breeding my macaw

[andnoutlaw]

I have a 2 year old macaw. On Christmas Eve she laid one egg. Scared me to death, because I thought she was dying. Never experienced her yelling like she did so I had no clue what was going on. Prior to her laying that egg she would hike her hind parts in the air if you would come near her. Her favorite toys are towels. She shreads them to smitherines. But whatever it takes to make sure she's happy I do or get for her. I'm interested in breeding her. My best friend has a male and she's acting the same way as she done before. I think she's ready again. How can I know for sure if she is in heat or not? For breeding purposes, without spending thousands of dollars on, what are the proper tools that I need to be a successful breeder? Is there a book I can buy to guide me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance for any and all information anyone can provide me.

[The Outlaw]

You do not want to set up pairs because, unlike dogs and cats, they mate for life and once they do, USUALLY, you lose your pet. They PREFER their mates and likely will NOT tolerate any more human closeness.

Also, you can't just offer a mate. They could literally take years and years to get to know each other and even then may never become breeding birds. Sometimes, they will even a kill a mate that displeases them. Its very complicated and definitely not something for amateurs to even seriously consider.

At 2, she's too young to being laying eggs. In fact, I doubt that she is only two. And, she can't produce viable chicks for a few more years. Macaws such a BGs require HUGE nest boxes. I've actually seen 50 gallon drums converted to nest boxes. They require huge cages to even breed successfully and need to be fully flighted (unclipped) to mate. Its quite a noisey balancing act.

Even if you DID manage to somehow get chicks, you have to pull them and handfeed them to get pets. Otherwise, you get really wild, human UNFRIENDLY babies that won't want anything to do with you. So, the end result is losing both parents and their chicks as they all get wilder and wilder.

Handfeeding two week old, blind chicks is an art and a science. It requires setting your alarm and handfeeding round the clock for months on end. Its exhausting work and there is high mortality among first clutches.

You have to know what to feed the breeding parents, how many hours of light and darkness they require, proper humidity levels, access to the nest box and you also need to have an incubator, brooder and other special equipment in the event that the parents can't or won't even begin the brooding and hatching process. Its a learned thing for them as well.

I suggest that you get to know and work with a seasoned bird breeder of macaws before you even consider setting up a pair. You can see you have a lot at stake and a lot to lose. Also, you need to have emergency medicines, syringes, special handfeeding formula and a multitude of good books before you start the process. You won't have time to get them later when you need them.