Newbie to Macaws - Rescued my babies

[mafiadanes]

Hello! I'm just introducing myself as I have a feeling I may be on here quite a bit. I previously had a very sweet Moluccan Cockatoo that I had to re-home when I met my first husband. Looking back, I should have kept my baby and gave him the boot at THAT time!

That was many years ago. This weekend, I just rescued two Macaw's. I believe one is a scarlet (Baby) and one is a Shamrock (Whiskey). I've been told that both look very malnourished and I know they did not come from a very good place. The feathers look horrible but I'm hoping that with good care and lots of love and attention, I can help get these babies back to their full beauty. One has a lot of "fluff" feathers but not bald. Is this from plucking??? He also has a large mass and I'm not sure if this is normal for his/her crop or not. I saw an earlier post by someone but I never saw the update on what was found as my new baby looks EXACTLY like that. (Emmett518) Any updates? I'm also new to forums, so please forgive me if I'm not too sure how all this works. lol Any good advice to help me with my new babies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi there and welcome to the forums.

Yes, Baby is indeed a Scarlet. Both Whiskey and Baby are BEAUTIFUL!! Thanks so much for taking them in.

Do you have a bit more history about them? (Age, sex, how are they housed, etc?)

Can you possibly get a photo of the mass you speak of? It appears as if Baby is plucking, yes, but he's not completely bald. There might be a very good chance all his feathers regrow if he didn't do extensive damage to the follicles.

Glad you joined! Looking forward to more pics and updates!

PS. LMAO @ Looking back, I should have kept my baby and gave him the boot at THAT time!

 

[Birdman666]

Your Scarlet is definitely a plucker. Not unusual for a neglected scarlet. They're sensitive souls.

The Shamrock really doesn't look bad at all, and looks fairly young.

Both should bounce back with the right care.

You want to try and get fresh vitamin A foods in them.

 

[mafiadanes]

I WISH I had more history on them. I don't know anything about them other than they came from a home with over 100 other birds. With that many birds, I would have expected to see them in worse condition and to not bond so well at first but I'm guessing that they at least had some decent care and interaction. When they are feeling better and settled in, I would like to get the DNA done for sexing them. Will that also help determine their age? Is there any other way of making a good guess of how old my babies may be? I currently have them separated but they don't seem to mind each other. I'll hold one while my other half holds on the other on the same couch and they seem quite content. They also seem to understand "Step Up" although Baby, the scarlet, isn't as fond of the human interaction as much.

We brought them home Friday night and I pulled them out immediately as they were in medium size dog kennels. They came right out and seemed happy to perch on our shoulders. I've heard them both say "Hello" and "Water". I believe the scarlet has even said "I love you" and "Good night" which is heart-warming to hear them say.

They seem to love cantaloupe, sweet potato, and grapes. I also started them on a good diet, at least from what I hear. I'll have to get the name again and see what everyone thinks. I also started misting them daily and they seem to enjoy the warm mist.

I'll have to get a better picture of the mass tonight. Either way, they will need a Vet visit, I just don't want to do too much to them too soon.

 

[Birdman666]

No, actually, I believe the opposite is true YOU DO want to handle them... !!!

These are attention oriented birds, who have probably been starved for attention as much as they were starved for proper food.

The more you handle them, the tamer they get, within reason. They still need to be able to self entertain. Hold them too much, and they could attention scream.

What you want to do is set up a structured routine for them. This is out time. This is the time you get handled. This is the time you have to entertain yourself. This is meal time. this is bed time.

And then, without being rigid about it, give them that daily routine.

And yeah, most rehomes/rescues you get the history on them is not terribly accurate, when you get a history at all. Just looking at the Shamrock in the pictures, she looks young, like under five... young. But I don't really know that there's a test to determine age. If there's a band, sometimes you can trace the band information.

Someone obviously handled these birds at some point if they're talking, and already behaving themselves on a shoulder.

So, someone, at some point and time loved them and worked with them.

Then they ended up where they did, which sounds like either a hoarder situation, or a backyard breeder wannabe situation.

 

[mafiadanes]

Thank you. Yes, we are handling them, LOTS, I just didn't want to put them right back in a travel crate to take them to the Vet. They seemed pretty high strung Friday night and I'm not too sure how long they were in the travel crates when I received them but I know it was for at least 48 hours. Once I got them home, I took them in the shower with me to clean them off as they were covered in their own mess, and got them situated in their cages with some food as I knew they were probably starving. I was hoping to wait a week before taking them to the Vet as long as nothing urgent was going on with them. What worried me was the mass on his chest but I'm hoping it was just his/her crop since I had just given him the "mack daddy" of all meals! lol I would love to update with a picture and get your feedback though and if it seems urgent, will put the baby back into the travel crate and off to the Vet.

