New Here, and New Macaw.

[KimR]

I introduced myself in the Introduction Forum, so I am here to post pics of my new to me bird, Birt. We just got him yesterday. The PO wanted to rehome him because of him being loud, so we took him in. Figured one more macaw won't hurt. We have 5 Blue and Golds too. 4 are outside breeding pairs, the other is my pet who lives in the house.

Birt came with a cage that is to small for him, with no toys in it at all. I think this is why he has plucked a lot of his feathers. Once he gets kind of used to our house I plan on switching his cage to one that I was using for an outside cage for our Amazon. It is one of those double cages that once can slide a diveder in the center to make 2 cages. It should be plenty big enough for Birt without the divdier. Then I can use Birt's old cage as an outside cage for him. The Amazon will end up in a bit smaller cage for an outside cage, but he needs to start being in a smaller cage anyway. He is getting up there in age and is starting to have episodes where he can't really move really well. Poor guy. Anyway, kind of went on forever there! LOL Oh, Birt is supposedly around 30 years old and has been in 4 different homes. This will be his last stop!

Here's some pictures.

Birt,

Here are some of the other guy's. I'm including the Amazon, just because! LOL

Poppy, the Amazon. Also a rehome. He was in worse conditions then Birt. He is in heaven now! (no not that kind of heaven, just a lot better off then where he was!)

Oso, my pet B&G. I've had him since he was 4 months old.

This is my outdoor aviary's for my other B&G's. They have the big outdoor part and then can go in threw a window to get to the inside area. The first pair lucked out and got a huge cage. LOL Although I may cut in half if I decide to make a big area for Birt to go outside in. I'm still debating on that because supposedly Birt has had a broken wing and he can no longer fly. When we went to pick him up, the PO had him outside on a stick that was screwed to a tree. That is how I learned about his wing. So if he doesn't fly, I may just let him stay on his old cage outside.

Bill and Lill. They were the first breeding pair I bought. Have never laid an egg. LOL I've had them for about 5 years now.

Bonnie and Clyde, I bought them from the same lady who had Poppy. They have had 2 sets of baby's for her. That is how I met her, I was going to buy one of the baby's. She let me help raise them. I started researching on them and discovered how bad she was at raising them, so I offered her so much for the one I wanted. She didn't want to go for it, so I ended up giving the baby's back to her and not helping at all. Then she lost her house so I ended up buying the breeding pair. They have laid eggs several times, but have not hatched any baby's. I've had them for almost 2 years now. They went through a major cage and breeding box change, so I am hoping that is why they have not hatched any for me yet. I'm hoping I will get some in the future, but if not, I don't care. I love all my birds, if they give me baby's or not!!

Here are some others that I have, but not macaws.

Petey and Paulie. They share a cage. Best of buds! They are also the only one's that get 24-7 open cage. They are really good about staying put. Well, the cockatiel does fly to the curtan rod from time to time, but other then that, they are home bodies!

I also have a lovebird that I caught outside. Thank goodness for the iphone and youtube! LOL I used a video of a lovebird to keep Feebie (off shoot for freebie lol) in the area, and managed to catch him. Sorry, no pics of him in my photobucket yet. I also have about 5 cockatiels that live in another outdoor aviary. They are breeders. They gave me one clutch, but I have since changed their avairy to a bigger one, and again, not hatching.

Ok, I think I pretty much summed up my birds! LOL As you can all tell, I am the bird lady in the neighbor hood!

 

[Bullitr]

Wow
I am afraid I will end up like you! Lol
3 months in to the hobby I have 3 parrots
U2 Joey ,B&G billy and green wing Mikey ...
Even with 3 young kids thats super super busy, large reef tank
And a full time job. No wonder I am stress out with I was a department director.

 

[oled]

Wow thats a collection lol. Love more picture. welcome

 

[mtdoramike]

WOW, your birds are gorgeous. Two are wearing me out, I couldn't imagine taking care of all those birds.

 

[merlinsmom13]

Beautiful flock, so glad they made it to 'heaven'. Thanks for sharing & welcome to the forum.

 

[slowry]

Very cool! Your blue and golds are very pretty!

 

[little1al]

Great pics.

Your B&G's look to be in mint condition. How do you get their feathers and beaks to look so great. Mine is not in bad condition but he doesn't look as good as them. Any tips would be great please.

Thanks

 

[schristensen13]

Beautiful birds and I love your outdoor set up for your breeders! Is your new guy a hybrid? His coloring is great! Congrats on your new addition!

