Hi All,

 

I bought a new male budgie at the Canberra Young Bird show nearly 2 weeks ago.

 

He had one short wing which I presumed was because they had clipped his wing in case he got out (for sale, not a show bird).

 

Since I have had him home, twice I have noticed dried blood on the wall of the aviary. His wing did seem to have some dried blood on it but then it was gone, then back again.

 

A couple of questions:-

 

1 Should I take hime to the vet? It is not bleeding constantly, he is eating and chirping and active enough. I am guessing that he knocks it while trying to fly. He doesn't seem to be trying that much any more, he moves around the side of the aviary using his beak and claws until he is close enough and can then sort of flutter to the perch he wants. Food and water is accessible to him.

 

2 The clipping of the wing - I don't clip my budgies but can understand why some people do having lost one by accident. But from what I have been told, you leave 1 or 2 long feathers at the end to protect the wing, is this correct?

 

3 Do you think the seller clipped to close to a blood vessel or is it because there are no long feather to protect it when being knocked?

 

Thanks in advance for your help,

 

Tracey

Hi most people these days tend to clip both wings so the bird doesn't crash when it tries to fly.

Have his feathers definitely been cut?

You may have to keep him in a smaller cage until he moults and can fly properly or he will keep knocking it.

Catch him up and check he hasn't damaged a new blood feather, if so you may have to pull it out as they can bleed quite badly.

Cheers Jenny

Thanks Jenny,

 

How do I know if its a new blood feather?

The shaft close to the wing looks thicker and is soft, if it has just started growing it will only be a stub or what they call pin feathers.

Cheers Jenny

I know I am seeing this rather late, but if he only has one wing clipped, I would even him up and clip the other wing. Maybe he is doing more crashing than he needs to because of being unbalanced.