Hi everyone,
I'm from Sydney Australia and I just purchased my first Blue and Gold Macaw. The woman i purchased him from got him from her parents who are breeders. So basically they gave him to her and she realised she didn't have the time for him and so i purchased him. She had him on 40mls of formula x 3 times a day. Now after doing some research I realise he is already supposed to be eating veggies, pellets and fruit. He hasn't fully feathered and still has chest feathers missing. So I am confused. I need help to do right by him and make sure he's well nourished. Should i start and how? Is there a feeding schedule i can follow. When should i cage him as she just had him in a box. He's free all day but just cage for bed time for him to feel secure or is that not needed. Any help for a new mum definitely appreciated. Also The vet trimmed his nails today and said his crop is very high? Any issues there??

@Macawnutz @Hankmacaw @Cara @macawpower58 hopefully someone will come on shortly to help you. Keep watching this thread

Can you post a picture of him? That will help us age him better. It sounds to me like he is either stunted or a lot younger than 14 weeks. 14 weeks should be fully feathered and flying or close to it. I'd also hazard a guess that he maybe should be getting more formula per feeding or more frequent feedings. That depends on how fast his crop is moving and how big he is. A picture and a gram weight on him would be good to know. Also, how fast does 40mls of formula go through him/how long does it take him to empty his crop or come close to emptying?

How old do we think the baby is? Can you give us a picture so we can estimate an age? Babies should be eating 10% of their body weight per feeding and how many times day depends on how old he is. Do you have a scale? Knowing his weight will be needed.

DUH... 14 weeks is in the title.

It really sounds as if he is younger than you were told. I'm not a baby bird expert, but it would be helpful to have the information that Melissa asked for.

Did they tell you how old he is supposed to be? He sounds young or developmentally behind, which could happen if he hasn't been fed enough. For starters, I would have food in front of him at all times - soft, warm stuff like heated veggies and yams. If he's not eating anything but formula, it sounds like you should increase the handfeedings. It's hard to tell without age or weight specified. A picture would be great as well.

This is him.

Oh my goodness what a total cutie pie! He's adorable. sorry..I know that doesn't help you but I had to gush. Baby macaws are so precious!

He goes through 40mls pretty quickly. In say 2 minutes.

He doesn't fly but then again it sort of looks like his wings have been clipped. I Don't Know What The Owner Did.

I haven't raised a large macaw so my experience is limited to the smaller birds I breed and raise.

Is your vet an avian vet? If not I would get him checked out by an avian vet. @JAM may be able to help you if you need to find one as I think she is in the Sydney region as well. Regular vets generally do not have the knowledge to treat birds adequately unless they have a special interest and/or work alongside avian vets.

The lack of feathers around the neck concern me a little, it is normal for there to be a bald area on the crop where it expands during feeding, this naturally shrinks as the feedings reduce.
The fact that he is perching on the box means he is ready for a cage, just a smallish one (longer rather than tall) for now while he learns to perch and climb, then he can move into a larger one latter on.

He should definitely be starting to eat solids, offer shallow bowls of pellets (I recommend feeding a variety so he doesn't become too picky at a young age), a shallow bowl of fresh foods should be offered twice daily at this age and a shallow dish of water. When he's hungry put a pellet or small piece of veggie in his month to help him get the taste and make sure he sees the bowl it came from to help teach him what to do. Don't be surprised if he flicks the food out at first this is normal.

As far as I am aware B&Gs wean at around 5-7 months of age, I'm not sure of the feeding schedule he should be on but a talk to an experienced avian vet who can assess his health and development is the best person to ask regarding the amount and frequency he should be fed. It is possible he is stunted which can cause health issues and should be ruled out.

If his wings have been clipped already that is also a concern, a baby not able to fledge and become a strong confidant flyer can cause both physical and psychological issues later in life. If he's not clipped make sure you allow him to fledge and become a good flyer before you consider to clip or not, personally I don't.

I also hope you got paperwork for this baby too, here in Australia exotics must be accompanied with sales agreement and you should have proof he is a captive bred & legal bird, if the authorities ever need to check out exotic birds for any reason we have Less than a month to prove the bird in question is legal. Microchipping is also something you may like to consider as well if it hasn't been done, talk to a CAV about it.

Macawnutz said:

Take a look at this. Blue & Gold Macaw Growth Rate Documentation and Photos From Hatch to Flight... Which picture does he look like?

Click to expand...

No exp with babies whatsoever, but he looks like 55 days according to these pictures. Soooo cute

Macawnutz said:

Take a look at this. Blue & Gold Macaw Growth Rate Documentation and Photos From Hatch to Flight... Which picture does he look like?

Click to expand...

I just realized as I was looking at the photos that the vet, Dr Kitty Remington is Noodles vet So proud! Sorry didn't mean to hijack

Weight 760 grams. Owner gave me DNA CERTIFICATE. She said that's all I need. Her parents are the breeders.