To make a point, when I got my first GW, I was able to leave work at lunch everyday to feed her & spend time with her, once I got home she got ALOT of attention. This next 4-5 months will be critical in her upbringing & maturing, you MUST make extra time for her to get comfortable in her new home.
^ True points. For myself, when I get my macaws, I've organised the dates to be when I know I am holidays and have time to spend at home.
And even then, my work allows me to leave in the middle of the day to go home for lunch.
She's a baby for goodness sakes !! How many hours between feedings ?
What time do you get home from work ? Does she get any attention other then you when your gone ? She shouldn't be alone right now for any long length of time.
If you knew you were getting this baby , IMO , you should have made sure you had the free time to raise such a young bird. Three times daily means this baby is extremely young and you shouldn't be expecting much at all from her except to eat and poop.
Forget about training right now !!
This is a very crucial time in her life and you need to be completely available to such a young chick.....maybe you better think this over , are you ready for such a commitment ?
Do you have the time ? If I were you I would talk to the breeder you bought her from and maybe you could let them take over the feeding until she is eating on her own completely.
Im not trying to be nasty here , but it just doesn't seem like this baby fits into your life right now. What do you plan on doing with her once your out of college ?
Reading books and learning everything you can is awesome , but it doesn't make you experienced .....have you ever done this before ?
In all honesty, the breeder should NOT have given you an unweaned macaw. =\ There are just so many risks involved with it.
See the post here for hand feeding:
http://www.parrotforums.com/congo-timneh-greys/20990-can-someone-all-help.html
Quoted below:
See below on articles:
Liz Wilson said:
In the 20 years I worked with avian veterinarians, I have seen over and over how easy it is for an inexperienced hand feeder to do serious physical and psychological damage to an un-weaned parrot chick -- indeed, many parrot babies do not survive the human's learning process. From my experience, these helpless babies most frequently die due to one or more of the following causes: starvation, aspiration pneumonia, crop burns, and bacterial and/ or fungal infections. [...]
IF they survive, the long term repercussions include both chronic physical problems and some very serious psychological problems that could destroy their future potential as pets.
http://www.parrottalk.com/hand-feeding-dangers.htm
ParrotParrot said:
Many people have heard the myth: if you want a parrot to truly bond to you, then you should handfeed the bird yourself. Nothing could be further from the truth. More relationships between bird and human are damaged by improper hand-feeding and socialization during the early weeks of a parrot’s life. This damage is less obvious than that seen in cases of outright physical harm. Burned crops, malnutrition, pneumonia due to aspirated food, sour crop, and bacterial infections are just a few of the issues that arise when inexperienced people take on the responsibility of handfeeding a parrot.
Responsible and reputable breeders will tell you unequivocally that parrots can bond to you just as well (if not better!) if you allow the experienced handfeeder to properly care for your bird and wean it at the appropriate time. It is important for the public to understand this truth to prevent more needless deaths of baby parrots. Breeders who try to convince you that it is “easy” and that the bird will bond to you better are most likely just trying to save themselves a few weeks of work.
Dangers and Risks of Hand-feeding Baby Birds | Parrot Parrot
And a professional opinion by Dr. Wissman, a Board Certified Avian Special-ist
There is no doubt in my mind that many a baby bird has expired as a result of hand-feeding mishaps. Unweaned baby birds should not be sold or given to inexperienced hand-feeders for this reason. It is not necessary for a baby bird to be hand-fed by the family purchasing it in order for it to become "bonded" to them. Budgies are routinely tamed down as pets once they have fledged by the parents, and this can also occur with larger birds fed-out by the parents. Baby birds can also be hand-fed by the aviculturist, and be visited by the new owners to allow the babies to become accustomed to their new families. Weaned birds can be sold to owners, and they will settle in with their new families in no time. So, there is no reason for a baby to be fed by an inexperienced owner.
Top Ten Bird Killers
With regards to the screaming, as others have said, it's their contact call. She's welcoming you home and wants to ensure that you are safe.
A friend of ours taught their Amazon to turn his contact call into a loud, booming "HELLLOOOOOOO~~~!!!" If she calls out to you, call back to her so you let her know that a, you're OK, and b, you'll be there soon; then come and say "Hellloooo"; it's a good word for them to learn as they can call it out long.
Screaming can happen for many reasons - but you need to differentiate between a contact call, screaming happily or begging for food, or behavioural. If it's the first three, and you don't like it,... unfortunately, that's a macaw for you. They're loud. If it's behavioural, you can work on training, but you can't fault her for the first three - she's just being who she is. Denying her of that would be cruel.
Do you visit her during the day in between work? Do your parents help with care? If not, is there someone that can? Otherwise, I'd strongly suggest going back to the breeder, or booking time off work. Caring for a baby macaw is a lot of work and commitment - there is a reason why breeders try to palm this work off to unsuspecting customers. You'll need to be there to care for her throughout the day, or someone else will need to.
