Preparing to receive a 4-5 month old Macaw

[Cosmographer]

I understand some macaws are already weaned at 4 months, but I've also heard that the weaning could last a year. So I'm trying to get some info on what to do if she is not weaned yet when I receive her. At this point, having the breeder keep her much longer is no longer an option, so I'm trying to educate myself the best I can and also trying to figure out if she will be weaned soon.

Precious is a greenwing macaw who just turned 4 months. The breeder said he will hold on to her for 1-2 more weeks to reinforce some basic training. Currently, she is being fed formula 3 times a day from a syringe. The breeder has already been coaching me on how to continue that, tho I still feel some trepidation about it. He has offered to get her started on solids, but I expressed hesitation about that because it sounded like forced weaning which was advised against on this forum. So...

1) What would be the next step? Continue with a syringe until she refuses it? At that point, do I continue with formula on a spoon or move to chop?

2) When I eventually move to chop, should it be in a spoon or in a bowl?

3) From what I understand, the weaning process goes from syringe to handfeeding to self-feeding, correct? At what point do I move from handfeeding to self-feeding?

4) Considering her current development, how long do you expect for the weaning process to last? Her current development being: a] fully flighted - she often flies to her favorite place on the second floor of the breeder's home, b] she responds to all of her training by syringe-motivation, c] hasnt had any solids yet. That's probably not much to go on, but what do i know?

5) At this age, will she be as sensitive to missteps in the feeding process? ie temperature being off a little, etc?

 

[noodles123]

If you will be hand feeding, you need to have him show you repeatedly and get trained on that....apprenticeship is really important. Temperature and sterilization are also HUGE...

I know you don't have much of a choice, but this thread contains some good details:
http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

This site is also pretty detailed:
https://hari.ca/hari/research-facil...cine-pediatrics-housing-feeding-baby-parrots/

Look up abundance weaning- that is the best thing to do. Avoid forced weaning.

 

[Cosmographer]

Yup, read the first link already which is what prompted my concerns and questions to begin with. Otherwise, I might have just trusted the breeder when he said "dont worry, its easy".

Just finished reading the second link which I have not seen before. Im just not sure how much of that or any weaning advice I read is directly applicable to a nearly weaned bird (which I assume she is unless she tells me otherwise when she finally moves in).

 

[noodles123]

Yeah, true, not all of it is...
What will you use to clean the syringes?
Will he provide something?
Do you have a candy thermometer for monitoring temperature?

There is usually a point when they are getting syringe feedings while eating some food on their own as well. It's not always so linear.
When you say "hand-feeding" I also think syringe feeding...I use those terms interchangeably, so I am not sure what you are referring to..I know my uncle was giving his formula from a spoon after syringe feeding, but not sure if that is what you mean or not.

This site also talks about the types of syringes to avoid and the importance of immaculate hands/ avoiding cross-contamination when touching things like the fridge handle-
https://theparrotuniversity.com/arthandfeeding2
Not sure all of their info on timing is correct, because again, you want to go the abundance route, but I posted the link for the other details mostly.

 

[Cosmographer]

Ah so syringe feeding and hand feeding is the same thing? I assumed that hand feeding meant feeding solids by hand rather than in the bowl. I guess that's what came to mind since needy dogs sometimes will only eat from your hand instead of their bowls.

 

[noodles123]

Ah so syringe feeding and hand feeding is the same thing? I assumed that hand feeding meant feeding solids by hand rather than in the bowl. I guess that's what came to mind since needy dogs sometimes will only eat from your hand instead of their bowls.

I may be wrong- -- I just know that when I use the words, they mean the same thing to me (hand feeding, in my mind, is syringe feeding), but definitely clarify this with your breeder etc because someone else asked about this the other day, and I was confused, as was another member....BUT, that makes me wonder if in some parts of the world, these phrases do have different meanings...

I am in the US but another member who responded to the post was not a native english speaker..Nevertheless, we both were confused when someone asked about "hand feeding" (and we both assumed they meant syringe, despite differences in our native languages)...So just make sure you ask about this...because I think hand-feeding widely means syringe (even across languages) BUT it seems that you are not the only one using "hand feeding" as though it were something different (based on the post I mentioned above)...It could just be an assumption people are making based on what the phrase sounds like, but just double check.

I will say, I just Googled "hand feeding baby parrot" and it all involves formula thus far...so...

Like I said before...it's not all or nothing...There is usually a period of time when birds eat solid foods while getting supplementary formula.

 

[cneuhauser]

Oh oh oh....pics please!

 

[saxguy64]

Oh oh oh....pics please!

Pics in OP's new thread: http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/86752-baby-greenwing-precious-comes-home-pics-video.html
There you go