Macaw Adventures 2023

[BrianB]

So maybe I’m a bit dense here, but why bother owning him if they obviously don’t want him, otherwise he would be home with them.

I’ve been asking myself the same question for the last 3 years. They were supposed to go home at the end of July in 2020. Maybe there are things going on that we don’t know about, but on the surface from what we see it’s just wrong.

 

[BrianB]

Chewy was a brat today. I've been taking him to work with me and when I'm home I leave his cage door open. He hangs out on top of the door or the top of the cage. He's behaved himself and made no attempt to get down and get into mischief. The same holds true for macaws as it does for children. When they are quiet, they are either dead asleep or up to mischief. This afternoon I was having a video call with a friend to go over some web creation software for a project she's working on. My other half was in the office with me working on something and the television was on in the family room. Normally there is some ambient bird noise so I should have picked up that there wasn't any and gone to investigate it myself. Just as I'm wrapping up the call I hear a loud metal clang. Only one thing here makes that noise so I knew a metal food dish had landed on the floor. There aren't any out in the kitchen so I excused myself to go see who had knocked a food dish over. I go out there and find that Chewy has gotten down from his cage and opened the side door to Bo's cage, throwing her water dish on the floor. He's very proud of himself and took a victory lap across the top of her cage, out of reach from my arms. Bo was at the far back of the cage in no danger from him, but she was giving me a look like - "Get him out of here!" I put him on the island and cleaned up the mess so I could go back to my video call. He went with me to the office where I introduced my friend to the very beautiful, but very rude, red bird on my arm. He stayed on the tree stand in the office until we were finished.

We might be adding another pair of red-fronted macaws to our flock. There is an option to take all 3 pairs, but after some discussions, we decided to take just 1. There are the new AWA regulations to consider and we're trying to navigate and decipher them this summer. They aren't as clear as they should be and we aren't sure where we will fall into the classification. Adding another 6 macaws into the space would be too much at once. There is also a big summer vacation we're planning and it would throw those plans into disarray. It will be nice to take a full week instead of a few long weekends. It's been a long time since we've been able to do that.

BooBoo will be leaving us next week. He's going to a nice breeder that has a cute female waiting for him. I tried to find a lady friend for him, but it was more difficult than I imagined it would be. The only female I found wasn't fertile and would require me to drive from Arizona to the middle of Louisana to pick her up. At least now he can breed and add some more beautiful baby Buffons to the world.

 

[BrianB]

We think Baby Bo will be heading home soon. She's finally making progress toward being weaned. After her crop infection and multiple rounds of medication, she regressed and we went back to hand feeding. I've never had a macaw take almost 8 months to wean. Each baby is different so we let them go at their own pace. The red-fronted macaws have all weaned in the 90 - 110 days range. Freya was hand fed for about 6 months. I don't remember exactly how long, but we did have to cut her off because it became a game for her. She would hold it all in her mouth and then spit it back at me or shake her head and splatter it all over the place. She cried for it a few times and then gave up. Chichi weaned naturally and took less and less and finally stopped asking for it. Enzo went home when he was down to just the last bit of it. His mom was capable of feeding him and she said he took a little here and there for another 2 weeks, but it was more a comfort feeding than anything. Bo has held onto it and we're finally at the end. I switched her from the breeder pellets I feed youngsters to a natural pellet in addition to her chop. Yesterday she ate an entire bowl of chop and pellets. There was nothing but crumbs in the bowl and her crop was so full you could see it. She didn't ask for hand feeding at all. We have a clutch of black-capped conures that are being hand fed and when I start the feeding process for them, she starts to scream for food. The last 2 days she hasn't done that. I think we're finally getting there. She will be 8 months old on April 2nd, and I know her momma is waiting for her to wean so she can go home.

