Red Fronted Macaws

[BrianB]

It's been a while. My pair of Red Fronted came to our little house of insanity in March of 2018. They had been put together for eventual breeding, but the previous owner never gave them a nest box. We got a box for them in late November or December. At first they weren't sure what to do with it and it took weeks for one of them to actually climb down inside and see what it was. Mostly they would stick their head in and scream into the darkness. Fast forward to early May and they started mating. Multiple times a day, starting before the sun comes up. I no longer need an alarm clock because they wake me up. Now there is no way in the world I'm going to stick my hand in that nest box, and it has some design issues I want to fix, but it will have to wait. The way I do a nest check is to wait until they are both out of it and quickly stick my phone in the opening and take a picture. This is what I found today. I have no idea how long they've been there. The last time I checked was May 6th, and there were no eggs. They could potentially be two weeks old by now.

Has anyone else had luck breeding them? I've got plenty of experience with conures, but I'm not sure if I should expect this to be a lot different.

 

[EkkieLu]

That is awesome! I hope you're ready for babies!!! And post plenty of pics please!

 

[Shezbug]

No experience but looking forward to all your updates
How exciting!

 

[Fia Baby]

Congratulations!! I LOVE Red Fronts!! I think they're under-rated, and would LOVE to have one some day... Have you heard of Wendy Craig? She bred Red Fronts very successfully, and I think she's in Texas, though I don't think she breeds anymore. If you could make contact with her, I bet she'd be a great information source. I spoke to her once, and she was very knowledgeable and friendly.

 

[Mitzi]

Wendy lives in Wittmann, Arizona now and not to far from Phoenix. You can friend her on Facebook and I bet she would love to help you if needed.

 

[BrianB]

I found another set of pictures I had forgotten about. The eggs weren't there on May 22nd, but I believe they were laid a day or so after. My guess is they are about a week old now, so we've got roughly 3 weeks to go before we know if they are fertile. A friend asked if I had candled them yet, but I'm not going to. The parents are really aggressive right now and since they were never handled they won't hesitate to bite me if I give them the chance. The other issue is the nest box design and where the cage is. I would have to move the cage out from the wall in order to gain access to the door. It's too much of a disturbance for them. I'm happy to wait and see.

 

[EkkieLu]

Good luck! I can't wait til they hatch!

 

[melissasparrots]

Good luck and keep us posted. I know how exciting it is when you first find eggs and babies. If you really need to check on the babies (if they hatch) you might be able to slide a 1x4 inch board between the bars near the nest hole to keep the parents out. Then hand them an almond to distract them when you remove the board so they don't go charging in. It usually worked for my amazons. However, I also did not check more than every several days. When in doubt, stay out of the box.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Congrats and good luck!

 

[BrianB]

This is her very first clutch ever. I'm going to try to disturb them as little as possible. I don't want them to pick up any bad habits and this will let me see if their instincts good and they are able to feed properly. I tend to only go into the bird room twice a day for food and water. Unless I hear something strange then I leave them alone and let them do their thing. There hasn't been any mating the last 2 days, and when I went in today, the male came out to give me the evil eye, but she was no where to be seen. In the meantime, I've ordered some macaw hand feeding formula in addition to what I feed my conure chicks. It never hurts to be prepared.

 

[Fia Baby]

video camera with audio? I'd be dying to at least HEAR what was going on...

 

[BrianB]

video camera with audio? I'd be dying to at least HEAR what was going on...

I have a small camera on the cage. I was going to drill a hole in the top and point it down. It has infrared lights on it so I can see in the dark. It's too late now, but maybe I'll do it for next season. I would like to do that with all of the nest boxes, but then I think about cables going all over the place and change my mind.

 

[BrianB]

Well, I looked at the calendar and figured out that the 19th - 23rd of June would put us in the 25 / 27 day incubation period. Since I don't know exactly when they were laid, it gives us a day or two on either side. Today the female didn't come out of the box at all, and the male almost emptied a food dish in about 3 hours. When I changed the water, they both decided to come out and scream at me, so I took the opportunity to get a picture. It looks like one or two of the eggs may have pip marks on them. A friend who breeds big birds said the middle one certainly looks like a pip. The bottom one has a dark spot as well.

I'm cautiously optimistic on the outcome.

 

[Karen]

I'm cautiously optimistic on the outcome.

How exciting, thank you for sharing this with us.

 

[BrianB]

Well, it was a false alarm. I managed to catch the two of them out of the nest box and it gave me a chance to look at the eggs. All 3 of them are clear. Just a yolk. No blood vessels at all. What looked like a pip mark was just a scratch.

I was cautiously optimistic, but it was their very first breeding ever, so I can't say I really surprised. There was a lot of mating, and she laid, so we know things are working properly for her. We'll wait and see what happens. Maybe they will try again, or wait for the spring.

 

[Fia Baby]

We'll keep our fingers crossed for next time!!

 

[Mitzi]

Hopefully next time they will be fertile and you have some babies.

 

[BrianB]

Last update on this. I pulled the eggs today. The nest box is so deep and dark that you can't get a sense of scale for the eggs. What looked like a pip mark was just a dirty spot, but with the depth and lack of light I wasn't able to see it clearly. Even though the eggs are clear, the shells are well formed and sturdy. That's really encouraging for the very first eggs she's ever laid. A breeder I know thinks they may try again since I pulled the eggs before she lost interest in them. Who knows. This was out of their normal season anyway, so maybe they will wait until the fall and try again.

Thanks for the encouragement. Even though this didn't result in fertile eggs, I'm still hopeful they will be productive. In the meantime, I've still got conure chicks hatching. I've got plenty to keep me busy.

 

[aooratrix]

They could double clutch, but it's a crapshoot.

 

[Sharia]

How exciting!! I found this forum because I am looking into a parrot companion. I have recently been thinking that a red front might be the perfect companion for me. I'm hoping to add one to my family soon, perhaps next year. I might be interested when they arrive if you need to find homes for the little ones