Some concerns about my baby macaw

Martin93

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Hi,

2 days ago i got a Blue & Gold Macaw from a breeder.
It's mother had died a few days after laying the eggs (probably a fight).
So this little guy has been had fed since day 1.
Right now he's a little older then 6 weeks.
He's eating his formula very good, (not unlike my eclectus did), he is easy to feed. i'm feeding him Zupreem Macaw formula.
Currently i'm feeding him 50ml 3 times a day.
Now whats concerning me is his weight, he weighs 468 grams, shouldn't a chick of this age weigh more like 600 grams?
Also when i'm comparing pictures of other macaws his age they seem to have more feathers already then mine has. His feathers are just starting to come a little bit.

So is his weight good? i could not find a clear answer when using google.
 

OutlawedSpirit

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Has he been gaining weight every day? If he is eating well, and gaining eight every day, I would not be too terribly worried about him. In my experience, having to pull a bird to hand feed earlier than 2 weeks can result in stunted growth in the chicks. Not to say that he won't catch up to where he should be, it just may take longer for him to get to where he "should" be. I think chicks get an extra boost from their parents in the first few weeks, so that could be why he seems behind. If you are concerned, or if he is not gaining weight, you should take him to see your certified avian vet.

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Martin93

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Has he been gaining weight every day? If he is eating well, and gaining eight every day, I would not be too terribly worried about him. In my experience, having to pull a bird to hand feed earlier than 2 weeks can result in stunted growth in the chicks. Not to say that he won't catch up to where he should be, it just may take longer for him to get to where he "should" be. I think chicks get an extra boost from their parents in the first few weeks, so that could be why he seems behind. If you are concerned, or if he is not gaining weight, you should take him to see your certified avian vet.

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Stunted growth might explain why he looks more like a 4 week old chick than a 6 week old when i'm comparin him to others i see on pictures, well he is gaining weight and he is active so i wont worry then.
I'm also considering the option that the breeder lied about his age... becouse he first told me he was 8 weeks, then he got 7 weeks and when i got there he said 6 weeks... so maybe he just gave me the youngest chick to spare money? i dont know haha maybe..
 
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takito

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Without any photo, it is hard to guess on this,
I'm also considering the option that the breeder lied about his age... becouse he first told me he was 8 weeks, then he got 7 weeks and when i got there he said 6 weeks... so maybe he just gave me the youngest chick to spare money? i dont know haha maybe..
Or something, if at all possible a certified avian vet check up is good advice, and it certainly
wouldn't hurt to start establishing a "relationship" with one, even if everything is fine , for
the birds future as well.
In any event , keep a close eye on it , be patient, everything should be progressive, not only weight gain, but it should also show signs of getting stronger, being more alert, etc. If at any given
point it seems to be getting weaker and / losing weight, then it is definitely best if you can see a vet.
That is sad about the mother, poor baby has all ready kind of had a hard like, at a early age, as mentioned it is not surprising it maybe a little bit "behind".
It may "drop" a little more , with another sudden change in it's life, I have not had any experience
with baby macaws, but based on experiences with other birds, there may be some weight loss
at first, but as all ready mentioned , once the baby gets comfortable with the new parent, it starts
eating better, and catches up quickly. Have to run now, it is evening and my parrots are all waiting
for for me, they are my priority.
Hope it works out well and it would be nice to see some photos if possible.
 

wrench13

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Gaining weight is the thing. He may be a smaller check then average, but as you said he is active, eating, and gaining weight. What's the Lil fellers name?
 
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Martin93

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If it's a boy his name will be Jack, If its a girl her name will be Jacky.

Takito:
I have a vet i went to with my eclectus but he is not a certified avian vet. but the breeder i got my eclectus from says he's the best in this area, i believe him especially since i went to an certified avian vet and the dude did not even understand what i was saying. I will get him checked just to be sure!
As requested here are some pictures.

20170629_115521.jpg


20170629_115525.jpg


20170629_115528.jpg


20170629_115541.jpg



When i enter the room he wakes up and starts making noise

20170629_115441.jpg
 
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LordTriggs

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oh my god I've never seen a baby Macaw before!

That is such a cute "little" bird

I know nothing of breeding just wanted to say how cute they are. They look happy in those pictures though and they are gaining weight. Looks like you're gonna have a really nice friendly bird there!
 