 

[Birdman666]

I don't know that any of us are qualified to speak to a mass based on a picture. Even a vet would have to biopsy it to give you anything other than a wild guess.

That's a long time for a bird to be in a dog crate. Mine would hate it!

Is it actually a mass? Or is it a burst air sac? Sometimes they get that, particularly if they were extremely neglected and screaming for someone to come help them for extended periods of time.



You can kinda sorta see it in this picture, but this one here had a burst air sac, and he was otherwise fine and healthy.

 

[mafiadanes]

I wish I knew more about them to better describe it to you. I found a much older thread on here where someone posted a photo that looked a lot like Baby's and many people said it looked like the crop but that it was very big for the crop. I'm guessing that is what it is however it was pretty large and I didn't notice it at first so I'm hoping that it was just not extended when I first got baby home due to the lack of food and that once baby was able to eat freely, it was full. I use the term "mass" but I don't even think that is the correct terminology. I just don't know what these beauties look like without all the gorgeous feathers. Seeing them "naked" is much different and even though Baby still has the "fluff" feathers, I could definitely see the "bulge" last night.

Yes, that's a HORRIBLY long time to be in a crate. My Great Dane babies don't even get crated.

 

[mafiadanes]

Oh wow, I don't really know. I guess Vet visit is in order sooner rather than later just in case. Is there something they can do? Is it painful? (Sounds painful!) That breaks my heart to think that baby, or ANY bird for that matter, is neglected and screaming for help.

 

[Birdman666]

Oh wow, I don't really know. I guess Vet visit is in order sooner rather than later just in case. Is there something they can do? Is it painful? (Sounds painful!) That breaks my heart to think that baby, or ANY bird for that matter, is neglected and screaming for help.

Actually it's generally not painful.

Readers digest version, you have an air sac sticking up on one side. Looks like a ping pong sized ball.

If it's an actual mass, then they need to biopsy it to find out what it is.

If it's a burst air sac, there's nothing really they can do, and it doesn't really harm the bird, it just looks funny in that spot.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I know which thread you're talking about, and I'm fairly sure it was a full crop.

Was it this picture??

In any case, IMO big macs' crops shouldn't look like that. None of mine ever eat so much that their crop bulges like this. Of course it's entirely possible your new baby was starving a tad bit and 'overstuffed' himself. :54: Did the 'swelling' go down within a reasonable amount of time?

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you, beautiful babies!

 

[Birdman666]

If it's a crop problem you're talking about, here's a good article on Crop Stasis:

Crop Stasis

Crop stasis combined with plucking, sometimes means heavy metal exposure, so that's one possibility I'd try and rule out.

With 100 birds kept in crappy conditions, there could be any number of viral infections that could cause crop stasis.

If he's got a distended crop for a prolonged period of time, get thee to a vet.

 

[JerseyWendy]

^^ GREAT article, Mark!!

 

[Birdman666]

^^ GREAT article, Mark!!

It actually wasn't the exact one I was looking for, but it's got all the basic information. Don't remember where I saw the other comprehensive crop article.

Found a good one on hand feeding baby birds, too, while I was looking for this one.

 

[GitaBooks]

Welcome to the forum! So glad you could join! : )

I'm glad you gave those macaws another chance. I hope they start getting healthy soon.

 

[GreatBlue320]

So wonderful of you to rescue these beautiful birds. Looking forward to hearing about your progress with them and seeing photos!

 

[mafiadanes]

Thank you for all the support, kind words, and yes, great article! I've found myself reading everything I can these past few days so I don't feel so "new" to all this again. Update: The swelling did go down but I still wanted to make sure everyone was healthy as I didn't want that to be the reason for Baby's plucking. All is well and everyone seems to be healthy except for some nutrition issues. So relieved! Baby was making a soft noise this morning that almost sounded like a purr and Whiskey said Good Morning so somehow, out of those 140 birds, they were getting some form of attention and love. I'll have to post more photos soon. Does anyone have suggestions or thoughts on a good food diet as well as a good place to get some nice "play stands"? I think I've gotten the itch as I was trying to talk my other half into turning a bedroom into the birds full room.

 

[Dopey]

Where are you located in Maryland?

 

[4dugnlee]

Congratulations and bless you for rescuing Whiskey and Baby! They are beautiful and will be even more beautiful with your love and care! If the "mass" went down then my guess would be a very full crop, but I would still take them to an avian vet to be sure, when you can. Good luck and keep us posted. Can't wait to see more pics!