Parakeets in a cage. A man handed over his dad's 836 parakeets to the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) in Detroit, Michigan, after they were kept in one room.
Some of the birds handed over are babies which still need to be hand-fed (Picture: DAWG)

A man in the US kept more than 800 parakeets stuffed into one room while he was trying to breed them.

Workers and volunteers at the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) in Michigan spent their Christmas weekend feeding, grooming and caring for almost 1,000 mistreated birds.

Their owner’s son brought 497 parakeets into the rescue centre on December 23 before surrendering another 339 on Boxing Day – 836 in total.

The son, who has not been named, said his dad had planned to breed just a handful of birds but ended up spending $1,200 (£890) a month on them, according to local media.

When the birds arrived, they were all crammed together into cages, ‘barely moving’. DAWG had to arrange them into cages where they had enough space.

Some of the baby birds need to be hand-fed by volunteers because they have no parents to feed them.

Birds separated into three cages. A man handed over his dad's 836 parakeets to the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) in Detroit, Michigan, after they were kept in one room.
All 836 birds were stuffed into several cages and had to be separated by volunteers (Picture: DAWG)
A volunteer's hand holding a baby bird. A man handed over his dad's 836 parakeets to the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) in Detroit, Michigan, after they were kept in one room.
DAWG had to call on several other bird organisations to help feed the baby birds (Picture: DAWG)
Baby parakeet in a volunteer's hand. A man handed over his dad's 836 parakeets to the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) in Detroit, Michigan, after they were kept in one room.
Once the birds have been assessed and treated by a vet, they will be put up for adoption (Picture: DAWG)

Once the parakeets have been looked at and treated by a vet, they will be up for adoption to go to safe, healthy homes.

The animal lovers could not handle all 836 birds on their own so they called on the help of a few bird rescues.

This included Jojo’s Flying Friends, which took on more than 100 parakeets and the babies which needed hand feeding.

Volunteers have set up fundraisers and asked for bird food donations to help them care for the animals.

DAWG said: ‘These birds came from a very unhealthy situation and the irresponsibility of the owner is infuriating, however it truly takes a village to help these animals and we are so thankful for everyone that works together to get them the care and proper homes they deserve.’

The group went on to remind people considering bird adoption that owning an animal is a six- to 15-year commitment.

It added: ‘They require not only food, water and daily cage cleaning but also daily interaction, enrichment and flight time.

‘As any pet, they should be part of the family. Please know that birds are vocal and can be noisy and messy.’

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