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3 more Scarlet Macaw Eggs! One laid today! 3rd clutch of the year!

MacawBegin

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One clutch was infertile but laid 3 eyes.
Second was fertile was hatched them.
Third clutch we are praying for fertile eggs. The first one/big one was candles today and showed signs of fertility so we are 1 for 3. Keep up the prayers! Thanks all!
 

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MacawBegin

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Thank you! We are getting the hang of the incubation process for sure. Just trying to perfect the rearing of the baby macaws. Some craft you need a lifetime to perfect
 

sootling

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Just make sure not to be constantly breeding them. That will lead to immense stress on the female and also possible health problems. Ideally, you should wait at least 4-6 months, because that's the minimum amount of time the mom will be feeding the baby (even if you hand-feed the baby, the mom still needs that break for quality of life), and make sure to treat both parents just as well as you would if they were just pets that didn't breed. Play with them, spend time with them, bond with them, and show them the outdoors with a harness or carrier.

Side note, you probably know this, but make sure not to inbreed them.
 

MacawBegin

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Just make sure not to be constantly breeding them. That will lead to immense stress on the female and also possible health problems. Ideally, you should wait at least 4-6 months, because that's the minimum amount of time the mom will be feeding the baby (even if you hand-feed the baby, the mom still needs that break for quality of life), and make sure to treat both parents just as well as you would if they were just pets that didn't breed. Play with them, spend time with them, bond with them, and show them the outdoors with a harness or carrier.

Side note, you probably know this, but make sure not to inbreed them.
Of course of the in breeding and when I recieved the parent pair ~6 years ago, they were already not friendly at all and not food driven for training. Already seemed to be bonded to eachother so we just left them together. They get their daily time out the nesting box and cage and get to roam the backyard so by no means are we “forcing” them to breeding and reproduce.
Everywhere we read there is suppose to be at least 2 clutches, spring and fall but domesticed macaws can lay more clutches that wild ones.

Also we are constantly providing feed and extra nutrients for the parent birds which mainly The male wolfs down and then feeds to female.


In between the first 2 clutches was about a 4 month break but got a surprise double clutch for the ending of the fall season. Don’t worry, we are feeding the momma bird as much as she can eat and providing the best environment for her (or else she wouldn’t feel comfortable and have the energy to pop out these many fertile eggs)
 

MacawBegin

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Just make sure not to be constantly breeding them. That will lead to immense stress on the female and also possible health problems. Ideally, you should wait at least 4-6 months, because that's the minimum amount of time the mom will be feeding the baby (even if you hand-feed the baby, the mom still needs that break for quality of life), and make sure to treat both parents just as well as you would if they were just pets that didn't breed. Play with them, spend time with them, bond with them, and show them the outdoors with a harness or carrier.

Side note, you probably know this, but make sure not to inbreed them.
But the parents are already “wild”. If you are familiar with breeding macaws, you would know they flip a switch a become territorial and lose almost all their of their “pet instincts”. Well from my personal experience and introducing macaws into pairs or to mate.
 

Shezbug

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Just make sure not to be constantly breeding them. That will lead to immense stress on the female and also possible health problems. Ideally, you should wait at least 4-6 months, because that's the minimum amount of time the mom will be feeding the baby (even if you hand-feed the baby, the mom still needs that break for quality of life), and make sure to treat both parents just as well as you would if they were just pets that didn't breed. Play with them, spend time with them, bond with them, and show them the outdoors with a harness or carrier.

Side note, you probably know this, but make sure not to inbreed them.
Not to say there aren’t any out there but to be completely honest I haven’t heard of any breeding macaws that would be willing to have a human engage in play with them. They’re often extremely dangerous to be around when they’re breeding.
I know a few people who totally regret bringing home a second macaw as once the birds accepted each other as mates they became very uninterested in people and even rather aggressive towards their past favourite person.
 

sootling

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My point was, make sure they have enough mental stimulation when not breeding. Of course, you seem like a good breeder, so I trust you were already doing most things right.
 

MacawBegin

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My point was, make sure they have enough mental stimulation when not breeding. Of course, you seem like a good breeder, so I trust you were already doing most things right.
Ahh I see where you are coming from. I think we collectively thought you meant to show the parents the same care as would a “traditional pet”. But yes, we are soing our best to stimulate their lives, give ton of snacks, and even let them browse and walk our backyard. (This week has been just far too hot in the 100s degrees so I hav’nt had the out. But the parent’s wings are clipped so they can’t fully fly but we try to stimualte them as much as possible.
 

