Coupe d'ailes et de griffes | Québec

Wing cut, claws and beak filing

Wing cut

Wing cutting often remains a controversial topic.

Is it necessary or compulsory to cut the wings of our bird?

The answer is no, except in a few specific situations.

This can prevent bird injury, death, or injury to you. (See down there)

Does this allow me to safely bring my bird outside?

The answer is absolutely no.

The cut may be poorly made and allow the bird to fly away.

Even well cut, the bird can take off with a good draft.

The bird can also jump and fly lower, but reach unwanted places.

The harness and carrier are still the safest methods of bringing your bird safely outside.

However, be sure to put the harness on your bird and react well when it wants to fly away so as not to give a blow to bring it back and injure it.

In which situations it is better to do the wing cutting

- When a bird is very nervous and tends to gargle all over the room constantly. Sometimes cutting its wings once allows it to learn to stay in play areas or places that are safe for it. This is to prevent your bird from injuring itself in your windows, doors, cabinets, etc. Often prevents the death of your bird.

Education should also be done simultaneously to calm the bird and show it the places for it.

- When a bird is very aggressive and tries to fly on people to attack them. This allows 90% of the time to protect the people around him. It also allows owners to take over and establish or re-establish a bond of trust with it. We often recommend this method before the last resort of relocating the bird to another family.

Cutting service or do it yourself

The veterinary service is often the safest. People are professionals and know how to do it well without hurting the bird.

The service of a person in a pet store, beware! They sometimes say they are experts in the field and do not know how to trim the wings. They can traumatize your bird through improper handling. The method of cutting every other feather that some jobs is downright ineffective. Make sure to ask questions and find out if employing it has been around for a long time.

Also beware of the groomer service! They sometimes claim to be experts in the field, but have never made birds.

Do it yourself is not a good idea in general. This should only be done if you do not have a pet store, groomer or veterinarian in your area.

You have to be very sure of yourself. You have to know how to properly immobilize the bird without hurting or traumatizing it. You have to know how to cut them (see the graph).

Don't worry if everything is done right, it doesn't hurt your parrot at all. A bit like us when we have our hair cut. Its feathers will grow back in about a month or two, sometimes less sometimes more.

Also, be sure not to cut too short, otherwise you could injure your bird!

Do not cut in the secondary diet section, as your bird will fall like a rock to the ground and could break its legs or neck! It is important that this one cannot gain height, but still be able to land gently while flying towards the ground.

Often even with clipped wings, small parrots such as lovebirds, parakeets ... will manage to fly all the same.

Coupe d'ailes, de griffes chez le perroquets

Claw cut

Even if you are setting up concrete perches, it is important to check your parrot's claws.

It is not necessarily easy to do.

You must know how to cut them well, so as not to injure your parrot.

If you are too afraid to do so, consult a professional in the field.

For small parrots (Touï, conure, lovebird, etc.), it is best to do this with a nail clipper and a nail file or a small claw clipper.

For medium and large parrots: A claw cutter or a '' dremel '' with rounded sanding tip will be necessary.

Do Not Use: Pet Paws Nail Clipper, as seen on tv.

Before you start, make sure you always have Quick Stop with you in case of bleeding from the claw.

To protect yourself, wrap it in a towel.

Be careful not to suffocate the parrot under the towel, it may have its head sticking out, just be careful that it does not catch your fingers.

It is best to do this with two people. One person holding the parrot and the other doing the task!

It is perfectly normal that the parrot will not like the cut and will try to remove its leg or escape from its grip.

On the graph, the white line, is the imaginary line that you must follow to know where to cut.

Cut where the white line is, so as not to cut too short. With the dremel or the line round the tip of the claw.

beak filing

The beak cut or let's say more beak filing is necessary more in certain breeds of parrots such as macaws for example.

Even if you put everything you need for them in their cage, parrots' beaks can grow very quickly. The beak can become dangerous for the parrot if it is too long.

Food, lack of games, lack of perches, disease can also be causes that can explain the abnormal growth of the beak.

We recommend that you bring your bird to see a professional. Often it does not take long, because the bird may have difficulty feeding properly.

NEVER CUT THE SPOUT! FILING ONLY

For small parrots (Touï, conures, lovebird, etc.), you can only file it with a nail or diamond file (pet store).

For medium and large parrots, a dremel is necessary. Rounded sanding tip.

It is very very important to be careful not to pinch the vein of the beak, so as not to injure your parrot. It is very important to know how to properly assess what is too long for the parrot's beak.

Again please ask a professional ...