Raising a severe macaw baby

I recently raised three severe macaw babies. It is amazing how fast baby parrots change and grow.

This photo was taken the day I brought them home. Their eyes were not open yet and they fit perfectly into this tiny plastic bowl.

It is always scary the first time you find a macaw baby on their back! He is fine, this is a common thing that baby macaws do during the handfeeding process and sometimes longer - despite the fact that I know that, my heart still skips a beat when they do this for the first time.

Happy "Bird-Day"! The babies are now two weeks old. Their eyes are open and they have "black polka dots" on them which are their feathers getting ready to pop through! They have doubled in size and are growing fast!

They have been moved into a larger plastic bowl. They outgrew the first ones quite quickly.

I am getting more sleep as they are now 16 days old. Their little feathers that are forming look like "slivers" under their skin. I can hardly wait for the feathers to emerge so the "slivers" will go away! The babies have grown so much that ONE baby is all that would fit in their original bowl they came home in. I find this to be quite an amazing process.

Here is yet another picture of the babies. They are starting to really look like macaws! Hard to believe the change in the past nine days! They are now 17 days old

Here is an interesting fact that maybe not everyone knows. That is the fact that when baby chicks are hatched, not only are their eyes closed, but so are their ears which means they cannot hear for about the first two weeks of life. In the picture on the right you can see that the eyes and ears are open now.

Here is a picture of the brooder that the babies are kept in,

The brooder keeps the babies at the proper temperature and humidity.

The severe babies are continuing to grow. Their little "slivers" are beginning to break through the skin. They are all eating much more formula at each feeding which means I am not feeding them as often. We are now up to feeding every 5-6 hours.

The Tupperware dish I have them in now, which seemed huge when I first placed them there, is now beginning to shrink. Almost time to start looking for a bigger dish!

One of the big changes we have seen over the past couple of days is that all of a sudden their feet are HUGE! They obviously need to "grow into their feet"!

Here is another progress picture. They are starting to get some feathers and it won't be long and they will have to be moved into a bigger bin. It is amazing that they have gone from barely 38 grams to 180 grams in two and a half weeks. They truly grow fast. I am sure I mentioned this before, but when one is with the babies every day it is hard to see the change. It is fun to now go back and "see" the changes through the pictures. It won't be long now and we will be seeing feathers!

Look closely at these pictures and you can start to see the little green feathers emerging on the top of their heads and the tip of the wing feathers. The babies are now 29 days old! They are getting so big. They are all weighing in at about 255 grams now. They are also starting to be on the move. I found one of the babies on the outside of their bin in the brooder this evening.

It amazes me what a difference three days can make! We are now seeing the pretty macaw "eyeliner" on the babies' faces. The tops of their heads are all green little spikes. Looking more and more like a macaw every day!

They are making it difficult for me to get any work done because I want to just sit and snuggle them!

The babies are moving around and certainly looking more and more like a mini macaw. Their little personalities are certainly developing. It is so much fun to watch them "toddle" around.

I could sit and rock them all day long!

The babies have had pellets and water available for a few days now. Today was the first time I actually saw them starting to play with them and do a little nibbling. It won't be long and they will be ready for a cage. Time flies when you are having fun!

Well the babies are eating somewhat on their own. I still offer them a feeding three times a day. I am sure that within the next day or two they will officially be on two feedings a day. They are such awesome little babies. I am going to have a hard time not keeping one.

We already have quite a few birds and we probably could not do another one justice. We will wait and see. They have just been so much fun and I am a HUGE fan of the macaws. They are just so darn cute!

The babies have grown so fast. They are all on two feedings a day now and have certainly developed their own little personalities. It is amazing how we can tell them apart not by appearance but by appearance AND personality. It seems that the first hatched is much more independent and ever watchful over the younger two. The youngest of the three is very shy.

Last night Picasso (the oldest) took his first flight. The "middle child" was not far behind and started testing his wings today. It always steals my heart when they fly to me for the first time!

I have been working at separating them during the day and having them spend time in their own cages. I do put them back together for the night. I think I am having a harder time with separating them than they are being separated!

It has been great being able to share this experience with everyone! It really is hard to notice the changes in the babies when I see them every day - the pictures really help!