What to feed a baby macaw

How Do I Care for a Baby Macaw? (with pictures)

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Amber Eberle

Last Modified Date: November 25, 2022

Macaws are intelligent, brightly colored birds that many people choose to keep as pets. These birds are lively and entertaining, but, for the best behavior, macaws should be socialized and trained from a young age. A baby macaw requires a cage, as well as toys to chew on in order to entertain itself and keep its beak healthy. For the best health, a baby macaw should be fed a varied diet that contains many vitamins and nutrients. After bringing a new macaw home, it should be taken to a veterinarian for a thorough check-up.

A baby macaw needs veterinary care. Ideally, the vet should be trained and experienced in avian care. Most breeders recommend that a health check-up should be performed within the first 24 hours of bringing a new macaw home. Birds like macaws rarely show that they are experiencing health problems, but a vet is often able, through a thorough physical examination, to determine if the bird is healthy.

Before bringing home a baby macaw, it should have a cage in the new owner's home. This enclosure should be large enough for the bird to spread its wings without obstruction. Macaws typically grow to be quite large, so it is recommended that an owner buy the largest possible cage he can afford, and has room for, in order to prevent having to purchase new cages as the bird grows. The bottom of the cage should be lined with a soft material, as baby macaws may fall to the bottom of the cage until they get used to standing on a perch. Toys made for macaws should be placed in the cage for the bird to play with and chew on.

A baby macaw must be fed a healthy diet, made up of a variety of foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be offered daily, as well as a mixture of nuts and seeds. While the macaw is a baby, these nuts should be cracked and the shell should be removed, until the bird has learned to do it on its own. Small amounts of meat, such as cooked chicken, can also be fed to a macaw. The water in a baby macaw's cage should be changed daily.

In the wild, macaws are social animals that live in flocks. As a pet, a bird considers its human owners to be part of its flock, or family. Everyone in a household should spend time holding and playing with a baby macaw in order for it to become well socialized. Macaws, whether young or adult, require a lot of attention and owners should plan on spending several hours a day playing with and caring for their pets.

How to Take Care of Baby Macaws (With Pictures)

Any Macaw purchased from a breeder is fully weaned, so no special care practices are necessary. However, if you are planning to breed Macaws or your set of Macaws have unexpectedly bred, you must learn the ins and outs of taking care of babies because their needs are different from birds that are weaned and those that have reached adulthood.

The good news is that it is entirely possible to raise a baby Macaw into a healthy and happy bird. The bad news is that it’s not easy. Hand feeding is a big part of the process, which can be tough to master overall. But with a little direction and a great deal of commitment, you can succeed when all is said and done. Here is a guide to caring for baby Macaws that should make your job as the caretaker an easier and more pleasurable experience.

First Things First: It’s All About the Parents

Image Credit: AKKHARAT JARUSILAWON, Shutterstock

If a baby Macaw’s parents are in the picture, the parents should be doing most of the work when it comes to caring for the baby, especially during the first 2 weeks of life. It is important to offer the parents a larger amount of food in a wider variety. Provide fresh veggies, like celery, carrots, and spinach, and fruits and berries, like melon, banana, and blueberries. Whole grains, including oats, are also a good idea.

This extra food will be used by the parents to feed their new baby, which is why the types of food offered daily should greatly vary in terms of nutrition, flavor, and texture. The parents will regurgitate the food and feed it to the baby, which provides the baby with natural intestinal enzymes that help strengthen its digestive system.

In addition to extra food, it is a good idea to provide more bedding in the habitat so the parents can ensure warmth and comfort for their babies. With these extra tools and resources in place, parent Macaws will do most of the legwork. However, supervision throughout the day and regular interactions with the parents and baby are necessary.

Caring for a Baby Macaw on Your Own

If a baby Macaw’s parents are not around, you must take on the role of primary caretaker yourself. The biggest aspect of caring for a baby Macaw is feeding. Baby Macaws cannot feed themselves, so they will rely on you for every morsel of food that they consume. To start, you should gather all the tools necessary for the proper hand feeding of baby Macaws.