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takito

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Wow, he is really cute, I also have never really seen a baby macaw, beyond pitches on line,..
but he looks fine, holds his head up and seems to be very aware of things,....
Like you say, waking up making sounds when you enter the room, and it is gaining weight
all are positive,...
Interesting, about the vet, "word of mouth", and real experience usually is of more value then certificates,
says he's the best in this area, i believe him especially since i went to an certified avian vet and the dude did not even understand what i was saying.
Why did he not understand what you were saying ?,... If it is just a Language issue, the guy might still be qualified , but would need to actually see the bird, etc. But also personally I have never been one to pay much attention to "certificates", I suppose that would be a different topic, but it all depends how the person got the certificate, especially now a days, I mean one can do a search, and
some where find "certificates" of all sorts, download and print it, ....also a student that cheated on exams, etc, might pass, and get their "masters", or certificates, but it doe not mean they learned anything,...
In any event the baby looks healthy in the photo, I would go with the vet the breeder knows, and you can communicate with, ...
It will be fun to see the progress on this, hope you keep sharing about it. Every couple of weeks or so, let us see how the bird develops,
Thanks
 
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Martin93

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Takito:
Well the problem with the vet is a language issue, he does not speak dutch and very bad english.
Also when i tried to explain to him that my eclectus was refusing to eat and it took pretty long for his crop to empty he did not get it. so i tried asking if it could be yeast infection or anything but he just said something like that there was no mucus or slime in his beak.
At that point i already got doubts and when i told about it on this forum people told me that you dont look for a yeast infection by just checking nose and beak. that made sense. i get the idea that the vet i'm seeing now has lots more knowledge and experience than the certified one.
 
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takito

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Thanks, for the clarification, most of my life I have lived in very rural, to even actual wilderness
type areas. I don't do will in cities, but that is a entire other topic.
Anyway, even though I have not had a whole lot of experience with parrots in captivity, etc.
I have had a fair amount of experience with other birds , many were wild. As well as birds,
horses, dogs, cats,...and almost never any kind of "certified" vets available, all though especially
with the horses, there were a few times I did have to go to a city, and consult a real vet, then after explaining to me, how to administer the medicines if need be, I would go back to where my horse was, with the needed medicine, etc.
My love for birds, in general started with wild birds, many times they have been my companions as well, it is amazing how friendly even wild birds, including parrots can get when one gains their trust,... kind of rambling now, and am tired, so think I will take a nap, ..
I am going to update my own introduction , before I take a nap, that way I don't de-rail yours,...
It is good that you are taking the time to double check what the "vets" say ,...everybody should do that.
 
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Martin93

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He's still eating pretty good! We're at 75ml 4x each day now.
Also he is gaining weight a lot faster now this morning he was 630gr.

Only problem is that sometimes he will go so crazy during feeding that i think he's breathing in some formula. He's shaking his head like crazy and thus his entire body moves all over the counter! it's hard to keep him in place, very strong feeding response.
This results in formula sometimes coming out his nose (not much) and for a while he's making some sort of coughing sounds, also i can hear him having some difficulty breathing. He does not seem bothered by it but i do wonder if its dangerous and he might aspirate one day if this keeps on going.
 

LordTriggs

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that sounds really concerning to me. The fact it comes out of his nose definitely means it's going into his airways along with the coughing. Does it happen at specific times? It may be the time between feedings being slightly too long making him extremely hungry and getting too into the feeding. Is this your first time hand-feeding? If so I would get him to a vet to assist you with the feeding otherwise you could end up in a very bad situation
 
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Martin93

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that sounds really concerning to me. The fact it comes out of his nose definitely means it's going into his airways along with the coughing. Does it happen at specific times? It may be the time between feedings being slightly too long making him extremely hungry and getting too into the feeding. Is this your first time hand-feeding? If so I would get him to a vet to assist you with the feeding otherwise you could end up in a very bad situation

No its not my first time handfeeding. My first was an eclectus.
I doubt it is becouse i'm not feeding him enough since i keep a close eye on him and if he's empty. I've read that macaws just tend to have an extremly strong feeding response.
What i've noticed so far is that it happens when i'm feeding him with a smaller syringe. the big one goes down his throat, but i try to avoid using the big one becouse i think he might hurt himself with that one because of how he's reacting to feedings.
Gonna try find a way to safely feed him with the big one, or get a flexible tube on one of my syringes.
 

