? And concerns about weaning

Last night Nema (4 month old B&G) pretty much fought me the whole time I tried feeding her her formula. Basically he kept backing up and spitting it out. It was everywhere! During he past week she hasn't seemed as eager to get fed. She hasn't lost any weight so far. I have been expecting her to start doing this as part of her natural weaning process, but there are concerns. She's small. She has been small since bringing her home. Here is the background: she hatched 8/31, I brought her home 11/24. I had been going to the pet store and doing feedings at least 3 times a week for 2 weeks prior to bringing her home. I fed her 70 ml at her dinner feedings. After reading a slew of material I asked the pet store owner how she knew what amount to feed her as she didn't have a scale, she just said that's what the breeder told her or continue with until she was sold. Anyway, I brought her home as soon as I could get her cage here. I was SHOCKED when I weighed her, she was only 573 grams. If you remember my previous post I was very concerned. So I make a vet appointment. I live in Maine, in a small community. We have vets here just not avian vets within our area. So I get her in and the vet reassured me that Nema was fine, just little. I went armed with info at the vets, such as proper tests ect. I had to request them actually. He never offered to do them he just agreed when I requested them. Anyway, everything came back fine. Nema has been steadily growing since. She is currently just under 700 grams now. Needless to say I am worried about her weaning at such a light weight. She is constantly picking, playing and eating from her food dishes all day. She is especially fond of brocolli, blueberries and peas. She is playful and loves being around everyone. She had her wings clipped by he breeders before being in the pet store so sh can't fly yet. Not that she hasn't tried. On a few occasions she has jumped off of her cage and fluttered down, quit gracefully actually. She loves to get flapping crazy on top of the cage from ime to time.

Hey Sherry, i cannot claim to be a professional, but i have been raising my cag baby who is currently on 2 feeds ( formula / porridge ) per day, he gets 90ml per feed & currently weighs 610 grams. The breeder where i collected him from also has amazons & they were getting around 200 ml per feed !!!! On the formula / porridge packet it does not give an actual amount to feed, it just says to keep food in the crop & that the crop should not be allowed to be completely empty except overnight.
My cag was on 3 feeds per day, & on advice from the breeder i have now reduced this to 2 X feeds per day of 90ml. I also have a bowl of parrot food & a bowl of water on the floor of his cage ( he is still a baby & is still learning to climb and explore).
I hope that all goes well .................

Hey scardey cat, I forgot to mention that i currently have been feeding her 110 to 115 ml. This past week she has been much harder to get fed by he syringe. So, what are you going to name your CAG? My CAG is Rocky and my daughters is Rue.

Crap! I forgot to ask my question with the post (damn add). I have read that you shouldn't "force" the baby to eat. I wouldn't say I forced Nema but I was very persistent. Should I just let her not eat? She is already underweight, should I keep being persistent?

Sherry said:

Crap! I forgot to ask my question with the post (damn add). I have read that you shouldn't "force" the baby to eat. I wouldn't say I forced Nema but I was very persistent. Should I just let her not eat? She is already underweight, should I keep being persistent?

Click to expand...

Simple answer: NO.

Nema is telling you that she's a big girl now and doens't need to be fed anymore. Of course don't go cold turkey on her, but just decrease the amounts you feed her. If she's truly fighting and spitting it out, she doesn't want any.

You said she hasn't lost any weight, so that is a GREAT sign.

Please, Sherry, don't let Nema's weight drive you crazy. Macaws are like people, they come in all shapes and sizes, even within the same species. Yes, she IS a small, female B&G, but as long as she's healthy and happy, the weight shouldn't be an issue.

Can you feel her keelbone easily? I mean, does she look malnourished?

Nema's growing up on you, in front of your very eyes.

Sherry, I think your baby is telling you they're done with the hand feed. I think your doing everything right, IMHO. I hand fed 4 of my 5 birds and so you are going to worry because they are your baby. If it lessons your worry, try holding out the syringe and let her approach if she wants some. Then walk away. If she is eating constantly at her dishes, that is a great sign. If you would like, make her some birdie muffins, mine love them. I make more than is needed, freeze the extra, then defrost them every morning. Not one of my 4 have shown any negative sign of weight loss, in fact they are growing and are healthy. Wish you the best.

Deb

Oh, I knew it! She's growing up! (Tears in my eyes) happy though. So I'm feeding her two times a day now, so I guess the next step is to ......what? I have read two different opinions on this. One is to eliminate the morning feeding and to continue with the evening feedings until she tells me she down with those too. Or, two to reduce the amount of formula but continue both feedings. What would you suggest is the best way to go?

HAHAHAHA.

I actually eliminated the evening feeding first. If they didn't want any because they munched plenty throughout the day, they sure were hungry in the morning.

Thanks JerseyWendy, you see that's why I love this site. Your answer makes perfect sense, but you don't find that answer from the books. I prefer to get my information from people on this forum that have continually given spot on advise from experience. The books tell me to either cut out the morning feeding or reduce but continue with both. I have been thinking about hat I'm going to do about feeding her tonight all day. I think I'm going to follow your advise, she's just not going to want to eat so I'm not going to push it. I am going to make sure she's got a plethora of foods, pellets, veggies, seeds and water. I guess we will see how eager he is to eat in the am.