The Time Is Right To Consider Raising Pet Birds By James McDonald

Whether they admit it or not, most people have a dream in life, although a good majority of them never get to live their dream. While some may dream of becoming corporate executives or barons on Wall Street, others have dreams of living a less demanding, simpler lifestyle.             I find more and more people today questioning the rat race and hectic life that often comes with living in a large city, and dreaming of moving to rural America.             However, with that dream comes another thought. The need to exist. What will I do for a living? How will I provide for my family?             If we are honest with ourselves, none of us dream of living in poverty in order to live a simpler, more meaningful lifestyle, although most of us know that money won't buy happiness, either.             I was fortunate to have been raised in a rural part of Texas, and I suppose that it was my dream to remain there. I had absolutely no desire to live in a big city. Did that mean that I was not an ambitious person? I don't think so.             In fact, in time I had many city dwelling friends who eventually came to envy my rural lifestyle. They just didn't think they could make a living in the country, or they thought that if they could, they would need hundreds of acres of land in order to make a comfortable living.             If you happen to be one that dreams of living a more simple, meaningful life and balancing your time between work and family, then I would like to share my story with you.             First, I would like to stress that raising pet birds is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and should never be mistaken for such. It is, however, a little known but proven business (it has been around since the early 1900's) that has enabled many people to make a substantial income from a very small piece of property.

I know people who actually make a good living in their backyard in the pet bird business, as well as many retirees, stay at home moms and others who supplement their yearly income in this business. In the event you have already found fulfillment in your life, perhaps you can pass this copy of "American Small Farm" magazine on to someone else you feel might benefit. It could change their life.             In 1974, my wife and I were both working at public jobs. We had been married for several years and knew that at some point, we would like to have a family, and both of us wanted her to be able to stay at home and raise the kids. However, my job alone would not provide adequate income, so we desperately needed her income if we were to have the additional expense of raising a family.              I began to look for things that she could do at home to supplement our income, but it seemed like virtually everything I researched was in some way a type of a scam or a rip-off, as someone always wanted to sell me a bill of goods of some description.             I knew of two different people in my area that were raising parakeets in small buildings in their backyard. Both had been doing it for a number of years and appeared to me to be doing well at it, since they had expanded during that time.              A visit with them was encouraging, and after several months of serious research, we decided that it was in fact a legitimate business, and being animal lovers, we thought it would not only be profitable, but also fun. We started our bird business on a part time basis in our backyard in 1975 with a small 12x18-ft. building that I built myself. Continued on page 2