picky eater

[billwat1]

Hi everyone,we just brought our b&g macaw home yesterday she is 20 weeks old and the breeder says she has been very picky since the start of hand rearing he has given us a powder to mix with water to syringe feed her with ,does anybody have any experience with this stuff and is it best to try and ween her off it at this age?

 

[plumsmum2005]

Hi, Macaws - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community is a mine of info for you.

Can you not ask the breeder for more info? Until further input I would say not yet. Have you been fully instructed on frequency and temperature of feeds?

What is the formula you have been given?

 

[billwat1]

Thanks for your reply,the breeder didnt tell us what the formula is called as hes given us a real big supply and told us to give a full syringe (approx 1000ml) three times daily at baby temperature,i just dont want her to rely on this all the time and go downhill from not having enough nutrients from seed and fresh products although she does take grapes and cucumber but i think shes only sucking on these for fluids

 

[plumsmum2005]

Your instructions you have been given seem a bit vague to me. I would expect the formula to give your baby all the nutrients it needs for the time being. Seed btw is pretty low in terms of nutrition. Concentrate on the formula for now at the correct amount, the correct temperature for each feeding. Are you aware there are risks of feeding your baby incorrectly? Grapes and cucumber are not top of the nutrition list.

 

[billwat1]

He told us not to worry about her not eating the premium parrot mix which has allsorts of seeds and nuts and dried chilli and bananas in it and that we should keep giving her the formula to keep her healthy im assuming its like a baby milk type food but surely she should be off this now at her age it was also him who told us that she already likes grapes and apple and pear as he was giving these to her along with pellets which she doesnt really like.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Have you seen this [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRLzLD_VgTk"]How to Hand Feed Blue and Gold macaw Babies - YouTube[/ame]

and this? [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEorcOx4ItU"]Hand feeding a 5 month old Macaw - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Meikasbirdhouse]

20 weeks is quite young for a breeder to be selling a baby macaw. The handfeeding formula has all the vitamins and minerals the baby needs until they start eating on their own. Birds will self wean when they are ready. They will start rejecting the food and spit it out and make big messes. When we raised our baby macaw she weaned at 10 months old.

 

[billwat1]

Thanks plumsmum2005 for the video clips and to you too meikasbirdhouse im really surprised at that because he told us she is around 20 weeks and after working out from her hatch date of 24 june she is really only just around 18 weeks so maybe im worrying unnecessary thanks again all you guys this has been really helpful