Last Updated on by Catherine Tobsing
Carolyn L. is concerned with blood on her Quaker’s feet and wing.
Zachary is a 10-year-old Quaker. All of a sudden he started bleeding on his foot and under his wing. Nothing new is in his cage. He is moving around and eating ok. He seems very calm which is not like him. He is nasty and bitter and talks all the time. Any idea what it could be?
Let’s start with Zachary’s main perch, shown in the featured image above.
It is a grooming perch
Grooming perches are designed to g-r-o-o-m as in nails and beaks ergo the rough surface.
Do the math and you have a bird that literally “clamps” onto whatever it’s perching on in this case the rough surface of a grooming perch.
in 30 years your bird will have slept on that perch 100,000 hours.
That’s 100,000 hours of your bird’s feet grinding away on this really brought surface so bleeding should come as no surprise.
What does all this have to do with a bloody wing you ask?
Pain can manifest itself in many ways and my guess is that foot pain is translating into “stress” preening opening up new would in easy-to-reach places.
The solution will be to remove the grooming perch altogether or move it to one or more places.
When you place a grooming perch inside a birdcage door, the bird will usually come to that perch and await a “step-up” command.
In that birds are inpatient they will do a little dance that will help reduce sharp nail tips while awaiting your hand.
Another place should be next to a daily food dish.
Birds tend to be animated when eating so they will move around on a grooming perch.
An added benefit is that will also drag their beak across the surface of the grooming perch helping to keep that important anatomical tool in good shape as well.
Kindest Regards,
MitchR
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