 

[KimR]

Thanks for the warm welcome!!

My new guy is a Catalina Macaw. His Mom was a Blue and Gold and Dad was a Scarlett.

As far as how good all my Blue and Golds look. That is just a picture that hides their flaws! LOL Actually, the only 2 that are not the best of shape are Bill and Lill. They used to pluck their feathers. So they are missing quite a few around the belly's. The rest of the gang is all pretty much fully feathered. As far as keeping them looking that good, the only thing I do is feed them Cal LG Crunchy food mix. I ad walnuts and peanuts to that mixture. When I can get them cheap enough (like just recently) I will give them pecans, brazil nuts, and so on. Basically the mixed nuts that you find at the stores around the Holidays. I just bought 20 or so small bags of these for .50 cents a bag. They expired this month so they had to mark them down. I snatched them all. LOL So for the next few months they will get a treat. I also give them dry bread that we didn't get eaten and fruits and veggies.

My outside birds have a lot of room to exercise and my inside birds get to go outside during the warmer months. So I think the sunshine really helps them. It would sure be nice to get them to all get along and then I could just build one big aviary for all the inside birds. LOL I just don't trust the bigger guy's with the smaller one's. So they all have their own outside cages.

 

[SamsMom]

Oh my goodness that outside aviary is amazing! I would LOVE to have even half of that for mine - and your new Catelina is adorable, with some TLC those feathers will come in after next molt and he'll be good as new! I have a Catelina myself although yours is a more rick orange belly - just gorgeous!

 

[KimR]

Hey everyone,

Figured I would give a little update on Burt. Things are not going so well. He has become aggressive with me. Tries to bite me when ever I go near the cage. Makes it real hard to feed and water him. Unfortunately his dishes are inside his current cage so I have to reach in there to get the water dish in and out.

On the other hand, he does ok with hubby. Although he did bite him today as he was taking him outside. Didn't draw blood though.

He screams for no reason. Does this mainly when hubby is around and we are trying to watch tv or talk to each other. We end up having to cover him up so we can have some piece. I knew these guy's were loud. I have 5 blue and golds. One is inside (along with Burt) and the other 4 are outside. The other macaws all have their moments, even Oso the inside one. Thing is, he makes a few loud noises and he's done. Maybe 2 times a day. None of the rest of them scream just to scream.

We have decided to make an outdoor aviary for him. Our one aviary is big enough to devide into 2. So this spring we will be moving Burt to a new aviary and he will be able to talk to the other 4 birds that are out there. We believe this will be the best thing for all, even our little Chihuahuas. Burt has a thing with getting down off of his cage and going out for walks on his own and it is kind of dangerous for our Chi's. I wish I could make him stay on his cage but how does one do that to a bird? LOL

Here is the cage we will be dividing into 2. It's the one on the left. It will end up the same size as the one on the right.

The cages all go inside the garage. So the birds can go into a heated (heat lamps) room.

I don't want to just give Burt to another home because I feel it's just not fair for him. He has been moved from 3 or 4 homes already. This is his forever home now, even though it will be outside now. Now if we can just make it through winter!!

 

[JJones1719]

Kim, It sounds to me that Burt needs more attn. This is why he is screaming when you and your husband are trying to talk to eachother, he is yelling as to say stop talking to eachother and talk to me. I always find it best when trying to have a conversation with someone on the phone or sitting in the livingroom, hold Burt while talking, this does two things, he belives you are talking to him and this will stop the screams.
Macaws tend to have 2 bouts of screams, in the morning and eve. Sometimes macaws scream to comunicate with eachother or just say I'm hunger, someone feed me.
Please be careful with an outdoor aviary. Bird droppings from wild birds could do harm to your Macaws. Rats and snakes too pose a threat to an outdoor aviary. Remember that birds are prey animals.
Try to reward your Macaws when they are quiet. Use time outs when they are performing in a manner that you do not like. Place them back in their cage for no longer then 5 min at a time. Once they are quiet, remove and reward. Macaws are very smart and will soon learn that being quiet is a good thing and I get a treat for it. Macaws tend to be a one person bird and it sounds like your husband it Burt's favorite. To better bond with Burt, you should be the only person allowed to give treats. Macaws are easy trained with almonds and will do just about anything for them. Burt will come around but it will take time and on Burt's time not yours.
I live in a Condo with a 5 year old male Eclectus and 3 year old Green wing. My neighbors don't even know i have birds. If you raise them with positive attitude, your Macaws will be very well behaved. I hope this advise helps you.