Macaw Mama answers your questions

[ Submit a question ] [ Previous questions ] [ Home ]

 Alex,

I love your youthful enthusiasm! However, I am afraid I must side with your mother at this point. As you can see from the above reply to Nikole we are talking about a great deal of space to breed Macaws. I said nothing about the possibilities of anything going wrong. Some birds become very aggressive and vocal when breeding. Some are not good at incubating and raising babies. If this should happen, you’ll need to invest in an incubator and you’ll have to hand-feed babies around the clock for weeks. Every two hours at first. This is not the type of responsibility that someone who is 15 years old should be saddled with.

My suggestion to you would be to get a good solid background in biology and mathematics. You’ll need the mathematics to understand incubation techniques. We use geometry to calculate lay weight on eggs and to determine proper weight loss. Perhaps, after all that schooling you’ll be interested in getting birds in the wild to propagate. See the January 1994 issue of National Geographic.

Once you’re an adult, out of school and settled in your lifestyle, you can do anything you like and not have to get your mother’s permission. You’ll be able to do a responsible job of breeding birds. In the meantime you might be able to locate a breeder near you who’ll permit you to help out and gain some valuable experience.

You and I have the same taste in decor. Yet, most people do not understand our highly developed sense of style!