Should a baby macaw use a harness?

[Zoso]

As some of you know our baby B&G is almost ready to come home for the first time. I am a firm believer in keeping my babies flighted if at all possible. So the plan is to at least try and keep the new bird flighted. (I am thinking I will have to do some clipping to avoid injury at such a young age but we will see).

I am thinking I want to get a good quality harness for outside flight training and for safety anytime we leave the house. I see there are many different kinds on the market, some with diaper feature built in, some not.

I am very interested in any personal experiences that any macaw owner has to offer on the subject. Money is not an issue. I am more interested in safety of the bird, how comfortable it is for the bird, and ease of putting it on and taking it off. Are there drawbacks for using these harnesses? I have no experience with these at all so please explain in as much detail as possible. Is it a good idea to get a baby used to a flight harness or wait for a while. I really want to take this guy outside and exersize those big beautiful wings as much as possible before winter. Thanks in advance for your replies, -Bob

 

[Jan]

I have not used a harness before on any of my birds. I suppose you'd want to start him early on it while he is young to get use to it. Birds even at a very young age are not keen to something like that put on them.

 

[mrstweet]

I don't see why not provided s/he is fully feathered. Good Bird Inc uses a baby mac (Barbara H-icantspellherlastname) for all of her training videos.

 

[Chantilly Lace]

I would start immediately! I harness trained both my macaws at about 3 months of age, and had no problems at all. Phoenix still hates it, but Picaso and Paco are both great little harness birdies!

 

[dolldid]

id have one sent to the breeder if hes going to be there another month the sooner you start the better and when the harness is on uot side right away so they can conect one with the other
as for a flight suit same thing i wouldnt use a flight suit every day if i did it would be for short say 3 hrs in the home they are great if your dressed up saves getting pooped on good luck enjoy your baby and start yesterday,,lol


hugs doll mango

 

[Bokkapooh]

The AVIATOR HARNESS is in my opinion the best on the market, very safe! For a large macaw I would get XL. My baby macaw is almost 9 months old, I've had her since 9 weeks, and she is still fully flighted. You CAN live with such a large flighted bird. It's easy to make the home safe.

 

[hotfoot jackson]

I think getting use to a harness when they are young is a good idea, as long as (as someone said) they are fully feathered and happy to be handled. My cockie Dusty wore one from 6months of age. Just watch out for the little ones level of fear and make the experience fun, short and well rewarded.

 

[jeanna]

Start young, definitely. Maya, my B&G, has been using her Aviator harness since she was about 5 months old (I got her at 4 months). She doesn't struggle at all and getting the harness on and off is just an opportune time for extra scratches. I think the most important thing is to handle the wings frequently so that your bird doesn't even notice when you stretch one out randomly. I have no trouble getting the harness on my grey's head, but he hates his wings being touched so it's more of a struggle with him. I can touch Maya anywhere without a complaint and it makes putting on the harness SO easy.

Keep your baby flighted. At first your baby will be the most clumsy, awful flying mess ever. Maya flew into walls and windows, didn't know how to turn, didn't know how to stop and land, etc. Every crash, I was beside myself with worry that she would get hurt, but she was fine, I don't think they can get enough speed inside to really get hurt. She just knew how to lift off and go. But she learned SUPER fast. Within a week of being allowed to fly around, she was like a little helicopter, could turn on a dime, land with 100% accuracy, hover, fly up, fly down... It's amazing to watch them figure it out for themselves. I didn't even have to teach Maya what "come here", "go back", and "fly around" (flying in a circle and landing back where she started) even meant. She just figured it out and will follow commands in mid flight. Oh she's going somewhere I don't want her to? "Go back!" Instant turnaround. It's amazing to watch.