[Turquoise]

Hi everyone, been a member here for a good while. Haven't added much in way of photos in a long time.

These are a few photos of my Blue Throated Macaw, Kachina Raye Skybird. He is 6 1/2 months old and has been home for a little over a week now. These photos a few mins after I put him in his enclosure. He enjoyed checking out his new toys.

He's settling in nicely, still missing his breeder Mommy of course. And still not ready to have much to do with me beyond my bringing him tasty things to eat. I don't believe in pushing my birds, so he can take as long as he needs to get used to me being his new Mom.

Kachina is what some call a special needs bird. But actually the only thing that qualifies him to be one is the fact that his toes were chewed off by his parents and his wings to a certain degree. He has no trouble perching or climbing whatsoever which makes him no more 'special needs' in my opinion than most of my other flock members. I do have 2 more macaws who fall into the special needs category, but neither of them are truly handicapped as well.

 

[Flapping Mama]

What a gorgeous bird, so beautiful and adorable.

 

[catalinadee]

He is divine! I love blue throated macaws. Hope to see more of him! And your other flock members

 

[BirdCrazyJill]

he is gorgeous!!! congrats on your new addition

 

[KTyne]

Gorgeous, congrats on your new addition! Do you know what causes birds to mutilate their offspring like that? Poor guy, seems like he gets along quite well though!

 

[Turquoise]

Thanks Kayla. I don't know for sure what causes parent birds to attack their chicks. I have ideas only about it such as, maybe something upset the parents while caring for the fabies. And I have read some suggest it could be a nutritional issue with something lacking in their diet.

But my own personal feeling is that the parents instinctively know something is not right with the chicks and are practicing what they would if still living free in the wild~~survival of the fittest. Us humans intervene and take the fabies away to be handfed and then we wonder why the parents were so mean. I think they may be doing what they felt was the best thing for their flock.

Other than those possible reasons, I really don't know. The breeder of Kachina Raye did say his parents have done this once before to another chick and she thought it was just an isolated incident. She now pulls the eggs and fosters them under an older pair that the hen still lays but her eggs are never any good.

 

[KTyne]

That's interesting, I would be really sad if I bred and had babies being attacked or bullied or even eaten.
Still such a lovely bird though, even with the stubby toes. ^_^

 

[wyrinth]

I wonder if it's because we interfere so much. Like how the breeder is taking her eggs and fostering them, if it's a genetic trait, then it's going to continue and if it's a behavioral thing, then the current mutilating parents will never have a chance to learn. (Some finches take two or three clutches to figure out those little wriggly things need to be fed and warmed )

On the other hand, as a breeder it is hard to just let nature take its course because once the chicks are hatched you want them all to survive.

 

[Turquoise]

Could be Anna. Not sure how many clutches this breeder's pair Kachina came from has had. I've read on her site that she has been a breeder for quite a long time. I don't know how many BTM pairs she actually has. She's in the process of moving her whole bird setup and all birds to Arizona where her hubby's job has taken him.