Baby Macaw Regurgitating All of His Food

[randyguthrie]

I have a baby blue and gold macaw. I am still hand feeding him. His weight topped out at about 1050g three weeks ago. It went down to abut 1000g and stayed there for two weeks. I just checked him today for the first time in a week and he is only 850g. He has developed a habit of regurgitating his food. At first I figured that if I did not keep him full all the time that he would be more careful with his food, but now I am uncertain about that idea. I give him 200ml of liquid food twice a day. I used to give him that amount three times a day when he was growing and before he started regurgitating without any problems. Can you tell me if I should be doing anything differently?

 

[Safira]

How old is he? I don't have eperiance handfeeding, but that might be helpful.

My B& G is only around 800 grams. She was 700 when I got her at 4 months

 

[randyguthrie]

That is really good to know. I was bulking him up on purpose and maybe this is his body's way of getting back to normal. He was hatched on December 24.

 

[Safira]

I think the average weight of a blue and gold macaw is between 800-1292 grams. Mine is a little on the smaller side though, she's just a smaller bird. Yours is only 2 months old, so I wouldn't expect it to weight what an adult would. But again, I'm not a breeder and have never hand raised a chick. Hopefully someone who has can bring some input.

I also know that most people are going to tell you to consult with a veternarian, which is good advice too.

 

[Pedro]

First it's important to get a health check with your Vet just to make sure there are no fungal infections.

Second i would think that the reason for the throwing up is your bird is wanting to fledge & needs to drop weight in order to get off the ground. If this is the case you should be offering weaning foods & only feed the amount of formula he wants. 200mls of formula seems a lot even for a B&G. I can only imagine that they are approx the size of a Red Tail Black Too, their crops hold a maxium volume of 80 to 100mls so i think the most a B&G would take would be about 140mls per feed.

A little more info on age & whether or not your baby is ready to wean.

 

[Pedro]

OK now i know the age i think there is a problem, this baby should be on 3 feeds a day still & the required volume needs to be fed. Usually when a chick reaches peak that is approx adult weight, then they start to refuse to much formula to get ready to fledge. I don't think your baby is quite ready for that yet. I do think the volume fed is way too much & you risk over stretching the crop. So please be careful there.

The most likely reason for the vomiting is being overfed & his little body is having trouble digesting all that food or he has a crop infection. So it's off to the Vet to have him checked. Don't leave it to long i would make an appointment ASAP, your baby is loosing weight to fast.

 

[JJones1719]

I agree with Pedro, you are feeding too much at one time, stretch out the feeding to 3-4 times a day as needed. You should be able to see the crop balloon out when full, then stop. do not over feed. Having your Macaw vet checked is not a bad idea. Thanks Joe

 

[merlinsmom13]

Guys, check out this link https://www.facebook.com/aeamc/posts/263677067032730

This is either a troll or someone who may be experimenting on parrots

 

[Safira]

That is disgusting.

 

[Enjru]

I'm too scared to click on that link, but it does sound like this person is handrearing for the 1st time, and surely, it is not good practice to handrear without any experience AND without someone with a lot of experience not too far away to be there next to you to show you what to do and give you advice.

People think the large macaws are great for handrearing practice because they THINK, because these birds have bigger beaks and larger crops and heavier body weights, there would be more room for error. BUT, the truth is that these large macaws can take MANY months to wean (Chilli took 12 months), and a LOT can go wrong in that time, and when things go wrong, they can go wrong VERY quickly and you could have a dead bird before the sun sets.

 

[Enjru]

randyguthrie, what is your location?

 

[Safira]

Enjru, the link is to a facebook question posed by the name "Randy Guthrie"

He was asking an avian science place if there were any bird safe steroids to make his baby blue and gold the size of a hyacthine.

It's disgusting and cruel, and if this is the same person as the link to that post, you should be ashamed of yourself. If this is not the same Randy, then please take the advice of people with knowledge and go to the vet to make sure your baby is not infected.

 

[lene1949]

I would say it's the same person... It would be quite a coincident if two people of the same name got a B & G at exactly the same time...

 

[Enjru]

I'm inclined to agree that this thread is a troll. What business does a B&G have, getting hatched on Dec 24th in the middle of winter, unless it is in the southern hemisphere?

If the OP is for real, then very likely, the forced feeding has EXCESSIVELY overstretched the crop, and it is now lax without much muscle tone and has gone immotile. It therefore is no longer emptying into the bird's digestive tract with anything resembling efficiency. The formula remains inside the crop and goes sour and gets infected. The B&G is regurgitating because the gunk inside its crop cannot go anywhere else but back out the front. The bird is not getting any nutrients AND has to use up energy to fight the infection. It is also likely VERY dehydrated as well.

I think this bird needs urgent veterinary attention, including full haematology and biochemistry work-up, crop and stool cultures for microbiology (including fungal/yeast microscopy and cultures), warmth, IV fluids and antibiotics/antifungal medications while awaiting the results from microbiology.

Hopefully, the crop will recover sufficiently with complete rest to regain some functionality.

 

[Pedro]

Well if that's the case i am praying that this idiot doesn't have a baby B&G at all. There is no way a 8 week old can hold 200mls in its crop with out doing serious damage. I kind of thought this was over the top but thought to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Guys after reading the rest of the thread i think we have a troll here & i very much doubt if they will post again.

Enjru if indeed anyone could put that amount of formula into an 8 week old B&G that poor bird would be in serious trouble.

 

[Pedro]

Hopefully, the crop will recover sufficiently with complete rest to regain some functionality.

That's an awful lot of food in one little crop. If it were true at all i doubt very much it will recover.

Back in the days when i was a bit green regarding parrots & very trusting of people, I bought a Major Mitchell Too from a breeder who's husband was a Vet. I bought my baby home & thought something just wasn't right so 2 days later i took the baby back to the breeder, she kept it for 2 weeks & assured me it was fine. However the poor little guy wasn't fine. During the course of her hand rearing him she overstreched his little crop that much that there wasn't a thing that could be done & i had to get the baby put to sleep. I was so angry that a respected breeder could have done something like this & to make matters worst she didn't even give my money back or took any responsibility herself for the demise of the poor baby.