Weaning or refusing food

[beer]

Does anyone know when or how to know when the bird is weaning? My Catalina macaw refused handfed this morning at the first time. I tried about 15 mins but my bird didn't want to get the food from syringe.

My bird is about 11 weeks old and on 2 times handfed (96cc x 2) per day. I left pellet food in the cage about a week ago and put more mix veggie and pasta yesterday. My bird ate those solid food but I would say very little comparing to 96cc handfed.

The bird ate exact hand feed formula about 9 weeks and then I changed to Harrison Juvenile Handfeeding formula. My bird seems to like both. last 2 day my bird only eat at 72cc per feeding. Last handfeeding I gave exact because ran out of Harrison formula.

I'm worry about my bird if there is something wrong or this is normal thing. Please share your story.

 

[beer]

Updated

In that evening, I handfed the bird. Look like my situaiton back to normal. This morning the bird eat only half at about 50cc.

 

[JJones1719]

Glad to hear that your Macaw is eating again. Macaws take a lot of time to wean so do not rush it. They tend to wean about 6 months to a year.
They will let you know when it time for solid foods. Best of luck Joe

 

[keepsmiling]

Your baby should be weighed daily and fed 10% of his body weight at each feeding. Keeping a daily weight will also let you know when he is ready to wean, as he will begin to drop weight. I like Zupreem Embrace plus for baby macaws. Kaytee has had formula problems, it was recently killing babies left and right due to too much vitamin D. I do not use kaytee anything. The Zupreem has the added fat that baby macaws need. Now is when you should be placing your bird with lots of food options to play with and nibble on. Weaning pellets can be a good tool for transition. They are a pellet that looks like a cheeto. They hold their shape when you wet them, and can be fed with your fingers. Abundance weaning is best, not forced weaning. He will let you know as he begins to refuse feedings. The evening feeding should be the last feeding you stop.