Sunday, March 27, 2011
Crazy K Farm Offers New Avian Haven Hut Sizes, Gives Back to The Alex Foundation
Dr. Tobi Kosanke came up with her unique patent-pending invention about seven years ago. Her goal was to give parrots, other caged birds, and their owners some much needed peace. Because parrots require a place of privacy within their cases and at least 12 hours of undisturbed sleep in their natural perching position, she wanted to create a place where her own birds could retreat to in peace. Kosanke designed the huts to hang over a bird's existing perch. They have four sides like a human house, and come complete with a chimney and window design on the side. A sign reading "Home Sweet Home" decorates a large, arched doorway. Inside, the hut's back wall is made of thick-pile Sherpa.
The Avian Haven hut
http://www.avianhavenhut.com) is sold online and in retail stores across the country, and will soon be available in four sizes. The two new sizes, Extra Small for smaller birds with smaller cages, and Extra Large for larger parrots such as macaws and cockatoos, will complement the existing Small and Large sizes. All sizes of the Avian Haven hut come in two colors: brown and green. Customer demand and success are the driving forces behind the company's increased offerings.
"The success of my woman-owned business comes with the responsibility to give back to the community, specifically other women," Kosanke said. "Starting in April with the arrival of the two additional sizes, a percentage of the profit from sales of the Avian Haven hut will be used to support Dr. Irene Pepperberg's Alex Foundation."
Dr. Pepperberg has worked to establish the cognitive and communicative abilities of parrots as intelligent beings. Her findings are used to encourage the responsible ownership of parrots, conservation and preservation of parrots in the wild, and veterinary research into the psychological diseases and care of these birds.
"Our familiarity with Alex and Dr. Pepperberg's work with him through her books, 'The Alex Studies' and 'Alex and Me' motivated us to rescue our first parrot; and Giselle, our African Grey, later became the inspiration behind our Avian Haven hut," Kosanke said. "Without the influence of Dr. Pepperberg and Alex (who, sadly, passed away in 2007), there would be no Avian Haven hut."
Kosanke shares Dr. Pepperberg's love of research. The former oil patch research geologist, who once developed pet products as a hobby, found herself in business last year when she was faced with needing the funds to feed and care for them. She owns a working farm in Texas with 200 animals, nearly all of them rescues, including three of the four parrots.
"Over the years my main hobby had been creating products to improve the quality of my animals' lives," Kosanke said. "When covering their feed and medical bills while staying home to care for my special needs daughter became impossible, I was inspired to form Crazy K Farm Pet and Poultry Products, LLC to manufacture and market my unique, patent-pending inventions."
Crazy K Farm
http://www.crazykfarm.com) has quickly grown from its humble origins as a manufacturer of pre-paid, made-to-order items sold solely via Kosanke's personal eBay account, to her products being manufactured by the tens of thousands and sold in stores across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Crazy K Farm was also a 2009 StartupNation Home-Based 100 Competition double award-winning company.
"The company's growth and success has been tremendous," Kosanke said, "and I am thrilled to be able to donate 10% of the sales from our Avian Haven huts to the very organization that inspired their invention."
For more information or to schedule an interview with Kosanke, please call (717) 676-8327, or send an email to
getnoticed@thewriteplacepr.com. Information about The Alex Foundation can be found online at
http://www.alexfoundation.org ###
About Crazy K Farm
Crazy K Farm® is located in Hempstead, Texas approximately 45 miles northwest of Houston. Chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, goats and sheep are raised on the 35-acre working farm. The majority of the animals are rescues. Crazy K Farm® manufactures quality pet and poultry products including the patents-pending Hen Saver® hen apron, Avian Haven® hut for caged birds and Kitty Holster® cat harness. The company is a member of the Houston Better Business Bureau, and is in the process of becoming a woman-owned business through the Small Business Administration.
About The Alex Foundation
The Alex Foundation is based at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. The goal is to support research that will expand the base of knowledge establishing the cognitive and communicative abilities of parrots as intelligent beings. These findings will be used to encourage the responsible ownership of parrots, conservation and preservation of parrots in the wild, and veterinary research into the psychological diseases and care of these birds. Through these efforts The Alex Foundation, and the memory of Alex, will live on and will accomplish its mission to improve the lives of all parrots worldwide.