weaning macaw 5 months old

[MikeyTN]

What needs to be said already been said, but when your bird is ready to wean, you will know!!!! That's when they refuse all formula period and eating on their own. Of course you need to monitor the weight level and make sure he is eating good. It can take up to 9+ months before they're totally weaned. When they first learn how to fly, they will refuse formula, but that does NOT mean they're weaned! They usually lose a bit of weight to fledge. Then they want formula again. This is part of the reason why I don't suggest people in getting young birds without understanding the process to begin with.

 

[chunchunn]

Ok, time for a firm hand here........From what I've read here your bird is NOT done weaning, even if it can eat on it's own! Do not stop hand feeding til they refuse it, this does NOT mean if they turned it down just once. Our Green Wing's took 10 months+ to wean and they can actually take longer than that. I used a mix of formula combined with various flavors of baby food (both dry and ready to eat) on a rotating basis. I could probably go in there right now if I had baby food and they would eat it even though they are over a year old now. This is a VERY crucial stage of their development and you need to follow thru with it. If you are not sure and have not been weighing the bird DAILY to know the amount of food to give them, then you need to consult/see a Vet ASAP. The amount you daily hand feed a bird is directly proportional to the bird's daily weight. This is not a guessing game and from the sound of it you need professional advice/assistance asap.

My apologies if this came across rough but it needs to be resolved immediately!

Thank you very much
'"mix the formula with baby food" what do you mean ? Can you give me a picture of that kind ? and what it's "Vet ASAP" , i guest that i need to consult it . i gave my bird corn , peas , potato... My bird refused all . He just want the formula

 

[HappyHummingbird]

I too have a blue and gold macaw that is 5 months old and has no desire to wean. I offer her every variety of food under the sun and she will play with her food mostly.

I have noticed that some people here in this community get irked when people purchase unweaned birds. This is a sensitive and frustrating issue because I certainly did do my homework. I talked to my breeder and my vet extensively and was assured over and over again that weaning is simple and painless. I have found it to be anything but simple! It has been frustrating, difficult, and full of problems.

To the original poster --- I am sorry you are having a hard time. I too am going through this phase in my macaw's life. I wish you lots of love and patience. Do the best you can!

 

[MikeyTN]

I too have a blue and gold macaw that is 5 months old and has no desire to wean. I offer her every variety of food under the sun and she will play with her food mostly.

I have noticed that some people here in this community get irked when people purchase unweaned birds. This is a sensitive and frustrating issue because I certainly did do my homework. I talked to my breeder and my vet extensively and was assured over and over again that weaning is simple and painless. I have found it to be anything but simple! It has been frustrating, difficult, and full of problems.

To the original poster --- I am sorry you are having a hard time. I too am going through this phase in my macaw's life. I wish you lots of love and patience. Do the best you can!

The reason why we get irked is because we seen it time after time. From the time I've joined this forum, we've seen hundreds of the same question over and over. It is a delicate process and your taking a risk that can be very tricky. It doesn't matter the amount of home work you've done, there's always something that's going to hit you when your least expected. And there's some of us on here that have raised hundreds of young like I have and things still happen but we have the knowledge to respond when we encounter those issues. But what is done is already done so we're moving forward and help with as much as we can but at the same time we want to make sure everyone else we reads it will learn from it as well by us/me saying why we don't suggest people getting baby birds to raise to begin with. I'm not about to jump on the band wagon and go pro baby getter for all. That's not the type of notion I want to give others so I'd be sure to input that in my response.

I hope you don't take that the wrong way as we're only trying to let people understand the hardship in raising a baby bird. At the same time I will also say this, by hand feeding a baby bird on your own does not mean the bird will bond with you. I've seen it time after time, same in my case as well with some of the chicks I've raised. But at least I taught them properly to begin with before they leave my home. There's been babies I've raised that absolutely hates me from the moment they're weaned. It happens occasionally, not all the time. They rather be with someone else other then me. I've also spoken with a lady who handfed her Scarlet Macaw on her own and once he matures after weaning, he became hateful towards her as he prefers her husband instead. She can not handle him til this day and he's 10 years old.

 

[HappyHummingbird]

Well honestly most ppl who read these forums are probably ppl who already have purchased a bird and are having a hard time... people like me or the woman/man who originally posted on this thread. It's hard enough having to deal with the issues of hand raising a bird; coming in here to this forum often makes it more difficult. Mikey, I have noticed in a lot of your posts that you jump down ppl's throats for getting an unweaned baby. I wish you would realize that it puts off people like me who just need help and support. I don't need any lectures or chiding. It doesn't help and I feel like looking elsewhere for support.
If I were to buy another bird, I for one would not buy another unweaned bird.

