.”

Paxton investigated the hen mills on behalf of the nonprofits World Animal Safety and Methods for Moral and Environmental Growth. (Disclosure: In 2024, my companion labored on a short-term consulting challenge for the latter group.)

Past captive breeding, some birds that wind up in US properties have been taken straight from the wild, in keeping with a new analysis by the nonprofit Heart for Organic Variety utilizing federal authorities information. From 2016 to 2024, the US imported greater than 37,000 birds on common annually, with 5 % of them — 1,865 birds — plucked from the wild. It’s a small share, however the true quantity may properly be a lot greater, because it’s not unusual within the unique pet commerce for importers to launder wild-caught animals by way of captive-bred operations and mislabel them.

It’s unknown what number of birds are captive-bred within the US, as neither the pet trade nor the federal authorities publish information on pet breeding.

Paxton’s investigation reveals a paradox within the unique pet commerce. Surveys present that folks purchase parrots largely as a result of they’re “enjoyable to observe” and have at dwelling, given their unique appears, intelligence, sociability, and a few species’ functionality for human-like speech. However parrot homeowners are additionally extremely motivated, surveys present, to purchase a hen for companionship, love, and affection. And but, they’re purchased from companies that ceaselessly deal with them with simply the alternative.

The various issues with holding birds as pets

Even when pet homeowners have the perfect of intentions, among the similar welfare points discovered at breeders persist when the birds are taken dwelling. Probably the most urgent and apparent one is captivity, because it places the animals in an unnatural atmosphere and prevents them from participating in primary pure behaviors.

“The cages within the [investigation] video — that’s the identical measurement cage that folks put a hen in of their home,” Wilson, the veterinarian, stated. Some birds could also be saved in greater cages — and plenty of are supplied with a good period of time exterior their cage, and even free reign of a room or total dwelling — however they’re nonetheless captive all the identical, and disadvantaged of significant flight. It’s common for parrot owners to clip or trim their animals’ wings to restrict their flight functionality to be able to forestall escape or damage from, say, flying right into a ceiling fan.

<img alt="A lovebird in a small cage in an apartment. " data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/GettyImages-659073994_568d8f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> A lovebird at a house in New York Metropolis. Zach Hyman/Patrick McMullan by way of Getty Pictures

Caging is “a setup for issues,” Wilson stated. One other a type of issues is unhygienic situations.

“If you happen to confine a hen, they’re simply very messy — they poop loads, and once they eat, they make a large number, and so it doesn’t take a lot for the birds to finish up in a extremely filthy atmosphere,” Wilson stated, not not like what Paxton noticed on the hen mills. In a survey, pet hen homeowners rated “normal clear up” because the main disadvantage to having a hen.

One other is the sedentary way of life imposed by captivity, which — particularly when mixed with diets excessive in fatty nuts and seeds — can result in weight problems, Wilson stated. It’s widespread amongst pet birds, and it makes them more likely to develop arthritis, coronary heart illness, and different situations.

Feather plucking and different self-destructive behaviors are widespread amongst pet birds, too, with estimates of it afflicting some 10 to 17.5 % of those animals, suggesting normal misery.

Parrots’ excessive intelligence may worsen the harms of captivity. A 2021 examine discovered that the larger a captive bird’s brain , the extra doubtless they had been to develop behaviors that point out stress, resembling irregular and repetitive pacing and cage bar biting.

Different points embrace lack of enrichment and entry to veterinary care, and hen homeowners’ lack of expertise about what their pet wants.

Even probably the most devoted hen homeowners, Wilson stated — those who're with their birds across the clock, who don’t go on trip, and who even cook dinner for them — will fall brief: “There’s no approach anybody may moderately present good welfare to these animals in captivity.”

