Help Please: 24 day old Green Wing

[nblitzkreig]

I've been feeding my 24 day old green wing macaw and have been following the directions on the Kaytee exact package. The problem is he or she weighs 10.7 oz which I believe translates to 303.4 grams. I am not totally sure that is within an acceptable weight range as I cannot find a growth chart that tells you more or less what it should be weighing. Ive been searching the internet but have so far only found references to someone having a 3 week old that weighs around 400 grams and a youtube video of someones scarlet weighing over 400 grams at 19 days old. Please if someone could help point me in the right direction, it would be much appreciated.

 

[nblitzkreig]

The post I'm referring to was actually posted by GWgordy a few years ago and their green wing's weight was 531 g, which has me worried about mine.

 

[Mekaisto]

303 grams is not too bad, you might just have a late bloomer on your hands.

Have you been weighing it every day? If you aren't already, try to keep track of how much weight the chick gains every day.

How much have you been feeding? I'm not familiar with Kaytee packaging, does it give instruction for GW macaws specifically, or does it just mention 'macaws'?

Bird weights change drastically depending on a variety of factors, including how active the baby is, temperature, humidity, etc. As long as the bird is gaining weight, and not showing any other signs of illness such as infection or sourcrop, I would not panic. If you are worried, try contacting your breeder, or an avian vet.

Hopefully someone a little more experienced with this species will give their opinion.

(Here is a page I found about one GW's growth)

 

[labell]

I searched and found that between 3 and 4 weeks they should be between 300 and 450 grams.

Is this your first time hand feeding? Do you have a breeder helping mentor you?

Green-wings are one of the babies that are notoriously forced weaned, when I was feeding green-wings for my breeder friend there were ones that didn't wean completely until 8 or 9 months old, one that was very large and babyish took almost 10 months to give up the last feeding! Be prepared to feed your baby as long as needed. Weaning charts are guidelines and a baby especially one as large as a macaw should never be weaned before they are ready.

 

[labell]

I will also add that I never fed Kaytee to a macaw but fed Zupreem Embrace Plus, it is geared more toward macaws with a higher protein content. If you decide to switch formulas it should not be done suddenly though. Gradually adding the new formula to the old is best.

 

[nblitzkreig]

Thank you all so much. I have hand fed umbrella cockatoos and blue and gold macaws, but they were both much older (I believe at lest 8 weeks each). I've been feeding my GW 10% of its weight, maybe I should bump it up to 11% or 12%? He does seem to always want a little more when I feed him. Also I started weighing him yesterday and he did gain weight over night so I guess I was just worried that I am underfeeding.

Also, to clarify I have been feeding him the "Kaytee exact baby macaw formula" but since it said 10 to 12% I just assumed it should have been closer to 10. I have also been feeding him 4 times a day.

 

[labell]

The crop should be full but not drum tight, if you over stretch you can cause problems with the crop emptying correctly, but it should be nice and full.

 

[nblitzkreig]

Ok, thank you so much. Btw is there anyway I could get a link to the growth chart you were referring to? I would feel better knowing what he should weigh as the weeks go on without having to ask continuously.

 

[labell]

I found it at Ariel, The Green Wing Macaw, Weeks 1-11 Green wings name is Ariel.

 

[nblitzkreig]

Thanks again

 

[JerseyWendy]

Welcome to the forum.

You've received some OUTSTANDING, solid advice, and I wish you the best of luck with your baby GW.

Would it be too much to ask for some photos of the little dude/dudette?

 

[MacawLoverOf3]

According to what Macaw breeders refer to as the Bible, The Large Macaws by Abromson, Speer and Thomsen, this baby is a lot lighter than where it should be at 24 days of age. I copied down what is listed in the book and the first column would be the age followed by average weight, minimum weight and maximum weight. I also added on the food volume list with the minimum first followed by maximum then the times fed, again, minimum and maximum.

You really need a scale that weighs in grams and not ounces to get a more accurate weight each day and weight in the morning after the first poop. and as someone stated, you need to record the weights each day.

