Hello all,
Can anyone provide any macaw growth charts (age in days versus weight in grams)? I am having the hardest time finding one for blue-throated macaws anywhere on the internet. Elsewhere in this forum I have found one for a b&g, but the image was cut off for the first few weeks of age and it was hard to read. I'd love to find a complete one for b&g or scarlet as they're similarly sized to the blue-throated, unless someone actually has a b-t one. I am aware that growth can differ by individual but I still need to be able to compare to average.
It would be great if someone could provide any average feeding schedule charts for macaws also, so I can compare rate of crop emptying and amount of begging to a normal baseline.
Lots of hand feeding experience but this is my first baby macaw, just took him in yesterday evening. He is 11 weeks old. No, he should not have been rehomed at this age - I needed to get him out of that place. The person had no idea what they were doing and it was clear they hadn't bred him personally but rather were "selling him for a friend." Not only is he small for his age (at least I THINK he is, need that info!), but when I met this bird at 2:00 p.m. that day and I asked when he had last eaten, the "breeder" said he hadn't even fed him yet that day. All the blood drained out of my head when he said that. He was on Kaytee Exact formula also which doesn't even have enough calories for my budgies (granted they're pretty high energy too). For now I started giving him the Roudybush I already had in the house, adding a teeny bit of Formula Plus and a bit of coconut oil for some extra fat, and I also ordered the Higgins Hi Energy which should arrive today or tomorrow hopefully. This being the first time I've hand fed a macaw I need all the advice I can get as that breeder obviously is not a breeder and certainly will not be able to help me. He told me this bird was "almost weaned" at 11 weeks, but I believe he is simply lightening - he already flew the first evening. Into a wall, but still (baby birds). I just want to get him socialized and fed correctly (doesn't even know how to head bob and wouldn't let me touch his beak at all at first - that changed after the first feeding as I was gently petting his head while feeding him and he finally accepted my hand - previous owner liked to poke him obnoxiously in the face through the cage bars and go, "look, he bites when he's in the cage" - man this person made my heart rate skyrocket, it was hard not to deck him, even typing this now is making my blood boil). The baby is not banded and I'll never know where he came from originally (previous owner claims within state but...I mean really) but he will be safe here for the rest of his life no matter what. I don't know what the forum rules are for swearing but it was difficult to get through this paragraph without it.
I already sent a stool sample out for a BDF test and gram stain. I really need to get him on the right growth curve. I feel like he should weigh almost as much as my 24-year-old catalina (1030g), but right now he is 760g. He does not feel particularly thin at the keel, but his overall size seems small. He is fully feathered and his feathers look decent for a baby. I am told his hatch date was 7/28/21.
Thank you all so much!
Fee
P.S. Just curious - would you be able to leave without taking that bird with you?
Can anyone provide any macaw growth charts (age in days versus weight in grams)? I am having the hardest time finding one for blue-throated macaws anywhere on the internet. Elsewhere in this forum I have found one for a b&g, but the image was cut off for the first few weeks of age and it was hard to read. I'd love to find a complete one for b&g or scarlet as they're similarly sized to the blue-throated, unless someone actually has a b-t one. I am aware that growth can differ by individual but I still need to be able to compare to average.
It would be great if someone could provide any average feeding schedule charts for macaws also, so I can compare rate of crop emptying and amount of begging to a normal baseline.
Lots of hand feeding experience but this is my first baby macaw, just took him in yesterday evening. He is 11 weeks old. No, he should not have been rehomed at this age - I needed to get him out of that place. The person had no idea what they were doing and it was clear they hadn't bred him personally but rather were "selling him for a friend." Not only is he small for his age (at least I THINK he is, need that info!), but when I met this bird at 2:00 p.m. that day and I asked when he had last eaten, the "breeder" said he hadn't even fed him yet that day. All the blood drained out of my head when he said that. He was on Kaytee Exact formula also which doesn't even have enough calories for my budgies (granted they're pretty high energy too). For now I started giving him the Roudybush I already had in the house, adding a teeny bit of Formula Plus and a bit of coconut oil for some extra fat, and I also ordered the Higgins Hi Energy which should arrive today or tomorrow hopefully. This being the first time I've hand fed a macaw I need all the advice I can get as that breeder obviously is not a breeder and certainly will not be able to help me. He told me this bird was "almost weaned" at 11 weeks, but I believe he is simply lightening - he already flew the first evening. Into a wall, but still (baby birds). I just want to get him socialized and fed correctly (doesn't even know how to head bob and wouldn't let me touch his beak at all at first - that changed after the first feeding as I was gently petting his head while feeding him and he finally accepted my hand - previous owner liked to poke him obnoxiously in the face through the cage bars and go, "look, he bites when he's in the cage" - man this person made my heart rate skyrocket, it was hard not to deck him, even typing this now is making my blood boil). The baby is not banded and I'll never know where he came from originally (previous owner claims within state but...I mean really) but he will be safe here for the rest of his life no matter what. I don't know what the forum rules are for swearing but it was difficult to get through this paragraph without it.
I already sent a stool sample out for a BDF test and gram stain. I really need to get him on the right growth curve. I feel like he should weigh almost as much as my 24-year-old catalina (1030g), but right now he is 760g. He does not feel particularly thin at the keel, but his overall size seems small. He is fully feathered and his feathers look decent for a baby. I am told his hatch date was 7/28/21.
Thank you all so much!
Fee
P.S. Just curious - would you be able to leave without taking that bird with you?