MacawBegin

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Not to say there aren’t any out there but to be completely honest I haven’t heard of any breeding macaws that would be willing to have a human engage in play with them. They’re often extremely dangerous to be around when they’re breeding.
I know a few people who totally regret bringing home a second macaw as once the birds accepted each other as mates they became very uninterested in people and even rather aggressive towards their past favourite person.
Agreed. I have never seen a paired up macaw or breed macaw to ever “graciously” engage with a human. Only when possibly only time when the human is offered a walnut and still the macaw will give a territorial bite before taking the walnut.

Paired macaws or breeding macaws make the WORST “pets”. They will not be house tame or listen to your human commands. Successful* Breeding macaws are only for the experienced bird handler.
 

MacawBegin

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One clutch was infertile but laid 3 eggs.
Second was fertile was hatched them.
Third clutch, we are praying for fertile eggs. The first one/big one was candled today and showed signs of fertility so we are 1 for 3. Keep up the prayers! Thanks all!
Candled the second one and signs of fertility! Currently 2/3. Going to candle the last on 9/14.
 

MacawBegin

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Question does this happen to macaws that lay multiple fertile eggs? There is egg size reduction drastically but are still healthy and hatch a healthy macaw?

Another question, human interacted and influenced, domesticated macaw pair can breed from what I’ve heard any time of the year but how many clutches can they get per year?
This would of been clutch 4th if the 1st wasn’t fertile earlier in the year. These are the 9th eggs from just this year.

While at it, another question. How long are macaws going to be breeding and laying for? Meaning how long are they good to breed and lay eggs for?

Ive had this paid for 6 and apparently they were 2-3 when I had gotten them.

Thanks all!
@Kay3 @BrianB
 

BrianB

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Some birds breed seasonally. My green wings tend to breed in late spring and late fall. The red-fronted breeding season is generally October to March, but mine seem to breed whenever they want to. Last year we had chicks in late January, then in April, and again in July. This year we didn't get the first babies until June and I limited them to two clutches. The harlequin pair breeds in the late summer but didn't this year, but they still might. Even if they are mating, giving them a place to lay encourages them to continue. Removing their next box, or blocking it off will help end the behavior. They will need time to replenish their resources for the next breeding season. If they breed too much, the eggs could be odd sizes, or the shells may be too thick, too thin, or not fully formed. Fertility will also decline. You might want to discourage them from breeding again this year and force them to have a 6 - 9 month break before they breed again.

My green wing pair is in their early 20s. The harlequins are in their mid-teens. The red-fronted are 8 or 9 years old. We have an old blue and gold at the store and we were told she started breeding at 10 years old and continued for several decades before she stopped. If you manage their breeding and health properly they will have a long productive life. I prefer to have fewer chicks that are better quality than more chicks that may not be as robust. It's also exhausting to be constantly on the go and have my life scheduled around feeding birds. Right now I have 8 baby macaws, 4 baby greys, a baby citron, and the last clutch of conures that are being hand fed each day. I'm exhausted and longing for the house to be quiet again.
 

MacawBegin

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Some birds breed seasonally. My green wings tend to breed in late spring and late fall. The red-fronted breeding season is generally October to March, but mine seem to breed whenever they want to. Last year we had chicks in late January, then in April, and again in July. This year we didn't get the first babies until June and I limited them to two clutches. The harlequin pair breeds in the late summer but didn't this year, but they still might. Even if they are mating, giving them a place to lay encourages them to continue. Removing their next box, or blocking it off will help end the behavior. They will need time to replenish their resources for the next breeding season. If they breed too much, the eggs could be odd sizes, or the shells may be too thick, too thin, or not fully formed. Fertility will also decline. You might want to discourage them from breeding again this year and force them to have a 6 - 9 month break before they breed again.

My green wing pair is in their early 20s. The harlequins are in their mid-teens. The red-fronted are 8 or 9 years old. We have an old blue and gold at the store and we were told she started breeding at 10 years old and continued for several decades before she stopped. If you manage their breeding and health properly they will have a long productive life. I prefer to have fewer chicks that are better quality than more chicks that may not be as robust. It's also exhausting to be constantly on the go and have my life scheduled around feeding birds. Right now I have 8 baby macaws, 4 baby greys, a baby citron, and the last clutch of conures that are being hand fed each day. I'm exhausted and longing for the house to be quiet again.
tip my hat off to you sir! I thought 3 were bad enought but oh my. You sound like you god a literal handful there! ahaha but thats awesome tho. keep the hours always occupied with baby birds and interacting with them.

Thnaks for the info for
 
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