I too have a blue and gold macaw that is 5 months old and has no desire to wean. I offer her every variety of food under the sun and she will play with her food mostly.

I have noticed that some people here in this community get irked when people purchase unweaned birds. This is a sensitive and frustrating issue because I certainly did do my homework. I talked to my breeder and my vet extensively and was assured over and over again that weaning is simple and painless. I have found it to be anything but simple! It has been frustrating, difficult, and full of problems.

To the original poster --- I am sorry you are having a hard time. I too am going through this phase in my macaw's life. I wish you lots of love and patience. Do the best you can!

The reason why we get irked is because we seen it time after time. From the time I've joined this forum, we've seen hundreds of the same question over and over. It is a delicate process and your taking a risk that can be very tricky. It doesn't matter the amount of home work you've done, there's always something that's going to hit you when your least expected. And there's some of us on here that have raised hundreds of young like I have and things still happen but we have the knowledge to respond when we encounter those issues. But what is done is already done so we're moving forward and help with as much as we can but at the same time we want to make sure everyone else we reads it will learn from it as well by us/me saying why we don't suggest people getting baby birds to raise to begin with. I'm not about to jump on the band wagon and go pro baby getter for all. That's not the type of notion I want to give others so I'd be sure to input that in my response.

I hope you don't take that the wrong way as we're only trying to let people understand the hardship in raising a baby bird. At the same time I will also say this, by hand feeding a baby bird on your own does not mean the bird will bond with you. I've seen it time after time, same in my case as well with some of the chicks I've raised. But at least I taught them properly to begin with before they leave my home. There's been babies I've raised that absolutely hates me from the moment they're weaned. It happens occasionally, not all the time. They rather be with someone else other then me. I've also spoken with a lady who handfed her Scarlet Macaw on her own and once he matures after weaning, he became hateful towards her as he prefers her husband instead. She can not handle him til this day and he's 10 years old.

 

[MikeyTN]

Well honestly most ppl who read these forums are probably ppl who already have purchased a bird and are having a hard time... people like me or the woman/man who originally posted on this thread. It's hard enough having to deal with the issues of hand raising a bird; coming in here to this forum often makes it more difficult. Mikey, I have noticed in a lot of your posts that you jump down ppl's throats for getting an unweaned baby. I wish you would realize that it puts off people like me who just need help and support. I don't need any lectures or chiding. It doesn't help and I feel like looking elsewhere for support.
If I were to buy another bird, I for one would not buy another unweaned bird.

There's a lot of readers who come in here that haven't purchased a bird and is asking questions prior to them getting a bird. There's been several of them recently if you didn't notice.

I however did offer you advise to care for the issue you were having. When you go to any forum, doesn't matter where, your going to have people like me who disagrees with purchasing a unweaned bird. IF we just help every single person that comes in with the same issue without making the issue known to begin with, what do we accomplish?

I am a pretty straight forward person, maybe that's my downfall but I'm upfront and honest with you to the T. Some people may not accept me telling them what they don't want to hear, but what can I say, truth hurts. But overall, people in here do try very hard to help with all the questions that people post in here. Some of the post such as this puts off some of the old members that they have moved else where and they all messaged me and asked me to join. Cause I always return ALL my replies with anyone asking me questions about their bird as I am doing with a newbie that emails me on a daily basis, and yes I turned him away from purchasing a baby as he wanted to. I give him the good, the bad, and the ugly about purchasing an unweaned baby. I am only trying to make a difference and I liked this forum so I stayed. I just hope you don't take my criticism too harshly as I am only being honest and straight forward.

 

[Turquoise]

Ok, time for a firm hand here........From what I've read here your bird is NOT done weaning, even if it can eat on it's own! Do not stop hand feeding til they refuse it, this does NOT mean if they turned it down just once. Our Green Wing's took 10 months+ to wean and they can actually take longer than that. I used a mix of formula combined with various flavors of baby food (both dry and ready to eat) on a rotating basis. I could probably go in there right now if I had baby food and they would eat it even though they are over a year old now. This is a VERY crucial stage of their development and you need to follow thru with it. If you are not sure and have not been weighing the bird DAILY to know the amount of food to give them, then you need to consult/see a Vet ASAP. The amount you daily hand feed a bird is directly proportional to the bird's daily weight. This is not a guessing game and from the sound of it you need professional advice/assistance asap.

