Kaytee Exact for macaws is mixed with creamy peanut butter and fed with a syringe to the chicks as they require a higher fat content then most other large macaws. As the chick grows, volumn of formula fed is reduced, but fed more often around the clock with warm soft foods being offered between scheduled feedings. This Hyacinth chick is a precious bundle of joy and as with any other large macaw, requires handling and socializing with humans. After the baby is fed, Butch will play with him for a few minutes before returning him to his toasty brooder where he spends most of the time sleeping. Periodically, we go into the nursery to check on the baby birds and if they are up we play with them or offer them a few soft warm tidbits.
Baby birds are always eager and ready to accept any goodies offered.
Once the babies are perching well, they are brought out during the day and placed in a large aviary adjacent to our nursery. They spend the day playing with toys and each other, climbing, socializing, exercising their wings and investigating the food hopper. The babies are fed their formula in the late afternoon and are returned to their brooders in the nursery before evening. The following morning, they are anxious to get out into the aviary again. Their morning feed is usually delayed as the birds are more interested in playing then in eating.