Pet birds - wing clipping

Today I received an interesting email from someone who bought a budgie from me recently asking about wing clipping and if I knew how to do it.

Although I am aware of the procedure, wing clipping is something I have never actually done in practice. I’ve kept birds for well over ten years and never actually clipped any wings. It suddenly dawned on me that for such a simple procedure I wondered myself why I have never actually tried it in over a decade of bird keeping as a main hobby.

The simple answer is most of my birds are housed in a large outdoor aviary so I’ve never had to, and although I have kept a number of birds in cages as household pets I have never considered actually clipping their wings.

Some would argue that the procedure is cruel and unnecessary, whereas some would argue that all pet birds should have their wings clipped.

All I can say is it is a matter of personal preference, the bird feels no pain or loss whatsoever apparently and it does prevent them from flying away as with clipped wings they are unable to get any lift, and also if attempting to fly from a height they’ve climbed would simply glide to the ground with no pain or injury incurred. If they attempt to fly it would go some way to preventing injury by crashing into windows and other inanimate objects.

So it’s up to you. If you wish to tame your bird then wing clipping will help but if like mine your birds live in an aviary in a semi-wild state then there is no need.

The procedure is simple with just a trimming of the middle section of the primary feathers on each wing. It would be quite easy to do yourself but if you are unsure then the best bet is to call in the professionals.

Below is a few videos I’ve found that will show you the procedure, just click on any or all of the links to access them, the diagram above will also show you where to clip.

http://youtu.be/eqhxMWBcNO8

http://youtu.be/NftNrmu3LFo

http://youtu.be/kvXMZ0kgeq0

http://www.ehow.com/video_2349545_wing-clipping-parakeets.html

Thanks!

'Stanton Birdman' - aka - Pete

How to be sure your small pet birds can survive the harsh winter conditions that are soon to come

Autumn will be here sooner than we know it; after all we are already at the end of August.  What happened to summer?  Last winter was pretty harsh with heavy snowfall here in the UK, so there's a good chance that this winter may turn out the same.  Your tropical pet birds need to be suitably protected to withstand a harsh winter season.

Larger tropical pet birds are more likely to be able to cope with the freezing conditions but they still need some protection.  Small pet birds however will require good quality protection from the onslaught of winter, as their smaller size means that they will cool down much quicker than their bigger cousins.  Fortunately your small pet birds are quite hardy and are more than able to stand the cold than you might imagine as long as suitable requirements are met.  For example, in Australia where many tropical pet birds originate from the night time temperatures can become very cold in certain areas but the birds survive OK. 

For more information read my article about this matter at 'GoArticles'.

Have you noticed that when the weather is freezing cold you are usually quite comfortable if there is no wind and you are dry.  Tropical pet birds are the same; they don't mind getting wet, they don't mind cold wind or draughts, they don't mind freezing cold temperatures, but they are not going to take them all at once.  As long as your small pet birds have had a good feed and built up a nice layer of cold-protecting fat they are happy.  So make sure they've got a plentiful and continuous supply of food to help them feel comfortable.

Also don't allow small pet birds like finches to go without light for more than a maximum of eight hours.  An automatic switch that switches on and off at pre-set times and connected to an artificial light source is a good idea, just be sure your tropical pet birds cannot come into contact with the bulb and burn themselves.  This is because due to their small size and active nature small pet birds like finches need to eat on a regular basis to keep up their energy and fat levels.  They will only eat if it is light enough for them to see clearly.

More about this by reading another of my articles at 'GoArticles'.

Tropical pet birds in an outdoor aviary need to build up their fat reserves to keep their inner bodies warm so if they have been breeding you must ensure that they do not breed during the winter.  The chicks would surely die in the cold conditions and raising chicks certainly exhausts their parents and diminishes their food supply much quicker than if they were not looking after youngsters.  The best way to prevent your small pet birds from breeding again is to remove the nest boxes at the end of summer regardless of how many clutches they have raised; don't do it until any current babies have flown the nest though.

The tropical pet birds’ aviary will need to be dry and free from cold draughts.  This is not a necessity however as long as it is dry and draught free.  Artificial heating can be used as long as no fossil fuels are used to provide the heat, so no coal, gas or paraffin for example.

To ensure the aviary for your small pet birds is in good repair for winter, and to avoid having to work in the cold you need to carry out any repairs during late summer or early autumn.  To allow enough time before winter sets in it is necessary to inspect the aviary and fix any issues.  As long as your aviary is secure, draught free and watertight your tropical pet birds will be fine.

Cage or aviary - which is the best option?

This depends entirely on your own personal preference and what plans you have for your bird or birds.


I’ve recently sold some baby budgies and have been asked this question a few times and have always responded with the same answer.

If you want a companion bird, ie. one you can handle, tame and possibly train then go for a cage. If on the other hand you would like your bird to live out as natural existence as possible then go for an aviary. This is the basic gist of it but of course it does depend on your budget and the space you have available.

The majority of my birds live in a large outdoor mixed aviary at the bottom of the garden, but when I have babies to deal with I put them in a cage once they have flown the nest to try and keep them as tame as possible ready for sale. This also makes them much easier to catch once new homes have been found for them.

A caged bird will become much tamer and more human-friendly because it will undoubtedly interact with people more often. Whereas a bird in an aviary will live in a semi-wild state and will only be used to its main owner.

I do believe however that if an adult bird is taken from an aviary to be re-homed in a cage then this can have a psychological effect on it; after living semi-free in the aviary for so long this would be like a prison sentence to the poor bird.

