Bird Maintenance: Wings

                                     Bird Maintenance: Wings

Materials:

-Scissors

-Towel

-Quick Stop Blood Stopper

Directions: 

Using a towel capture the bird as quickly as possible to minimize its stress. Take care not to apply pressure to the bird’s chest as birds do not have diaphragms, so their breathing can be seriously restrained if chest expansion is restricted. Gently extend the wing open out of the towel making sure to keep his face covered.

When clipping wings, you only trim the primary feathers. Starting from the tip of the wing and moving in toward the body, the primary flight feathers will be the first group of long feathers on the underside of the wing. On the top of the wing, you’ll see a set of smaller, overlapping feathers above the primary flight feathers. This group of feathers, the primary flight covert, will serve as a guideline for where to snip the primary flight feathers. Also, when clipping, work quickly and carefully to avoid stress on the bird. You may also want to talk softly to it to keep it calm.

You must be very careful not to cut any blood feathers. Blood feathers are newly formed feathers still in their sheaths and if they are cut will bleed and can kill your bird. If a blood feather is ever cut, you must quickly apply quick stop to stop the bleeding.

Now, repeat the procedure on the other wing. Be sure to cut an equal number of feathers on each wing so the bird will maintain equilibrium. The purpose of trimming the wings is to prohibit flight, but you still want the bird to be able to glide to the floor in case they ever fall. Never cut only one wing. This will cause poor balance and control and your bird may harm itself trying to fly.