Baby Green Wing macaw refusing formula at 11 weeks old

[chad84]

Today took Super Robert flying in one of our savannahs. He flew till end of harness and kept flying as if he didn't know he was suspended. He flew for 20 mins. When we put him back in the car he was just crunching/grinding his beak very LOUD all the way home after the flight.

Feast your eyes.

[Pajarita]

Super Robert is looking WONDERFUL, Chad! If I may make a suggestion? Why don't you teach him recall before you take him out? An ounce of prevention and all that, you know...

[chad84]

Super Robert is looking WONDERFUL, Chad! If I may make a suggestion? Why don't you teach him recall before you take him out? An ounce of prevention and all that, you know...

Guide me. I have no idea how to teach recall.

[chad84]

Hiya friends,

So my Robbie Bear had a slow crop yesterday (probably candida) and took about 10 hrs to empty when 6 hrs are usually enough. I watch Robert so closely and keenly everytime I enter his personal space. The regurgitation is also making it difficult to medicate him properly.

Last night I said if he can't sleep I won't either, because he was very restless. His crop was empty at about 1am. I gave him 30 ml of water with 4 drops apple cider vinegar to rinse out his crop. He tried about 6 times to bring it up.As he lay on my chest, I held his head up by propping it against my chin while we took in a movie on Netflix. In 50 mins the 30 ml was out of crop and a watery mess of poop was everywhere. Crop felt flat and nice. His breath was increasingly sour, either candida or ACV. Gave him some very watery formula and put Diflucan in it. I had to take matters into my own hands as the vets don't seem to have a clue. And the "your bird is ok and looking great" bullshit isn't cutting it with me anymore.

I figured Robert could do with a change of taste in his mouth in the morning. As I woke up, at 5:45am, I realised that he had regurgitated in the night and he did it again in front of me. He looked very unhappy. He didn't beg for food. I figured as much. He flew and flew and flew and FLEW. I let him. I decided I will take 2 days off from work starting today to ensure my buddy is on his way to recovery. Screw everything else! A life is at stake! Dropped the wife off to work and came back home at 10am. He begged to get out of cage and flew on me and started begging. I waited for his poop to confirm no food was in his body. Yep. Green colour, slimy, tiny poop with alot of water.

He was ready. Ready for Harrison's Juvenile Hand Feeding Formula!!! I did not gradually give it to him as advised by the reps (you evil evil man, chad84). I mixed pure Harrison's and gave it to him. Only gave him 60 ml (1 syringe) to gauge how fast it leaves his crop (60 ml usually takes 3 hrs). I REALLY LOVE my first impressions.

1) Powder is extremely fine.
2) Smells fantastic (I felt like making a glass for me!)
3) Tastes great (Yes I ate some. I always eat anything I will be feeding my bird)
4) Mixed very well (I made it very thin as it was the first time he will be eating it,
but within 2 mins, the formula became very thick.
I was pleasantly surprised because it means it will last longer)
5) He liked it (Don't get me wrong he still gave trouble to eat, just less trouble, way less)
6) He didn't gag or REGURGITATE (fingers crossed)
7) Doesn't run out of his mouth like a waterfall. It is very slimy too, it goes down easy and almost no drips.
And when he shakes his head it doesn't fly everywhere.
8) Very very very easy to clean up wet or dry. When dry it simply wipes off almost like a powder.
And was super easy to wash feeding utensils too.


The Kaytee is course and a little hard to mix but I found my ways. Didn't smell too great. Robert got fedup of the taste I think, especially how he is close to weaning. He always regurgitates and he makes quite the mess with drips and formula flung everywhere. Don't have these issues with Harrison's. Not too mention how hard the feeding utensils are to clean because of the greasy mess Kaytee leaves behind. I always have to sponge bathe Robert when feeding Kaytee. I had no clean up to do on Robert with Harrison's!

Stay tuned friends. We will be back with more updates.

[Wolf]

Will be waiting to hear more.

[Pajarita]

Yep, me too. I laughed out loud when I read your "And the "your bird is ok and looking great" bullshit isn't cutting it with me anymore". This is something that, unfortunately, you learn as time goes by but you can't tell people because, as they are hearing what they want to hear, they automatically reject your: "This is nothing but bedside manner which doesn't really mean anything when it comes to the actual shape of your bird's health". You have had A LOT of experience with different vets in a short period of time and, unfortunately, had to learn it the hard way...

Now, as to recall, it's actually VERY simple. You start by identifying what to use as a reward (usually a nut they love but, sometimes, a small piece of birdy bread or a good quality multigrain one is enough) and, putting the bird on the other end of a table to which you are sitting, call him to you with his name and one single word -like: "Robert, come!" and, when he walks up to you, you praise, scratch his head and reward with the treat. Once you see he does this all the time (don't overdo it, though, just three short sessions where you ask him to do the same thing three times), you put him on a perch, table, the top of his cage or wherever and taking a couple of steps back, hold out your arm and give the command (he is supposed to take a 'flying leap' to land on your arm). As he does this all the time (don't rush things, make sure you 'cement' the command before you go further), start giving the command farther and farther from him.

Now, this does NOT mean you can take him out without a harness. It's only for him to learn to come back to you when he is flying around on a long leash or in case of an emergency if you happen to 'lose' the leash and he flies away.

[chad84]

Hey all.

Update on the Harrison's: I love this stuff. Robert digests it quicker than the Kaytee. It's kinda slimy and goes down so easily and smoothly. I didn't have to mix the 2 to get him aclimatised. He simply ate it and never looked back. 3 hours after his first feeding of Harrison's and his poop went from soft/water faeces to completely tubular and firm. It smells great and has an amazing consistency.


These poops are his normal Kaytee formula poops. He has the watery and then soft and back to watery. Never firm.





2 hrs using Harrison's formula


36 hrs using Harrison's formula


The photos speak for themselves. "Diarrhea be gone!" - Harrison's

[Pajarita]

Yep, that poop looks GREAT!

[chad84]

Hey buds.

On Wednesday I was gonna see a previous vet that did some faecal testing for me but was confused about the results saying that he saw a minute amount of candida and a pretty uniform set of bacteria which he found weird. 2 weeks later (Wednesday) I went to see his partner (another vet) for more testing on Robert when I met a guy who knew a vet that worked on racing pigeons. He is a normal vet but has LOADS of experience with PIGEONS! The guy who told me about the vet set he is well versed with pigeons and he cures all of the racing pigeon diseases... pigeons are BIRDS. I cancelled my appointment immediately and got his number and travelled across my country to see him.

Met him and he immediately inspected Robert carefully. No testing just a lengthy physical. He noticed some nasal debris and some other stuff and gave me 2 sets of pills, 1 for inflammation (7 pills) and 1 for respiratory infection (4 pills to cut in half). He also gave Robert a Vitamin A injection and an anti-inflammatory injection. 2 days later, Robert's constant sneezing has minimised and he ins't digging nose as much. he told me the regurgitation will subside a bit on the new Harrison's formula and it indeed went down to a very minimum. He says see him in a week after all the medication is done.

On a more cheerful note, he are some of Roberts old toys and a couple of his new ones I just bought. He loves that stuffed frog! On top of the cupboards is his favourite place. he cries when we ask him to come down.

[Pajarita]

Chad, if I were you, I would not be taking him to so many vets... the poor thing has been on one medication or another forever and that's really NOT good for birds. I also don't like avian vets that give them injections of things that can be given orally -but that's me.