LordTriggs

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that sounds really concerning to me. The fact it comes out of his nose definitely means it's going into his airways along with the coughing. Does it happen at specific times? It may be the time between feedings being slightly too long making him extremely hungry and getting too into the feeding. Is this your first time hand-feeding? If so I would get him to a vet to assist you with the feeding otherwise you could end up in a very bad situation

No its not my first time handfeeding. My first was an eclectus.
I doubt it is becouse i'm not feeding him enough since i keep a close eye on him and if he's empty. I've read that macaws just tend to have an extremly strong feeding response.
What i've noticed so far is that it happens when i'm feeding him with a smaller syringe. the big one goes down his throat, but i try to avoid using the big one becouse i think he might hurt himself with that one because of how he's reacting to feedings.
Gonna try find a way to safely feed him with the big one, or get a flexible tube on one of my syringes.

You clearly know more than me then. Maybe because of the strong reaction to the feeding it's making the smaller tube miss its mark so to speak? a flexible tube sounds like it may be the way to go, maybe use that exclusively with the larger tube? Hopefully my random spit balling is helping somewhat but it's definitely something a more experienced person could handle better!

Have you tried speaking to birdman666? They seem to be the go to person around this forum
 
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Martin93

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So the little guy is still growing and he's 980gr now!
I've been trying to feed him with a tube now it seems to be better except that he's not having a feeding response now and is trying to get away :(
He does not like being fed like that i think.
So i switched back to normal syringe feeding again but he's breathing it in again..
also instead of screaming he'll now make very soft higher pitched sounds and for a little while after feeding he sounds like he's having trouble breathing.
He does not seem sick or bothered by it, he's still walking around the bottom of his cage.

I was wondering are those sound change normal? (From very loud to softer)
Am i feeding him wrong or is there nothing to worry about?
Any advice?
 

LordTriggs

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So the little guy is still growing and he's 980gr now!
I've been trying to feed him with a tube now it seems to be better except that he's not having a feeding response now and is trying to get away :(
He does not like being fed like that i think.
So i switched back to normal syringe feeding again but he's breathing it in again..
also instead of screaming he'll now make very soft higher pitched sounds and for a little while after feeding he sounds like he's having trouble breathing.
He does not seem sick or bothered by it, he's still walking around the bottom of his cage.

I was wondering are those sound change normal? (From very loud to softer)
Am i feeding him wrong or is there nothing to worry about?
Any advice?

have you taken him to a vet? I'm really worried that it sounds like he may be slowly aspirating. The fact he's got quiet is a blaring siren for me. I'd get an emergency appointment and ask them to check him and to also for them try give a feeding to see if it's how he feeds or if he is taking the food into his lungs
 

itzjbean

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I was wondering are those sound change normal? (From very loud to softer)
Am i feeding him wrong or is there nothing to worry about?
Any advice?


Instead of taking on an unweaned baby and (as you obviously are) worried about him, perhaps next baby bird you get LET THE BREEDER WEAN IT FOR YOU. Then no more worrying if the baby is eating right, gaining weight, warm enough, slowly dying, etc. I'm glad nothing bas has happened yet but all the worry you feel for the baby could be avoided so easily by letting the professional hand-feeder/breeder raise the baby with the proper knowledge.
 

LordTriggs

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I was wondering are those sound change normal? (From very loud to softer)
Am i feeding him wrong or is there nothing to worry about?
Any advice?


Instead of taking on an unweaned baby and (as you obviously are) worried about him, perhaps next baby bird you get LET THE BREEDER WEAN IT FOR YOU. Then no more worrying if the baby is eating right, gaining weight, warm enough, slowly dying, etc. I'm glad nothing bas has happened yet but all the worry you feel for the baby could be avoided so easily by letting the professional hand-feeder/breeder raise the baby with the proper knowledge.

the problem with this is looking at it the breeder was possibly inexperienced or at least did not know how to hand-feed and when the mother died needed to either let the baby die or give them to someone quick.

I think for the moment until they are weaned this baby does need to go to someone better equipped and trained to hand-feed a baby macaw as clearly it's just causing more stress and problems and with poor martin here being stressed out whenever feeding baby is probably picking up on it getting themselves stressed which may be part of the problem. Almost seems like the perfect storm
 

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