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Help with a Blue and Gold Macaw

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Help with a Blue and Gold Macaw

Postby GreenWing » Sun Jul 07, 2019 12:09 pm

Hey, boardmates - I have a colleague in a bind. She is the owner of a Blue and Gold Macaw, a female, in her mid 30's. She's gorgeous, doesn't pluck, and looks healthy. The Macaw is flighted and on a solar schedule. My colleague and I talk about our birds and she's been sharing for months now about her dilemma. I told her I'd ask on the forum with her permission for advice.

The Macaw has been laying eggs for awhile, it's been over ten eggs so far. She was acting aggressive with my colleague when she would take the eggs away. The Macaw is now no longer acting aggressive but she continues to lay eggs. I told her the bird is clearly hormonal. I'm honestly worried the bird will die and that so much egg laying is deadly for her. I know my colleague is worried, too. I gave her the phone number of the Avian Vet and I know she did call and speak to the vet, but the Macaw hasn't been taken in. I am not sure if it is a matter of money, if so I am thinking I'd just offer to foot the bill for the poor bird.

I did ask about the diet and I know the Macaw eats a seed and nut diet with pellets. I suggested gloop and my colleague said the Macaw won't eat if she can't have nuts.

How can my colleague help her Macaw to cease the egg-laying?


Thanks for any responses. I really hope I can help my colleague out with her bird, somehow.
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GreenWing
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1165
Location: Portlandia, United States
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Congo African Grey ♥
Flight: Yes

Re: Help with a Blue and Gold Macaw

Postby Pajarita » Mon Jul 08, 2019 8:55 am

Well, I can tell you without the shadow of a doubt that your friend is not keeping her bird at a strict solar schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk - I am not saying she is telling a lie, she might not be aware of what this really implies, some people think that keeping the cage next to a window is enough. And, of course, you know she is feeding it wrong (no such thing as a bird that commits suicide by starvation!). If it was any other type of bird (say, an Amazon) there could have been doubt because they are so sensitive the merest excess but macaws are the less hormonal of all the parrots species when kept right and it takes a long time of doing the wrong thing for them to become chronic layers (please tell her to supplement D3 and calcium because, if she hasn't done it all along, that bird is near depleted pellets or no pellets). And I am afraid that your recommendation of taking it to the avian vet might not have been the best suggestion, either. I've never heard or read of a single avian vet that teaches people the right way of caring for a parrot (not their fault, they don't study this).
They go for the quick fix even if it's bad in the long term so they tell their clients with problems like this that all they need to do is give them Lupron -which is a terrible idea!

This is the perfect time of the year for her to start a strict solar schedule (she might not be doing the twilight period right) because the days just started to get shorter (macaws are long-day breeders mostly) and she NEEDS to change its diet because the one the bird is now getting is simply unhealthy (and in more ways than just making it overly hormonal).
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Help with a Blue and Gold Macaw

Postby GreenWing » Mon Jul 08, 2019 11:58 am

Thanks, Pajarita. I did tell her to feed calcium and sesame seeds. I know her sister told her the same about the calcium. I'll tell her to make sure the Macaw is on a full solar schedule, and explain what that really is. I know she works mornings, really early, so I'm wondering what's wrong.

Anyway, I will relay all of this information.
Image
GreenWing
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1165
Location: Portlandia, United States
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Congo African Grey ♥
Flight: Yes

Re: Help with a Blue and Gold Macaw

Postby GreenWing » Tue Jul 09, 2019 12:26 pm

I followed up with her and it turns out the Macaw was not on a solar schedule after all - hence the confusion. She is going to work on getting the Macaw on one.

I did invite my colleague to the forum and she hasn't joined in yet, but I am hoping she will in the future. ;)
Image
GreenWing
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1165
Location: Portlandia, United States
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Congo African Grey ♥
Flight: Yes

Re: Help with a Blue and Gold Macaw

Postby Pajarita » Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:21 am

Well, it was obvious from the problem that she wasn't because, like I said, it takes A LOT of bad husbandry for a macaw to become a chronic layer. With them, bad diet alone doesn't do it...

Also, it's not so much supplementing calcium, it's the lack of vit D3 that is the problem. Birds get calcium for lots of foods (almonds, dark leafy greens, butternut squash, etc) but they cannot get D3 from any food they can eat (because the only food that has it is animal meat, milk, cheese, etc which I hope she is not feeding to her bird!). And pellets are not enough because I've known of many birds that became eggbound on pellets so the ONLY solution for a bird keeper is to supplement calciboost or calcivet in their water (fortified seeds don't work either because the 'fortification' is sprayed on the shell of the seed and parrots peel and discard it).
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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