One major concept you need to get with baby bird is that they wean themselves. If you do it right, you do not wean them. This means you offer them formula and adult food at the same time. Eventually they get to the point that they are eating enough adult food that they don't want as much formula. There are phases of 2 steps forward, 3 steps backward. For example, very soon your baby will go into a weight loss phase in preparation for first flight. He won't want as much formula, but that doesn't mean he's anywhere close to weaning. Once he starts flying, he may go through a phase of wanting more formula again because he'll likely be on the skinny side. I don't breed macaws, but for most of my birds it seems like sometime after first flight is when they really start eating adult food in quantity enough to experiment with reducing the number of feedings on some days. Mostly I go by behavior of the baby. If the baby cries and its been a few hours since the last meal, then I hand-feed it. If its due for a meal, but its not crying and I can get it interested in adult food instead, then I skip that feeding or give it an hour or so later so the baby has a chance to eat what it wants of adult food. This doesn't usually start until after the first flight.
I'd start out giving the baby some macaw sized pellets to play with and sometimes put a spoon full of cooked soft and warm veggies in a bowl near him. You can even offer cooked sweet potato with mashed banana by spoon every once in a while. But its best if they learn to eat adult food on their own. You will waste A LOT of food. I usually scatter a hand-full of pellets around the bottom of their container for them to pick at and crumble as they please. This does not mean they are eating or ready to be weaned. They are just experimenting with food. Remember, the baby weans itself by refusing your offered hand-feedings for several days in a row until you stop giving that feeding. While being open the possibility that the baby may start needing that feeding back again on some days. You offer food, the baby plays with it or refuses. This is how weaning works. You don't wean the baby by removing feedings until the baby has refused permanently. You aren't getting anywhere close to weaning until the baby is at least 4 months old. Many macaws will go longer. The process starts with the baby playing with food, crushing it while not eating it and generally making a mess of things. This goes on for several weeks. A week or a few weeks after first flight, it will start actually eating the offered adult food but may still at that point be so skinny that it also needs supplemental hand-feedings. You'll be in that in between phase where the baby is eating on its own but still taking 1 or 4 hand-feedings a day as well for a month or even several months until the baby gives up that last hand-feeding.
Also, watch out for him jumping on those hard floors. They can crack a breast bone or bruise themselves badly doing that. As others have said, you might have nice dogs, but don't trust them enough to walk out of the room and leave the macaw loose. I have a nice dog too and keep birds caged or the dogs with me when I'm not in the room. Also, some people like to clip babies when they start flying. Don't do this. It will set you back in the weaning process in a big way. Let the baby fly. You'll have to macaw proof your house. Look out for hot lamps, open toilets, open doors and windows the baby could land on or go through. And for God's sake, don't take the baby outside or leave a door open. Lots of weaning macaw babies are lost outdoors to starve to death because someone took them out when they thought the baby couldn't fly yet.
I apologize if I was preachy. Your question just indicated you might not be very experienced with hand-feeding baby birds. I thought I'd save you the grief of some common mistakes.
he is too much fun!!