Poor Chewy can't make up his mind if he wants to be cuddly or try to bite me. He's got multiple personalities from the hormones. Sometimes the scarlet wants to come out and sometimes the greenwing wants to be in control. I'm all for the cuddles but not interested in the biting. When I take him to work I put him on a tree stand in the grooming area. That keeps him away from the store birds and behind a chain so customers can't just walk up to him. I was a few feet away from his tree and something spooked him. He jumped at me and landed on my back where he just held on for dear life. He wouldn't crawl up to my shoulder nor would he step onto a hand when I reached around. The store owner walked up to him and in her best "mom" voice told him to step up right now and stop that nonsense. It always works. He stepped right up to her arm then over to mine and back onto his tree. He won't be going to work with me today. I don't normally work on Wednesdays, but I'm covering for someone today. Chewy is afraid of the groomer and he will just be tree-hopping around the store if I take him.

Here we are spending a few minutes together before bed time.

 

[BrianB]

Breeding season is definitely here. Chewie is still being crazy. He just wanted to be touched all over and gets frustrated when I tell him that I'm not going to rub him under the wing. This morning he's sitting in the office with me and making grunting noises because he's frustrated. I stopped paying attention to him for 2 minutes and he grabbed my thumb with his beak. He wasn't putting any pressure on me, but he was holding it firmly. I looked at him and said, "Excuse me?" then he opened his beak and sort of chuckled. I told him that wasn't funny and my fingers don't belong in his beak. The next time I'm going to bite one of his toes and see how he likes it

Bo is finally weaned! She's been a full week without formula now. What a difference from Freya where she just started playing us over it and we had to cut her off, to Bo who regressed while being sick, and then one day decided she didn't want it anymore. She's been active in her cage and has destroyed a few wooden toys. The last thing we need to do is get her nails trimmed and I can plan to have her sent home to her momma. I know she's anxiously waiting for her to get home.

Bo's parents are horrible right now. Zachary gets into his breeding mood long before Zelda does and now he's frustrated with her. Sometimes he screams in frustration and other times he is so aggressive with her that I feel like I need to separate them. The one time I tried she screamed so loud I thought the neighbors might call the police about it. When she's finally receptive to breeding things are fine, but until then it's a rough situation.

We're waiting on disease testing on the new red-fronted macaws to come back. If everything is good, we'll make plans to have them shipped to us and they will go into the cage that BooBoo and Natcho used to share. I'll have to strip it and get it cleaned first, but it's a good size flight cage for them and I have a nest box ready. Like the other pair we have, they have been together for years but were never given a nest box for breeding. They were scoped and the vet confirms they are fertile, we just have to see if they will be as well bonded and productive.

Here is Chewy sitting on my arm just as I started typing this. I had to put him back on his stand because he was wiggling all over the place. I have my work laptop just out of the picture to the left. As soon as I put him back on his stand he made a huge mess so I'm really glad he didn't explode on my laptop. I'm due for a replacement, but it would be hard to explain to my boss why it came back so dirty.

 

[howdymjm]

Breeding season is definitely here. Chewie is still being crazy. He just wanted to be touched all over and gets frustrated when I tell him that I'm not going to rub him under the wing. This morning he's sitting in the office with me and making grunting noises because he's frustrated. I stopped paying attention to him for 2 minutes and he grabbed my thumb with his beak. He wasn't putting any pressure on me, but he was holding it firmly. I looked at him and said, "Excuse me?" then he opened his beak and sort of chuckled. I told him that wasn't funny and my fingers don't belong in his beak. The next time I'm going to bite one of his toes and see how he likes it

Bo is finally weaned! She's been a full week without formula now. What a difference from Freya where she just started playing us over it and we had to cut her off, to Bo who regressed while being sick, and then one day decided she didn't want it anymore. She's been active in her cage and has destroyed a few wooden toys. The last thing we need to do is get her nails trimmed and I can plan to have her sent home to her momma. I know she's anxiously waiting for her to get home.

Bo's parents are horrible right now. Zachary gets into his breeding mood long before Zelda does and now he's frustrated with her. Sometimes he screams in frustration and other times he is so aggressive with her that I feel like I need to separate them. The one time I tried she screamed so loud I thought the neighbors might call the police about it. When she's finally receptive to breeding things are fine, but until then it's a rough situation.

