Macaw poop & diet

[Freddiw12]

Hi all!

I have a 3 year old Catalina Macaw that I am looking for some advice on in relation to poop and diet…

We got her at around a year old from a breeder. She’s in a walk in aviary, but spends most of her day outside of the cage. She gets 24/7 access to the macaw mix we get from a local parrot store that I have a picture of below, and then she gets a chop mix at least once a day that has quinoa, lentils, sweet potato, bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, papaya, and a few other things. A few times a week I will mix the chop with and egg and scramble it with Harrison’s pellets ground up into a powder mixed in. She is not a fan of the Harrison’s pellets on their own… this week I have been a bit nervous because I’m realizing that she might not be eating to the degree we’d like and I haven’t noticed because the dogs are always grazing the food she throws. I felt like her keel bone was poking a bit more than our Amazon, so I got a new scale and she’s weighing in at 950 grams which i don’t think is ideal. I’ve been trying to up her intake of food the last few days and will continue to do that by prepping fresh food three times a day (chickpea pasta with boiled sweet potato, the egg chop mix, farro and beans for example)

Are her morning poops looking normal? Does anyone have recommendations for solid baseline diets for a picky bird that doesn’t like a Harrison’s pellet (and I don’t blame her they look very very boring and plain, but I need some peace of mind she’s getting everything she needs)

I’d rather be an anxious parrot mom and be put to ease that she’s okay but I want to also be in front of any issues… I do want to take her to the vet for baseline info, bloodwork etc but budget is a bit tight right now so just want to make sure it’s not an emergency!

 

[RitzQuaker]

Have you tried other pellets? My crew go CRAZY for Tops brand, and the ingredients can't be beat.

 

[kme33882]

Hi there,

Yes parrots can be extremely picky eaters. Sometimes I’d rather have a root canal than deal with a parrot diet regardless of the species. It feels like it’s trial and error trying to find a relatively healthy pellet that some of my parrots will accept. My Mac daddy eats Harrison’s birdie bread like a champ but isn’t a fan of their pellets. I still offer the pellets regardless. I feed my Mac daddy a variety diet. He has that large strong beak to crack open Brazilian nuts. He’s built for it. I also offer him bird tricks chop, nutri-berries, and random treats for training. His favorite treat is a pine nut. He really enjoys baby food (fruits only). It’s how I train him to accept a syringe just encase he ever does need meds in the future. All of this will vary upon each individual parrot.

I do agree that 950 grams seems a bit low for a Catalina. Mine is a blue and gold male at 1070 grams. He is a male though. You’d have to retain a vet appointment and have them examine her to establish if this is “normal” or medically related.

Parrot poop constantly changes for my macaw based upon what he’s eating. Chop makes his poop quite watery. Then it will be more solid with pellets, and even more firm with nuts. The colors vary as well. I don’t see seed, blood, or anything concerning with the parrot poop photos you posted but the very best thing to do is to get her checked out by an avian vet to evaluate the situation.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

That poop looks healthy to me. No undigested food and the color looks normal. Big birds make big poops but I wouldn't want a deposit of it on my head!

 

[HarleY 063]

Hi there, and good cheer!
kme3388 is on target - good advice!
my macaws wont have a bar of ANY of the processed pellets. So what I do is . . . morning vegs, lunchtime fruit, and in the mid afternoon I mix up nut (kernels and inshell) adding a little of a few processed macaw pellets. I closely monitor what my birds leave, closely monitor their deposits, but don't go the weigh-ins. Perhaps I have had the 6 macaws long enough to know when they, individually, don"t seem or scream themselves stupid, to know they are "off colour" Also my birds are companion birds and what I have found is that when one of them is having a "downer" or birds body language,facial colour, or something else I leave them be. It might sound strange but one of my females is looking like a scarecrow. People who visit leave with a whole host of imagined "problems". Yet after observance she likes being plucked. . . so I don't interfere, particularly when the plucker has his own code of conduct.
Work on what your parrot likes, if what I read is correct about the pine nut treat, then I think you are on the right track, but need to do a little "tweaking".
Incidently for all you macaw owners who don't know - Greenwing, Harlequin, catalina and scarlets( the only types that I know) do no defecate during sleeping,, and have ONE big one first thing upon wakening and stretching.