These weights are for specifically the Greenwing


24 620.8 415.0 830.0 35 100 4 8
25 657.0 435.0 860.0 40 100 4 4
26 698.2 470.0 915.0 50 100 4 4
27 735.3 495.0 948.0 50 100 4 4
28 769.7 515.0 990.0 50 100 4 4
29 810.3 555.0 1012.0 50 100 4 4
30 848.2 600.0 1080.0 60 100 4 4
31 885.0 660.0 1105.0 60 100 4 4
32 921.2 660.0 1134.0 60 100 4 4
33 956.9 705.0 1165.0 60 100 4 4
34 984.2 725.0 1198.0 60 100 4 4
35 1012.1 750.0 1224.0 60 100 4 4
36 1038.8 785.0 1270.0 60 100 4 4
37 1069.8 810.0 1300.0 80 100 4 4
38 1096.4 815.0 1326.0 80 100 4 4
39 1119.1 840.0 1355.0 80 100 4 4
40 1145.5 880.0 1380.0 80 100 4 4

If you want me to copy and send the chart I can do that over the weekend and it lists the info up to age 120 days.

It is so very important to get that weight up to avoid the baby's growth from being stunted. I am not a breeder nor do I have experience to help you with this but if you do want help I can put you in touch with someone who has raised just about all the Macaws so let me know and I will contact her.

 

[willist]

When I hand fed my GW I added coconut oil and sunbutter to his formula. It really helps with their growth. It was 9 years ago so I don't remember the exact amounts but it was just a small amount of each in his formul every feeding.

 

[nblitzkreig]

Thanks again guys... I hadn't been on here in a while and wanted to update you guys... I named him Raiden and he's now 37 days old weighing 759 grams. I thought this was a great weight for him considering what he used to weigh but after looking at MacawLovers chart I'm now worried again. I'm also having problems feeding him and was going to ask if I should change his feedings to 3 times a day instead of four because he doesn't really want to eat the full dose. I'll get one syringe full into him and then he closes his little beak and I have to trick him into eating more. I know in humans this is normal but don't know if this is normal in Macaw's or if he is just playing. Because I felt he was underweight when I first asked the question, I started feeding him 11% of his bw as was suggested in several websites for green wings. If anyone has suggestions as to what I should do to make him want to eat more I'll take it. Also, I would love a copy of that chart if at all possible. Oh, and one more thing, I would love to post a pic of him but don't know how to as this is the only forum I've ever used.

 

[nblitzkreig]

I meant to put this in the last post, but he is eating 88 ml per feeding today based on his weight

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thank you so much for the update.

Please look at this, it will explain how to post photos: http://www.parrotforums.com/technical-support/6287-how-post-pictures.html

I personally feel he's too young to be put on 3 feedings/day, especially since he appears to be on the "smallish/light" side. How many hours apart do you feed him? Is his crop emptying properly?

 

[nblitzkreig]

These are a couple of pics of him from yesterday. I feed him every 6 hours give or take 10 minutes based on if I have to feed him sooner or later. So todays schedule looked like this, I fed him at 6:20 am then I'll feed him at 12:20, 6:20 and 12:20 again. I didn't want to feed him less often as I wanted to keep feeding him 4 times a day until he reached peak weight. I know that in blue and golds that is about 52 days so I figured it was around then for green wings as well. Also if I'm reading the chart correctly is it safe to say that you don't feed them over 100 cc ever?
http://www.parrotforums.com/members/nblitzkreig-albums-raiden-s-pictures-picture11967-img-0071.jpg
http://www.parrotforums.com/members/nblitzkreig-albums-raiden-s-pictures-picture11966-img-0076.jpg

 

[nblitzkreig]

Could part of the problem be that I let him walk around on a little towel after I feed him? Should I be putting him straight back to sleep after feeding him?

 

[JerseyWendy]

When I was visiting my Niko regularly when he was a baby, the breeder never allowed me to "mess" with him if he had been fed within the last hour. She would feed the chicks, and then put them back in the tub to rest, at least when they were as young as your baby.

 

[nblitzkreig]

Ok, I guess I'll start doing that and hopefully he uses more of the calories toward growth instead of running around.