We're waiting on disease testing on the new red-fronted macaws to come back. If everything is good, we'll make plans to have them shipped to us and they will go into the cage that BooBoo and Natcho used to share. I'll have to strip it and get it cleaned first, but it's a good size flight cage for them and I have a nest box ready. Like the other pair we have, they have been together for years but were never given a nest box for breeding. They were scoped and the vet confirms they are fertile, we just have to see if they will be as well bonded and productive.

Here is Chewy sitting on my arm just as I started typing this. I had to put him back on his stand because he was wiggling all over the place. I have my work laptop just out of the picture to the left. As soon as I put him back on his stand he made a huge mess so I'm really glad he didn't explode on my laptop. I'm due for a replacement, but it would be hard to explain to my boss why it came back so dirty.

View attachment 425849

pictures on the red fronts when you have time and are set up. fingers crossed.

 

[BrianB]

These two beauties are arriving on Wednesday. After some quarantine time, they will be introduced to their new flock. Momma looks a little rough on her head and neck, but daddy has been over-preening her. They were not given a nest box so they are probably frustrated right now. We've got a nice flight cage waiting for them and a nest box just ready for some beautiful babies.

 

[April]

These two beauties are arriving on Wednesday. After some quarantine time, they will be introduced to their new flock. Momma looks a little rough on her head and neck, but daddy has been over-preening her. They were not given a nest box so they are probably frustrated right now. We've got a nice flight cage waiting for them and a nest box just ready for some beautiful babies.

View attachment 426536 View attachment 426537

Oh my gosh! They are absolutely gorgeous! Oh I love Red Fronts so much

 

[BrianB]

We had the option to take 3 pairs, but there just isn't enough room for them. Boo Boo leaving and Natcho moving into his cage frees up a flight cage for this pair. I would have tried to stuff another 2 pairs in there, but it's not meant to be. Our current pair gives us 6 chicks a year. We'll see what the new pair does. If they give us just as many I'll be drowning in baby red-fronted macaws.

 

[April]

If they give us just as many I'll be drowning in baby red-fronted macaws.

You act as though that's a bad thing
But in all seriousness I completely understand how that would be difficult to deal with.

 

[BrianB]

You act as though that's a bad thing
But in all seriousness I completely understand how that would be difficult to deal with.

If I was fully retired from my technology job and didn’t work at the bird store then I would happily spend the days at home raising and spoiling macaw babies. Being a responsible adult can be so inconvenient sometimes

 

[April]

If I was fully retired from my technology job and didn’t work at the bird store then I would happily spend the days at home raising and spoiling macaw babies. Being a responsible adult can be so inconvenient sometimes

That's the absolute truth! I can only imagine how fun it would be to be covered in a pile of sweet Macaw babies.

 

[BrianB]

I've had to deal with two big macaws being delicate flowers the last few days. It's so funny to see these big birds with big attitudes being reduced to cuddle bugs because they are scared or unsure of themselves.

First up is Chewy. He was in the office with me and it started to get windy right around sunset. He made it clear he wanted off of his stand and onto the chair with me. The louder the wind got the more cuddly he became. Eventually, he crawled across my arm and stood on my chest so he could get as close to me as possible.

The second one is the hyacinth at the store. He likes short men with dark hair. Well, I'm short, but I don't have much hair and it isn't dark. I joke that I have shiny pink hair these days. Anyway, he was hanging out with the guy who cleans cages in the back of the store and he needs to socialize with more people. He did not want to step off of the guy's shoulder and with that big beak, he can be really difficult when he wants to. The guy got him to climb up onto one of the cages and then walked away. He had no choice but to step up for me. At first, he just wanted to be rude to me and he kept pushing me to see what he could get away with. Every time he would try to nip me, I dropped him to the floor. After the 3rd time, he realized I wasn't playing and his whole attitude changed. He turned into a big cuddle monster and put his head on my chest and almost purred like a cat. I had to move him from arm to arm as I took care of customers, but he hung out with me for about 30 minutes before he went back to his cage. A little socializing is good for him and helps reduce his attitude. It gave me some time to work on the pin feathers on his head. He won't let the other guy do it because he is always on his shoulder. We're still working on that.

