Baby Green Wing macaw refusing formula at 11 weeks old

[Pajarita]

Going by what Chad posted, he seems to be handfeeding Robert three times a day and the amounts are good because they are around or over 10% of his weight -which is perfect. Now, if he would only eat a good amount of some nice gloop (the kind with more whole grains than just rice) in between feedings, it would be great!

[chad84]

Hey all. Today Robert weighed 935g on empty stomach in the morning after 1st poop. it has been 2 complete days in a row where he has eat 3 meals a day. Around 100 ml per meal. He eats 60 ml with no fuss then I have to force the 40 ml extra down but he doesn't put up much of a fight. He swallows it but makes a crying kind of pitiful sound. Breaks my heart. He gained 35g from 900g about 3 or 4 days ago.

Today is day 9 of 10 on antibiotics (enhancin/clavamox cocktail). His vomiting has been reduced to 1 meal a day and it's only a few drips compared to the puddle from before.

Started doing flight recall training today. I place him somewhere and call him and he flies to me. We did a 20 min session today. I would have loved to give him treats but he doesn't eat solid food yet. He flaps and flaps boy... wow. He plays all day as well. He meets lots of new people several times a week. He meets my clients and employees of my clients. He also get alot of attention from the school children in the vicinity of my office. Can't believe how he just hops onto strangers' arms and cuddles looking for TLC.

He has been active and great.
He will live!
Anxiously awaiting tomorrow morning to go to the government veterinarian and government veterinary lab. They do alot of tests there and I heard the Avian Vet (only one in the country) has a Teaching Assistant. Will be making an appointment to see her. Yiiiiippppyyyyy!!

[Wolf]

YAY !!! Please keep us informed. Be good to know what is happening with Robert.

[Pajarita]

Sounds great, Chad! But, if I may make a suggestion? Don't hold 20 minute training sessions - not even with an adult, much less a baby. It's too long a session and he only takes it now because he is a small baby who wants his daddy and mommy and would do anything to be near them but it's way too long a session and it might backfire on you as he gets older. Training sessions are suggested to be 2 or 3 a day and no longer than 10 minutes (and that, when they are adults).

Also, please be careful about allowing him to go to anybody -especially now that he is still sick (depressed immune system). You don't want him catching something from somebody out there (I don't allow anybody to touch my birds) - it's a fact that people carry e-coli bacteria on their hands and birds have died from an infection from it.

[chad84]

Sounds great, Chad! But, if I may make a suggestion? Don't hold 20 minute training sessions - not even with an adult, much less a baby. It's too long a session and he only takes it now because he is a small baby who wants his daddy and mommy and would do anything to be near them but it's way too long a session and it might backfire on you as he gets older. Training sessions are suggested to be 2 or 3 a day and no longer than 10 minutes (and that, when they are adults).

Also, please be careful about allowing him to go to anybody -especially now that he is still sick (depressed immune system). You don't want him catching something from somebody out there (I don't allow anybody to touch my birds) - it's a fact that people carry e-coli bacteria on their hands and birds have died from an infection from it.

Pajarita Thanks!

I am gonna stop people from touching him. Don't want him ill again.

Should I stop flight recall until he weans and can eat treats as reward for flying to me? I wondered if he was too young to start training. Should I wait till he weans? He flies around the house without bumping into anything. He navigates exceptionally well. Gaining and losing altitude at will and maneuvers well too.

[chad84]

Hi all. Robert is still doing well. Didn't get a vet visit today. Scheduled for 10am tomorrow as she was booked out today. Told her to run all the tests possible. She is asking me 'like what?' OMG. I nearly tripped. I told her x ray, CBC, cultures, just everything. Gave her a pdf full of tests to run. She said they don't like drawing blood from ill avians. I tried hard to compose myself and not to start throwing around thing in her office like a wild animal. So I am thinking, tomorrow would be quite the waste of time except I will get the x ray I have been waiting on for a while. Sucks not having access to an avian vet. She looked at him and says he looks really good. She said he is extremely active and very close to peak health.

She pointed out that Robert stood there on 1 foot and grinding his beak contently. He indeed looked like he had the perfect life. She said that happy/healthy birds stand on 1 foot and they grind beak. She told me that his blunted choanal papillae are very pointy/sharp and are 80% regrown in just 10 days of increased multivitamin and high beta carotene intake.
I won't lie he indeed looks good.

