"............. As a relatively inexperienced bird person the thought of inserting a tube down the esophagus and into the crop of an active adult bird scares me to death. I'm thinking one mistake can kill the bird. Can one person do this procedure on a macaw (or any size adult bird) by themselves? "
I know, that is what most bird keepers think or were made to believe by other people who were also "scared" or inexperienced
or made to believe that way by those who just simply felt that most other people were not capable of doing so safely, so therefore they felt they personally would not promote the procedure. I have a bit more faith in people if the following "tools" are present: safe clean equipment, a positive attitude, a somewhat steady hand, a positive minded assistant (when needed), proper lighting (don't do it in the dark) and a good teacher's lessons in mind.
As I always have said Karen, one almost always needs to learn how to properly do this procedure from someone that knows what they are doing. Usually the teacher person is an avian vet or a very experienced breeder or even just someone who keeps birds who already (safely and confidently) uses the procedure when needed. I myself was never taught but learned entirely on my own. Call it luck or whatever but I have never killed or injured a bird using this procedure and I have used it hundreds & hundreds of times over the last 15 yrs. or so.
Usually with large birds like Macaws or large 'TOOs it takes one person to hold the body of the bird properly (after learning how) and one person to do the holding of the head/neck while the second person is also doing the insertion of the gavage instrument (after learning how) - depending on the particular bird of course, as sometimes some birds can be medicated or fed this way with only the owner doing everything - usually this applies to smaller birds like Pois or Pionus (etc.) or even most Greys, Amazons and the like. Tiels and similar can fairly easily be done by only the owner. If I was the teacher, I would have the student & helper (helper usually being an S.O. who lives with the owner) go thru the procedure many times with me on hand
before I suggested they do it on their own or with only their helper present (to be safest).
Now if the patient was totally uncontrollable, totally freaked out, won't hold still kind of bird (with tons of energy/fight in him/her), then the procedure might even call for a third person to assist.
Now, even after all the above has been said, I still don't expect hardly anyone to run out to learn to do this procedure safely - simply because most bird keepers IME are negative minded when it comes to doing something like this and secondly, there are probably few teachers out there who are willing to teach it to them, mostly for fear that if the owner or assistant does do something wrong, then the teacher will be blamed unfairly.
To the positive minded, confident bird keepers, I suggest that you do learn (asap) this most valuable tool/procedure so that you will be able to help your bird in it's time of need (in your own home) without some vet possibly fleecing your pockets after they themselves do it and without the stress on the bird during the drive to the vet, the exam, etc. and not to mention the advantage of the human not having to endanger their own life while on the road going to the vet office, sometimes in inclement weather (etc.).
