I am Dumb...

I clipped my birds wing and i accidently cut its first 2 primary flight feathers...

Are you supposed to?

I then knew you wernt supossed to cut them is this true?

 

 

The question:

Will my bird able to fly agian??

I'm not the pro here, but as long as you didn't make him bleed, you did nothing wrong. You're supposed to clip the flight feathers. they will grow back when he molts the next time. I hope I am telling you right but I am pretty sure you did okay.

shell

Hi if you are going to clip their wing you take the first four flight feathers. Approximate half way down.

 

They will grow back in the next moult or maybe the next

 

If you cut them too far down they will bleed and then you have a big problem.

I clip Chucky's wings and they grow back really quickly, not just when she moults. Is she weird. The vet showed me where to cut so and she doesn't fly. Is chucky weird?

The primary feathers are the ones you should clip, it's the secondaries you want to avoid. Do you mean you cut the first 2 secondaries (feathers after the bend in the wing)?

Im confused I didnt make the budgie bleed...

But i cut all its primary besides the bottom 2

But when i cut it it still flies but drops down to the ground after a while.

Sometimes the wings qiver...

Im just a 12yr old.....

okay, don't freak. I think your bird will be okay since he is not bleeding. When you spread the wing out, the long feathers at the end are the ones that should be trimmed. There are 10 primaries (long ones) and 10 secondaries (shorter ones between the birds body and the bend in the wing). Usually no more than 6-7 (maximum) individual feathers need to be trimmed for strong fliers. As Daz said, start with 4 and see how things are. Your bird should be able to fly, just not gain much lift. Clip primaries ONLY - do not clip secondaries. Always start from the longest outside feather and work your way in. Do not clip more than one feather at at time, and NEVER clip a blood feather. A blood feather is a feather that is still growing out. It is enclosed in a sheath and contains the blood supply to that feather. Birds can bleed to death if those feathers are cut and the bleeding isn't stopped.

 

That being said as a reference, how many feathers did you clip, how far down did you clip them, and which ones did you clip? Did you know it is not always necessary to trim the feathers at all? There are compelling reasons both for and against it.

 

Being 12 is not an excuse for not researching what you are doing before doing it, but everyone makes mistakes. That is how we learn. You are not dumb. Maybe what happened occurred because you did not exercise your best judgement, but I'm sure you are not dumb. You are here looking for information - that is not a dumb move at all.

 

I'm glad you found our site. Welcome, and feel free to ask whatever questions you might have about caring for your budgie. Tell us a little about your bird, we'd love to hear. If you have any pictures you'd like to share, post them in the budgie pictures section.

Hi there...

 

I found some good pictures illustrating the different types of feather on a birds wing.. just incase you are a visual learner like me :hap:

 

http://www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/pixs/wing.jpg

 

http://futurepet.com/trivia/birdwing.gif

 

hope these links work for you :hap: IF you apply what the other have said above then refer to these pics you will be an expert in no time!!

 

If in doubt you can always go to a vet or a GOOD local pet shop and they will show you how it is done :hap:

 

good luck with it all!!!

As mentioned, your bird should be okay BUT before doing this again PLEASE let the avian vet do it for you and show you the proper way. You must always check for bloodfeathers before clipping and above all, know EXACTLY what you're doing before you do it. An improperly clipped bird can injure itself by falling very easily.

Edited October 7, 200618 yr by eterri

I personally would never clip a birds wings alone, I always get an experience handler to assist, so the bird can be held gently but securely by the helper (usually in a soft fleece or towel to contain any panic thrashing, which can so easily lead to a broken wing or leg)and I gently extend the wing to be clipped and depending on the species of bird, clip NO more than 6 primaries. Hope this is of help, but please never forget that what may SEEM a simple and easy task is NEVER simple if it involves restrictive handling and the use of a sharp instrument near or on the bird.

I will only ever clip a birds wings for it safety. My inside birds have had their wings clipped once so that they don't hit the glass wingows and by the time their feathers grow back they know where the windows are and stay away from them. A bird hitting the glass = a broken neck.

Ahhh...

okay then.

Im glad i didnt cut the secoundary feathers but all the primarys.

I did it to my other budgie and it was fine.

The only problem now is it can still fly *doh*.

 

Well thanks guys for all your help and thanks for the great links and advice!

Im very happy now and i feel much better!

THANK YOU ALLL :feedbirds:

Lillie that second picture that you posted is very confusing to someone who doesn't know what primaries and secndaries are. Calvino: if you are worried, show us a picture of your bird's wing and we can help you out. When I clip my birds' wings (which isn't very often as I prefer flighted birds) I clip the primaries even the first two.

sorry it made sense to me at the time... but the top link is definately better.

Lillie that second picture that you posted is very confusing to someone who doesn't know what primaries and secndaries are. Calvino: if you are worried, show us a picture of your bird's wing and we can help you out. When I clip my birds' wings (which isn't very often as I prefer flighted birds) I clip the primaries even the first two.

 

What do you mean by "even the first two"? You should always start from the outside and work your way in. The long feathers are what supplies the lift. The interior ones supply gliding and braking ability. If you leave the outer feathers and cut the inner ones too much pressure is exerted on the outer feathers. They are more prone to injury and any steering and braking ability the bird might have is gone as those long feathers (if left long) will create drag when the bird tries to land. But there are no supporting feathers next to them - just an open space between them and the secondaries. Imagine trying to land with a big hole there. I believe leaving those feathers is called a "cosmetic clip" because when the wing is folded the appearance of feathers is still there. It is really not a safe clip.

