Hi all! I have a 4 month ferocious Hahns Macaw!!

[jojovaliente]

Hi everyone! My wife just bought me a Hahns Macaw for my bday which is tomorrow by the way... =) I've had my hahns for a full 3 days as of today.

I do have 2 lovebirds and both are well trained. I wanted to take on a medium sized parrot and did some studying with the hahns. My wife asked me what I wanted for my bday and I said a hahns macaw. So she got me one.

I tellya...the very first day, my 4 month old hahns drew blood out of me from 3 different parts of my hand. i wanted to see if she was comfortable with any touch. I found that distracting her with treats i was able to rub the back of her head but when she was done with the seed i had to back off or there goes my fingers.

I'm not scared of my lovebirds when i first had them...i was able to take their bite but OH MY!!! This hahns is a totally different story!!! right now she is pretty much clicker trained in her cage. I'll give her a full week to get used to clicker training before attempting to take her out of her cage. I'll see what happens.

I want to train my hahns to freefly but she has to learn to step up first. I wanted to know if anyone has ever trained their bird to freefly later in the birds years. Is it possible to flight train birds when their much older? I kept reading articles that it's best to start young...yes i agree but is there anyone out there who have trained free flight training after a year or so of having their bird?

Joel

[Michael]

Kili was originally clipped and didn't start to fly until her first molt after about a year. She does just fine and is in some ways better trained than an always flighted bird because she is already used to routines and training.

As for the Hahn's Macaw I think you are rushing things and letting your experience with lovebirds overwhelm your expectations. When you've had a bird for a while you start to forget how long it took to get used to each other at first.

You can read all about how I flight trained Kili here.

[jojovaliente]

Hey Michael! Thanks for the reply. I guess you're right about rushing training. I'm trying my best to go the speed my hahns will go. Today, actually she stepped up to a perch i was holding during touch training and she did great! The breeder whom i bought the hahns from knew that i wanted to flight train my hahns so he tried to help during hand feeding trying to get her to recall to him when it was feeding time. He said she's been flying to him and loves to be out of the cage and haning out on his shoulders. When i got her 3 days ago of course she didn't know me and was eager to bite since she didn't have trust in me.

When i come to her cage, I usually talk and hand feed her some seeds just so she can know that when she sees me, she knows i'm not a harm to her.

I have a ton of the Womach brothers training DVD's and their Seminar DVD's and studied them all the way through. I'll try my best to use that knowledge and gain a great friendship with Maxyx (pronounced Maxee) my hahns macaw.

Flight training is my current interest along with vocalizing. =) You videos on youtube Michael are awesome! You and your bird have a great companionship. I'll be keeping in touch with you and here on this forum to learn more. Thanks for taking me in this forum!! =)

Joel

[MissLady9902]

Hi Joel and welcome! I hope things go great with your new addition!

[jojovaliente]

Thanks Cathy! Howre your birds holding up? Do you have any interesting experience with flighted birds?

[MissLady9902]

My guys are doing great! The only flighted birds I have right now are my finches and they are in a flight cage.
Noodle was trimmed when I bought her so she's not flighted yet. She's starting a light molt and has 2 new flight feathers on each wing.
I'm still unsure if I'm going to let her be flighted.
So no interesting stories yet!

[Michael]

Today, actually she stepped up to a perch i was holding during touch training and she did great!

My Teach Parrot To Step Up Without Biting Article is just as pertinent to a new baby bird as it is to an old aggressive one so definitely check it out and the video and see if that helps you. Just remember the video is very high paced and you have to slow things down to the speed that brings you definite success.

[jojovaliente]

Hi Cathy! Thanks for the reply...definately keep me posted if you are going to flight train. So you're started growing new flight feathers? Hmmm....maybe try it out and see if yours would recall.

[jojovaliente]

Hey Michael, thanks for the article...my hahns seem to have juuust a tad aggression. Nothing too serious but seems so eager to come close to me from the inside of her cage. Not sure if she's happy to see me but when i walk in the room she tends to come close to where I'm at all the time. When she stepped up onto the wooden dowel during last nights training she seemed fine. the only time when she started to attack my hand was when i didn't have a treat ready for her. she seems to be doing great though. i'm not forcing her or anything and she's stepped up quite a bit for the first time.

What was the age of your senegal when she started molting?

[Michael]

I dunno. Over a year old.