Here is what you will need:

Kitchen Scale: This is used to weigh a baby Macaw as they age to determine whether they are getting enough food to gain weight as they grow.
Incubator: This helps keep baby Macaws warm during cold days and throughout the night.
Bedding Material: Cotton cloths, small fluffy blankets, and old sweaters provide comfort for babies.
Pipettes and Syringes: These are used to administer specialty formula to babies and chicks until they can eat whole foods on their own.
Antibacterial Soap: This should be used before every physical interaction with a baby to ensure that they do not get exposed to germs.

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The Process of Hand-Feeding Baby Macaws

You will need both your hands to feed a baby Macaw, so the baby should be placed in a small, soft container, such as a bowl lined with a soft towel, so it can reach out for food without the risk of falling over or injuring itself. Once the baby is situated for feeding, prepare the baby’s formula using boiled water and the directions that are included with the formula product.

Fill a pipette or syringe with the formula, and then offer it to the baby by placing the opening of the pipette or syringe over the baby’s open mouth and then lightly dripping the formula into its mouth. You will know that you are feeding the baby enough if it is gaining weight daily. If weight gain is not apparent, increase the amount of formula being offered at each feeding.

When and How Often to Feed Baby Macaws

Newborn Macaws should be fed every 2 hours, even throughout the night, so multiple human caretakers should consider taking shifts to meet this need without putting too much pressure on any one person. Once the newborn becomes a chick (at about 2 weeks of age), it only needs to be fed once every 4 hours, including throughout the night.

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Weening Baby Macaws

At about 3 months of age, baby Macaws are ready to be weaned from hand feeding. This means that the bird can learn to start pecking at whole food and digesting it on its own, and the formula can be eliminated. However, the weaning process should be a slow one. Start by offering formula in a bowl rather than through a syringe or pipette. You may still need to hand-feed the bird for a couple of weeks between bowl feedings to ensure that it is getting enough calories and nutrients.

Once the bird can easily eat formula from a bowl and finishes every meal that is offered to them, you can start to introduce the same types of foods that an adult Macaw eats, such as seeds, berries, tropical fruits, veggies, and whole grains. A commercial parrot mix should be offered as the main part of any meal in a given sitting.

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Working With a Veterinarian

It is extremely important to work with a veterinarian when caring for a baby Macaw to minimize the risk of making mistakes and to ensure that you are prepared to handle and problems that might arise, like the refusal of a baby to eat any formula for whatever reason. A veterinarian will provide guidance and encouragement so you do not feel so alone throughout the hand-feeding process. Regular veterinarian checkups should take place throughout the entire life of a Macaw, from beginning to end.

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Feeding Macaws | Ares | PTICHKA.NET

Macaw parrots are recommended to be fed with specialized grain mixtures for large parrots. The basis of the diet for macaws is grain mixtures (up to 60-70% of the total diet). You can also give: canary seed, safflower, sunflower, oats, wheat, millet, buckwheat, some nuts.

Monotony should be avoided in formulating the diet. Juicy plant foods and root crops must be present in the diet, as they are the main sources of vitamins and minerals. nine0003

Offer your parrot fresh vegetables and fruits, it may take persistence to get your parrot to try new foods. It is better to cut large fruits so that the parrot can take a piece in its paw. Leftover fruit must be removed every day.

New foods should be introduced into the diet of parrots carefully and in small portions. By mixing favorite foods with preferred ones, the following result can be achieved: the bird will first reject unloved foods, and then, as the amount of favorite food decreases, it will gradually get used to eating the unloved one. When introducing new food into the diet, it is very important to persistently continue to give it even if the parrot rejects the unfamiliar food for a long time, up to several weeks. nine0003

All fruits and vegetables should be washed very carefully, especially those that cannot be peeled.

Vegetables: Carrots (optional with leaves), sweet peppers, squash, celery, cucumber, milk corn, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant and celery, green beans and pea pods, red beets, fennel, rare, turnips, sweet potatoes ( boiled), green mustard, chard, cabbage, green beans, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, turnips, eggplant, kohlrabi.

nine0002 Tubers (without salt) are boiled for 30 minutes, allowed to cool, and then cut into small pieces.

Fruits and berries: apples, pears, kiwi, pineapple, apricots, citrus fruits, grapes, peaches, black and red rowan, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, cranberries, bananas, pears, peaches, pomegranate, papaya, apricot.

Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly before feeding. Seeds are removed from apples.

Fruit stones containing hydrocyanic acid (cherry, plum, apricot) should not be given, incl. and cherry berries. nine0003

You can give the parrot dried fruits (raisins, apples, dates, figs, prunes, dried apricots), after washing very carefully. You can also fill it with water overnight and give the parrot soaked dried fruits.

It is advisable to accustom the parrot to ready-made fruit and vegetable puree , produced for baby food. This is a very good addition to the diet of a parrot, especially in winter.

Ready purees must not contain vegetables and fruits from the prohibited list, sugar, cream, milk, as well as fish and meat. Juices from fresh fruits and berries are useful for parrots, both freshly squeezed and ready-made juices for baby food that do not contain sugar. nine0003

You can give freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices , especially if the diet is low in fresh vegetables and fruits. A rosehip broth is a good source of vitamin C, you can give a bird a chamomile decoction - it has a beneficial effect on digestion and the nervous system (1 tablespoon of chamomile in a glass of boiling water, hold for 10 minutes in a water bath and insist for 40 - 50 minutes), also very useful decoction of hawthorn.

From greens , parrots should be given Chinese cabbage, lettuce, spinach, dandelion, nettle, wood lice, celery, green mustard, turnip tops, chard. You can give seeds of woodlice, plantain, dandelion roots. nine0003

It is recommended to feed a soaked mixture of legumes (soybeans, peas, lentils, small chasole, etc.), soaked grains (wheat, buckwheat, oats, etc. ).

Germinated Seeds are an excellent source of vitamins and a great way to add variety to your bird's diet. If you are sprouting grains and legumes outside of the refrigerator, wash them 3-5 times a day. If stored in the refrigerator, then once a day or even two days is enough.

Grow grass from oats and millet, cockatoos love it very much. Useful for parrots and branches of fruit bushes and trees .

Animal food: Dairy products may only be given in small amounts and preferably with low lactose levels, such as skim milk, natural yoghurt and some cheeses.

Low-fat cottage cheese is recommended to be given no more than 2 times a week, for a moderately active bird the size of an Amazon, a serving is 2 teaspoons of cottage cheese. Well suited for this purpose is children's cottage cheese, completely fat-free cottage cheese, and dietary cottage cheese. You can add a little honey to the curd. nine0003

It is necessary to mix curd products with a small amount of grain feed. The best option is to teach the bird to eat (or drink) fermented milk products from a spoon. In a drinker at room temperature, they quickly deteriorate. Products must be without preservatives (not long-term storage), containing live biocultures.

Young (underpuberty) birds should be given a boiled chicken egg, preferably a quail egg (for a bird the size of an Amazon, 3 quail eggs) 1-2 times a week, since a growing and developing body needs high-grade protein in large quantities. nine0003

For adult birds kept alone in an apartment, it is recommended to give an egg no more than once every 10 days (otherwise the protein will work as a hormonal stimulant).

Boiled quail or chicken eggs can be mixed with grated carrots.

Kashi: you can give a parrot porridge made from buckwheat or buckwheat, millet, rice, barley, boiled in water without salt and sugar. The most useful cereals: buckwheat, oatmeal, barley, rice, legumes. The temperature of soft food should be 40°C. nine0003

Honey is a valuable source of carbohydrates (glucose, fructose) and trace elements. It can be given in its pure form 1-3 times a week (for large and medium parrots - 1/2 teaspoon) or mixed into cereals and cottage cheese.

Mineral supplements/vitamins: Lime, eggshell, white chalk, cuttlefish shell are offered as additional calcium to birds.

Water must be available at all times. It is poured into a heavy stable bowl and changed as it gets dirty. nine0003

The following seeds and nuts may be offered to large parrots (macaws, large cockatoos, etc.):

walnut - 1 - 3 pcs. per day (cleaned)

hazelnuts - 2 - 6 nuts per day (peeled)

pumpkin seeds - 3 - 6 pcs. per day

Almonds, pistachios should not be given (they contain hydrocyanic acid).

All nuts must be unroasted, salted or candied.