I said "even the first two" because the person who started this thread, said that they didn't know whether to cut the first two primaries.

You are wrong on what the primaries and secondaries are used for. Secondaries provide lift and primaries provide breaking and steering.Therefore by cutting the primaries your bird still has lift, so it won't drop like a rock, but it just can't steer and therefore gain height and brake. Leaving the first two primaries unclipped is bad as these two have to take on all the load that ten feathers usually do and so they often snap and break.

Ah I see. I agree with you about that, but I must differ with you on the purpose of the primaries and secondaries. Lift is height. If the bird gets lift, it flys up. The secondaries are what provides the ability to glide and brake. If you watch a bird land, as he tilts his body down and thrusts his feet forward the secondaries and internal primaries provide the majority of the stopping power. If those center feathers were missing there would be no air resistance at the wings. Air is normally shifted around those feathers to provide a controlled stop, similar to an airplane shifting the wings flaps down to slow descent. If those feathers were missing, the air would flow straight through and no slowdown would occur. Then you have a crash landing. The outer primaries have little to do with that part of flight, as a bird should still be able to brake and steer with the outer few primaries missing. A bird with properly clipped wings should still be able to glide, steer, and brake - just not gain much lift.

Some of what you said is logical, although I do not agree with most of it. I have done university physics and am currently studying veterinary science. It is the tilt of the wing that induces braking. A wing held in a horizontal posistion provides lift directly upwards, inorder for a bird to move forwards its wings are tilted so that the cranial part of the wing is lower than the caudal part. This changes the force towards the front, propelling the bird forwards. When the wing is tilted the other way a force is directed backwards which helps the bird to brake by pointing its lift behind it. The primaries are more moveable than the secondaries. Thus they are moved first to brake and then the bird will tilt its entire wing, that is when the secondaries help to brake. Air planes work differently in that they can't turn their wings (and don't have a moveable wrist with which primaries start from) thus they have to make a surface that is perpendicular to the airflow to create a large amount of friction. Secondaries provide the main lift and gliding power due to their shape. Primaries do not have the curvature of the wing to the same extent as the secondaries so do not create much lift, however they do extend the gliding surface. Thus if you cut all primaries your bird can't really steer or brake properly at all, because secondaries do not steer and you need to beable to steer you wings in order for them to be moved in to breaking position.

 

Also it is best to have the area where the lift force acts upon closer to the body as this is the stronger part of the wing. This is due to levers and is more energy efficient. To produce the main lift on the outer part of the wing (primaries) would mean that the muscles in the wing would have to do more work to keep the wing stable.

Edited October 14, 200618 yr by Sailorwolf

I loved college physics!! I rarely find anyone who voluntarily takes it, LOL. I agree with what you are saying for the most part. I think it is more a matter of syntax now.

 

The airplane analogy I used was just the first thing I thought about. I know they are not the same thing as a moveable wing. But I think the primaries carry more curvature than secondaries. As you watch a bird fly, the outer feathers are the ones that move and bend to a greater extent than secondaries. Secondaries provide stability. Like so:

 

 

 

 

The outer feathers are the ones that move and bend, more so than the inner ones. You said Primaries do not have the curvature of the wing to the same extent as the secondaries so do not create much lift, however they do extend the gliding surface. I think primaries have much more curvature than secondaries. Otherwise, the outer feathers would remain straight, just like the wing. It is the inner feathers that retain the curvature of the wing.

 

As far as the term lift, my original definition is the ability to move UP. From the ground, a fully flighted bird can flap his wings and fly up to a tree, the curtain rod, wherever. A bird with a few clipped primaries is lucky to make it up to the sofa. He cannot gain lift. If he starts out from a few feet up, he can still turn, steer, and brake if necessary, but will not fly any higher because he cannot gain more lift. He will gradually glide to the ground, and no matter how hard he flaps while in the air, will not fly up. You said that To produce the main lift on the outer part of the wing (primaries) would mean that the muscles in the wing would have to do more work to keep the wing stable. Only if the primaries are gone, is there difficulty producing lift. The wing muscles do have to work harder if some of the primaries are missing. The also have to work harder if the inner primaries/outer secondaries are missing, but for a different reason.

 

I think we are on the same page, just using slightly different definitions.

 

 

 

It is so cool someone else took physics. :bluebudgie:

Yes i think we are on the same page because you are saying what i am saying and then you aren't. I think we both confused each other. Secondaries are stable, thus they create the most lift. Primaries are more moveable so are used to steer.

Lift isn't just going up though. It is the area of less pressure. Like a golfball can create "lift" from its spin, allthough it doesn't necessarily move up, instead it will move in the direction of less pressure. Lift is a very broad term.

Yay isn't it fun to have a physics discussion.

 

In regards to the stability of the wing. The muscles have to do less work if the main lift force is in the secondaries as this is more proximal to the body. This is due to lever systems and vectors.

Edited October 15, 200618 yr by Sailorwolf

Oh yes!

 

Physics was one of my favorite classes. Thanks for the physics discussion.