On the other hand if a baby bird is first housed in a cage and has never known the relative freedom of an aviary then it will accept its existence as normal. This will not then affect the bird psychologically in any way. If the previously caged bird is then given the freedom of an aviary then initially it will wonder what’s gone off and will tend to stay put to start with. After a day or so however it will then begin to explore its new environment and will soon get used to the change.

Unfortunately this wouldn’t work the other way and a previously free bird that is now caged will undoubtedly become depressed.

To summarise moving an adult caged bird to an aviary will generally be fine, but moving an adult aviary bird to cage is not a good idea.

The only exception to this rule is if the bird becomes ill it will and should have the solitude of a cage whilst it recovers from its illness, this also quarantines the bird so that if the illness is infectious then the risk of the other birds catching it will be dramatically reduced.

Get your FREE pet bird ebook

Hi folks!

Here’s your chance to get hold of a FREE pet bird related ebook.

Although I am named as the author of this it is actually a PLR ebook I bought a while ago and added a few pictures and myself as the author, so it’s not brilliant but it does give some valuable information to anyone who wishes to start and keep pet birds.

I can write much better material and have done so  with my ‘Pet Bird Keeping Secrets, The Stealth Guidebook’.  You can also get 'Pet Bird Keeping Secrets, The Stealth Guidebook' by visiting my simple one-page site at http://www.birdkeepingsecrets.com/ where you can get a copy from several other resources.  The eBook I’m giving away free however will prove full of useful information to anyone new to the hobby so it is worth the original asking price of $14.97  but it’s now yours for FREE, and you can also get it from Bird Keeping Secrets, just click on the 'Get Your Free EBook' link.

It’s FREE so it’s worth having even if it don’t teach you anything, but I’m sure it will!

Please also feel free to give copies of it away to as many other people as you like, in fact I sincerely hope you do just that!  When you read it you will understand why.

So don’t delay any longer and click this link NOW to get your FREE copy.

You can either click the link and then once the book is visible click the ‘Save a Copy’  button in the top left corner or right click on the link and choose ‘Save Target As’  from the dropdown menu.
It is in ‘Adobe PDF’ format so you can read it on any computer that has ‘Adobe Reader’ installed, which is most of them.  If you don’t have ‘Adobe Reader’ then click here or here and get it for FREE.

Flutter of tiny wings

I will be posting more details about the Australian grass parakeets soon, as promised, although somewhat delayed due to my other commitments.

I thought I’d take the opportunity to do a little upgrade post about the bird situation at home.

Stanton Birdman currently has 5 baby budgies for sale to good homes only.  They have now been taken from the aviary and placed in a cage ready to go to eager buyers.  There was 6 to start with from 2 clutches but one has already been claimed, a beautiful bright yellow from Squeek’s first clutch of the year, go to my earlier post http://stanton-birdman.blogspot.com/2011/07/nest-box-cleaning-time-again.html to learn a bit more about their upbringing and a photo of them when they were younger.

To try and make sure they go to good homes I'm asking £10 each for them.  I am only selling them locally however to minimise the phychological damage that they would suffer should they have to travel far to new homes.  If you would like any and live fairly local to Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, UK then please email me at stanton.birdman@gmail.com.

Of the 5 that are left, 2 are from ‘Squeek’ (hen) – not sure who Dad is –  and the other three are from ‘Blue’ (hen) and ‘Pied’ (cock), my most prolific breeders.



This year's first babies ready to go

 Check the picture to take a look at them now but please excuse the quality as I only have my mobile phone’s 2mp built-in camera to take photos with.

They are all strong and healthy birds that are eating well and ready to go, but as they have not yet seen their first molt I can’t tell which are female and which are male.

So far there’s no cockatiel chicks (although they’ve laid eggs) and no Java sparrow chicks (they have laid eggs also), the Bengalese (society) finches and the zebra finches appear to be struggling with the concept of egg laying – the nests are built but no eggs laid.  Meanwhile both ‘Squeek’ and ‘Blue’ have already laid again, but I will only allow my birds to raise a maximum of 2 clutches each per year.

On a similar note, ‘Squeek’s’ baby from last year – another beautiful bright yellow – which I decided to keep myself because of her colour has also laid eggs but no chicks yet, so good luck to her!

Apart from the budgies the other birds seem to be struggling but I live in optimism.

Why I've not been around for a while

Hello! I'm back!

Yes I know it's been a while since I last posted anything on here. I've been rather a busy fella. You see I'm in the process of setting up a website of my own as a platform to sell my stuff on. This is still in construction but will be online soon; hopefully!

Other than that my main reason for my absence is purely down to my family commitments. 'Family first' is a policy I've always stood by my whole life. Recently a few of my grandchildren have had birthdays, have you noticed how with birthdays they all seem to happen at about the same time of year?

You see as I am such a great cook and baker, lol, I have been recently commisioned by family members to supply all the baked goods for my grand-kids birthday parties. First it was my youngest grand-daughter only a few weeks ago, next my grand-son last weekend, and still yet to come this weekend one of my other grand-daughters, so my baking commitment as I call it is still on-going. All this coupled with days out (after all it's the six-week's holiday at the moment), my internet ventures, and various other lifestyle pressures something occasionally has to take a back seat; and unfortunately my blog posts are it.

But I'm back with a vengeance now, or at least from this weekend, yes there's still day trips and my other internet ventures but no more party baking until next month.

I'll post you soon!

Pete.