Cashews and coconut should not be given - these nuts are too fatty. Brazil nuts can be given no more than 1 time per month as a special treat, as it is very high in calories. nine0003

Do not overfeed your parrot with nuts, seeds and other fatty foods, such foods should be no more than one quarter of the grain diet. Approximately 50 grams of grain mixture is enough for a parrot per day.

Not allowed: Alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, high fat foods (e.g. chips), parsley, sugar, salt, bread, fried foods, smoked meats, sausages, almonds, pistachios. All of these foods are toxic to parrots.

It is also worth refraining from feeding: mango, papaya, persimmon, avocado, potato, parsley and other herbs (a large amount of essential substances contained in parsley, dill, cilantro, etc. are harmful to parrots). Do not give candied fruit.

Adult macaws are fed 1-2 times a day (first feeding at 5-6 am). Feed in the cage should be throughout the day.

Do not give fish oil - it contains a large amount of vitamins, mainly A, D, E, but the bird at home rarely experiences a real lack of these vitamins, and in large quantities they are toxic. nine0003

Do not allow your saliva to get into the beak of a parrot, our microflora is dangerous for parrots.

In the summer, food spoils quickly and can become simply life-threatening for a feathered pet. Therefore, in hot weather, it should be given in smaller portions, but somewhat more often than in the cold season.

Before feeding a parrot from a new pack, be sure to check it for quality. Grain that has a musty or putrid odor is unsuitable for feeding, as decomposition has begun in it under the influence of putrefactive bacteria. Such grain should not be given to parrots, as it causes a disease of the gastrointestinal tract. nine0003

The smell of grain is determined by pouring a small amount of grains into the palm of your hand and warming them with your breath. You can pour a certain amount of grain with hot water at a temperature of 60 ° C and after 2 - 3 minutes, draining the water, determine the smell.

Keeping Macaw | Tail News

Contents

one How to care for macaws? 2 What to feed the macaw? nine0003

2 minutes

estimated reading time

Macaws are very beautiful, bright and, by the way, the largest birds from the Parrot order. Now they are a real rarity. It is not surprising that many dream of such pets. But before you go to a breeder, you need to know how to care for macaws and what to feed them. And we will help you with this!

How to care for macaws?

Keeping macaws at home has its own nuances. Even if you already had wavy or, for example, canaries, you will discover a new world with macaws. These birds are very smart, active and sociable. Their mood can change just like ours. And in order to establish a true friendship with a pet, you need to understand its nature well and establish the most comfortable conditions for it. What to pay attention to first of all?

Very big cage! nine0144

Large parrots - large cages. Or aviaries. The main thing is that the macaw should be able to move freely around its home without touching the walls and without injuring the feathers.

Walking is a must have!

Ara should never be kept in a cage alone. The parrot needs daily walks around the apartment. Of course, under the watchful eye of the owner. Give your pet the opportunity to fly and stretch their wings more often. This is necessary both for his health and for good mood. nine0003

When releasing a parrot from a cage, make sure that all windows in the apartment are closed!

In the spotlight!

Macaw is a very smart, sociable parrot, and he just loves to be the soul of the company. This bird does not like to be alone. You need to talk and play with her as often as possible. If you are not ready to devote a lot of time to your pet, perhaps it is better to think about fish? nine0003

Be patient!

Macaws can sometimes be noisy. They scream loudly, which is not to everyone's liking. During the breeding season, the bird can often scream and even show aggression. Be patient, these difficulties are temporary.

But when a tame parrot feels good, he hisses in a funny way. Of course, you will want to hear this hiss as often as possible!

Taming is easy if you know how. nine0144

It is better to tame macaws from childhood. Little chicks make the best companions!

And macaws quickly get used to a certain regimen and diet. It is extremely difficult to retrain an adult parrot, and this undertaking often ends in failure.

What to feed the macaw?

The best diet is as close to natural as possible. In their natural habitat, macaws eat ripe fruits, seeds, berries, nuts, and even snails! nine0003

In captivity, the diverse needs of a bird cannot be satisfied with just one type of prepared feed. The diet of a parrot should include not only grains, but also suitable fruits, vegetables and herbs.

When choosing the main food, give preference to specialized lines for macaws. Special feeds fully take into account the nutritional needs of a particular species, which is difficult to achieve on your own at home.