Super Robert's constant flying is burning calories galore. He now east 90 ml 4 times a day... not 3 but 4! He has also become 1000% more destructive. He no longer licks stuff. He severs anything string or cord like, crushes and crunches wood he can find, destroyed all his toys and chews up everything in my man cave.
He is still having 30 ml carrot puree and 90 ml formula mixed. I give him 1 drop of multivitamin in his feed and a dash of guess what? Guess... Avi-Culture 2 probiotic. I waited till I stopped the antibiotics to introduce the probiotics.
I will be buying alcohol free milk thistle drops to sooth his liver after 2 sets of antibiotics and 1 set of anti-yeast. I really wanted to try the aloe detox as well.

So to recap.
He is eating 4 times a day around 90 - 120 ml but still throwing up
He is very active.
He started sleeping on 1 foot and beak grinding loud as ever (who gave him that PA system) lol
Vet doesn't seem to know much more than me (government vet)
Antibiotics are over... enter probiotics

[Wolf]

I would only work on training for 10 minutes twice a day and probably only do the flight recall three times during the session and then move on to something else. Training treats can be helpful but you are far better off if you can get him to accept head scratches, beak rubs and lavish praise as a reward rather than treats.

I thought that I shared some instructions on haw to get your bird to start eating fresh raw produce, drawing from the way that parrots teach their young how to find food and what foods to eat. If I did not I will be happy to do so.

[chad84]

Look what just came in the mail for Robert. Detachable bowls with double (2) wing nuts to fasten to the cage. They are 20 oz and are 5.5 in diameter. Locks securely to pet cage to prevent spilling. Instead of resting in a loop like the usual ones, these snap into the holder securely.

[chad84]

I would only work on training for 10 minutes twice a day and probably only do the flight recall three times during the session and then move on to something else. Training treats can be helpful but you are far better off if you can get him to accept head scratches, beak rubs and lavish praise as a reward rather than treats.

I thought that I shared some instructions on haw to get your bird to start eating fresh raw produce, drawing from the way that parrots teach their young how to find food and what foods to eat. If I did not I will be happy to do so.

Share it again please.

[Wolf]

OK, here is what the parent birds do to teach their young to eat the right foods as well as what it looks like so that they can find it on their own.

Shortly after fledging the parent parrots take the young birds out to the feeding grounds and set them on a rech which is usually a tree branch and then the parents go and get a piece of food such as a fruit and they bring it back to where their babies are and they make a big deal of showing this food to the young birds and then the parent eats the food without offering to share it. The young birds do not like this so when the parent comes back with the next piece of food and show it to them they=e young birdsask for some of it, but the parent again eats it without sharing any of it. The next parent arrives with some more of this food and again shows it to the young birds who are now begging and demanding their share of the food. The parent bird still refuses to share it and eats it all in front of the young birds. The next time the parent returns with a piece of the food and shows it to the young birds they are demanding some and this time they start running in and trying to take the food from the parent bird. The parent bird actually makes it quite easy for the young bird to steal a piece of the food. That is how the parent parrots teach their young to eat the right foods, as well as what it looks like and how to find it.

Taking from this I begin about half an hour after my birds get up in the morning and I arrive with no more than three different fresh raw foods that I want my bird to learn to eat, all cut into the sizes that are going to allow me to give them small pieces of it as well as some that is large enough for them to hold while eating. I use the larger pieces to do what the parent birds do. I am talking to my birds throughout this process and I show them a piece of one of these foods and then I eat it slowly in front of my birds making happy noises and telling them how good the food is. My birds will usually start asking for a piece of it right away, but I do not share it, I eat the whole piece and then I pick up another piece of the same food and repeat this performance and by the time I finish the second piece my birds are usually begging and starting to demand a piece of the food, but again I eat the whole piece and repeat this again and if they are demanding the food and starting to try to find a way to get at the food, I will give them a small piece of that food. I do this with each of the foods that I have brought with me. Some times my bird will eat the food and sometimes they just drop or throw it away, but that doesn't matter, when I have gone through all of the foods in this manner I place all of the remaining pieces in their cage with them so that they can pick at it as they choose and then in about half an hour I add their regular breakfast, leaving all of the new produce in a food dish for them until dinner time.

I have tried several way of getting my birds to try a new food, but if it is a lone bird this one has worked the best for me. I hope that it will help you and Robert as well.