 

[BrianB]

My new babies have arrived. They had a long delay on their journey due to weather issues but they arrived safe and sound. They are in a temporary cage until I can free up a flight cage for them. Momma on the left shot out of the carrier and then looked around as if she was very displeased. The male didn't want to come out and when he did he climbed right up the side and then flew from one side to the other. I'm trying to make it stress-free for them so I had the cage ready with their regular food/water and some treats. Once they were inside I turned off the lights and they settled right away. Let's see how they are in the morning. It's been a long day for us both.

 

[zoo mom]

They are beautiful.

 

[April]

My new babies have arrived. They had a long delay on their journey due to weather issues but they arrived safe and sound. They are in a temporary cage until I can free up a flight cage for them. Momma on the left shot out of the carrier and then looked around as if she was very displeased. The male didn't want to come out and when he did he climbed right up the side and then flew from one side to the other. I'm trying to make it stress-free for them so I had the cage ready with their regular food/water and some treats. Once they were inside I turned off the lights and they settled right away. Let's see how they are in the morning. It's been a long day for us both.

View attachment 426726

Ooh my gosh they are stunning! Welcome home sweeties

 

[BrianB]

My Baby Bo leaves for home today. It's been a journey with this one. Zelda laid her egg in early July. For several reasons we decided to move the egg to an incubator instead of letting her sit on it. The egg started moving and cracking on July 31st. On August 2nd it was still working and part of the shell had been cracked, but the inner membrane was still intact. When the movement started to slow I decided it was time to help. With a shaky hand, I slowly picked the shell apart. It was very thick in some places and the membrane had started to dry out. This little one was finally free just before 7 pm that night. Just when she started to wean she came down with a crop infection and I thought we were going to lose her. The poor girl went from a happy, silly baby who weighed just over 900 grams to a lethargic droopy wing mess that clocked in at just over 700 grams. Then we had multiple rounds of antibiotics, injections 2 times a day, and a return to hand feeding. The long dose of antibiotics caused her to get a yeast infection in her crop, but the vet didn't want to go back into a cycle of antibiotics. We gave her 2 weeks of apple cider vinegar added to her water and it cleared right up. Once that was done she started eating like a pig and in 2 weeks she was weaned. Bo would always get excited when I pulled the formula from the fridge and started to mix it. Each day her reaction was less and less. For her last hand feeding, she acted like she couldn't be bothered. I gave her 20 ml of warm water with a small bit of formula and that was the last of it. She never begged for it again. Unfortunately, she's started molting into her adult feathers and she looks like she picked a fight with a lawn mower and lost. She's covered in new feather quills. I'm sure she will be back to her beautiful self in a few weeks. So here we are 8 months later and my baby is finally heading home. I'm going to miss this little girl, but I know her momma is looking forward to having her home. I've seen her new cage and she's going to be one pampered and spoiled bird.

First picture - Bo right out of the egg with bits of shell still sticking to her. The second picture is from yesterday while she was waiting to get her nails done. What a difference.

 

[Birdie Mama]

All the best to you in your new life and adventures!! Hope your mama comes and visits us one day.

 

[BrianB]

My baby is now in the hands of the airline. The first thing I noticed when I came through the door is that the house is very quiet. She was always making some soft noise and now it's gone. It's going to be very hard to sleep tonight and I'll be waiting confirmation that her momma has her in hand tomorrow morning.

 

[BrianB]

No arrived safe and sound this morning. Momma said she looked a little confused but was doing fine otherwise. I’m relieved.

 

[April]

No arrived safe and sound this morning. Momma said she looked a little confused but was doing fine otherwise. I’m relieved.

That's such a relief!