<img alt="Juliet, a rescued macaw, who lives at the Foster Parrots animal sanctuary in Rhode Island." data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Foster-Parrots-Juliet.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> Juliet, a rescued macaw, who lives on the Foster Parrots animal sanctuary in Rhode Island. Foster Parrots

And lots of hen homeowners, she stated, aren’t ready for these animals’ lengthy lifespans: Some well-liked parrot species can reside as much as 50 years or longer. Lengthy-lived pet species — parrots, but in addition some turtles and snakes — typically find yourself shuffled round to totally different properties or to underfunded animal sanctuaries when their proprietor dies, divorces, strikes, or can now not cope with the problem of holding them as pets.

Few perceive this higher than Karen Windsor, the manager director of Foster Parrots and the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary , a Rhode Island-based animal sanctuary. Windsor informed me that lots of people fall for these birds after seeing movies of parrots who appear to speak so conversantly with their homeowners. However not all parrots speak or prefer to be cuddled or dealt with, she stated. Some are really loud , harmful, or aggressive. That results in a whole lot of disenchanted and determined parrot homeowners asking sanctuaries like Windsor’s to take them in, however many don’t have the area and assets to accommodate most requests.

“We’re nonetheless coping with birds that had been bred within the ’70s and ’80s — they’re nonetheless within the system,” Judy Tennant, govt director of the rescue group Parrot Companions Canada, not too long ago told CTV Information. And the trade is “nonetheless pumping out new birds,” Tennant stated.

What to do about America’s thousands and thousands of unique pet birds

If it’s not possible to fulfill birds’ advanced wants in captivity, then there’s just one logical conclusion: We should always cease breeding them. However breaking the pet hen behavior is perhaps simpler stated than executed.

Holding parrots as pets was largely a distinct segment pastime in the US and Europe up till the Seventies, when curiosity started to surge. Bird ownership has declined a bit in current a long time, although thousands and thousands of People are nonetheless dazzled sufficient by their hanging colours and excessive intelligence and sociability to purchase one — and tens of thousands and thousands extra look on by way of short-form movies on TikTok and past.

So how can we begin to shift away from hen possession?

We may begin by making their buy a bit tougher. A whole bunch of US jurisdictions — largely cities and counties but in addition some states — have banned pet shops from promoting cats, canines, and generally rabbits, as a substitute solely permitting adoption, although none of those legal guidelines have but included birds. World Animal Safety, the animal advocacy nonprofit concerned in Paxton’s investigation, is advocating for that to vary, and if profitable, it may make a significant impression; nationally, greater than half of all pet birds are at the moment bought from pet shops.

Sources for extra accountable pet hen possession

Federal motion is required, too. For many years, hen breeding operations had been exempt from the Animal Welfare Act, which implies they weren’t inspected by the USDA for potential welfare violations. That changed a pair years in the past. The transfer represents progress, however the USDA’s enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act has long been terrible . Enhancing it might assist, and so would congressional motion that requires all hen breeders be topic to inspection. At present, smaller operations — those who promote fewer than 200 small birds yearly, or eight bigger birds yearly — are exempt.

The pet trade in addition to the pet hen holding neighborhood may additionally step up extra. For the thousands and thousands of American households that have already got a pet hen, they may give their animals nearly as good of a life as doable. That will seem like offering ample enrichment, enough veterinary care, and balanced and numerous diets; a big cage and loads of trip of it; studying extensively about their hen’s pure behaviors and desires; and paying shut consideration to their birds’ cues in the case of dealing with, interplay, and trip of the cage or outside.

For these nonetheless in search of to get a pet hen, they need to undertake as a substitute of store.

Extra basically, in keeping with Paxton, the investigator, avowed animal lovers can channel that love into extra altruistic endeavors.

“If you wish to purchase a hen as a pet, the very first thing I'd say is, ‘I like that you just love animals, that’s implausible,’” he says in his investigation video. “However since you like animals, do one thing that’s going to assist them…you might volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary, or at a hen rescue. You are able to do one thing so on the finish of the day, you realize you've been a part of the answer.”

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