My apologies if this came across rough but it needs to be resolved immediately!

Thank you very much
'"mix the formula with baby food" what do you mean ? Can you give me a picture of that kind ? and what it's "Vet ASAP" , i guest that i need to consult it . i gave my bird corn , peas , potato... My bird refused all . He just want the formula

chunchunn, can I ask where you are located, as in part of the country? I only ask because it seems to me you are having difficulty understanding some of what previous posters have said in trying to help you. It might help us in giving advice to you if we know a little about you and your prior experience with parrots.

What WharfRat means by Vet ASAP is: take your macaw to an avian veterinarian as soon as possible for a wellness checkup to make sure it doesn't have any health issues you should know about. And you can also get some first hand advice on how to feed him/her. Meaning it might be much easier to understand the weaning process if you can talk with someone in person.

You say you offer your macaw the veggies and he just wants the formula. That means he is not ready to give up the formula. You do need to offer the fresh foods daily so when he is ready to give up the formula you will know what foods he will be eating. Offering fresh foods while your baby is still on formula is the way to get him used to new foods that he will replace the formula for when he decides he is ready to stop being hand fed.

Is there anyone close to you that has experience with hand feeding baby parrots that you can get advice from? Are you able to contact the breeder of your macaw? Or if you didn't get him from the breeder, can you talk to the place you bought him from? I feel you need someone to help you with this that can be there with you and show you what you are asking for help. Good luck and I do hope everything works out for you and your baby.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Even though this thread has thoroughly annoyed me, I feel the urge to add the following:

Raising and weaning a baby bird, whether a parakeet or a macaw is a labor of love.

NO 2 birds are the same, even within the same clutch some may wean sooner than others.

STOP looking at the calendar because there is no date on there that will indicate WHEN the bird is "supposed" to be weaned.

Patience AND confidence are needed to successfully raise and wean a healthy parrot.

Additionally I STRONGLY recommend keeping a record of your baby's weight, so a gram scale should ALWAYS be available.

NEVER guesstimate the temperature of the formula you are preparing. A digital food thermometer is inexpensive and a MUST HAVE.

HINT: If you only see your baby playing with his/her food or ignoring it, try and eat WITH your baby. Parrots are highly social animals. All 4 of my fids will eat the minute they see us eating.

Example: Have your baby next to you, pretend you are eating a slice of apple, make chewing sounds, exxaggerate the YUMMY YUMMY, THEN offer your baby some. (This applies to ALL foods that are safe for baby parrot to eat - monkey see, monkey do)

Side note: The thread annoyed me because there appears to be a HUGE lack of reading/comprehension.

 

[HappyHummingbird]

To the original poster-- JerseyWendy suggested a scale so I bought a scale on Amazon last week. I also feed a good variety of foods and make sure she always sits at the table with us when we eat, no matter if it's a snack or dinner. The reason it might seem that I am being impatient with weaning my macaw is two fold. One, my reputable breeder made me feel as though this is easy and quick and I thought I was doing something wrong and two, and more importantly, the medical issues I faced while trying to hand feed have been emotionally and financially exhausting. (Crop burn and then the crop infection $1600 in vet bills total after all medicine was done). I obviously love my baby enough to pay these bills and keep her healthy and feed her and nurse her lovingly but I do wish she'd wean to alleviate my stress. It's not that hand feeding is a difficult or time consuming process... it's more that I just stress that something else is going to go wrong. Anyhow, I am just adding my experience with you and I hope you stick with it. On a funny note, neither my son or daughter wanted to wean off a bottle so I feel like we're in familiar territory here with wanting to stay hooked on the syringe.

 

[Turk]

I agree with what Wendy just posted!

I was in a similar situation many (many) years ago. I got a very young, unweaned yellow nape. When the time seemed right to satrt weaning, I found I had to teach him to eat other foods.

I would lay on the floor with a variety of foods (apples, green beans, peas, etc.) and eat/act like I was eating them and slowly the bird caught on and started chewing them as well. Eventually that chewing turned into eating. It did indeed take time.

I also was putting some of his formula in a small bowl to teach him that food did not only come out of a syringe. I then slowly changed the bowl food to baby food, then chunky baby food.

After a while I would play the "food game" right before his feedings and found (again slowly) that he would eat more solid food and less and less formula.

I am not very knowledgable in general but that was my experiance with an unweaned baby.

Best of luck!!

 

[chunchunn]

he is 6 months old right now , should i let him take a bath. and what is the right way to do ? i afraid that he still young . :d