Pchela Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Okay, I have at home right now a baby Grey that I am hand feeding for work. He's adorable! He is covered in pin feathers. At this young age, is it okay for me to help preen him? He looks so uncomfortable. I know it's okay when they are older but I don't know about babies. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 You're hand feeding a baby bird who's first set of soft pin feathers are finally coming and you wanna help him cause he looks uncomfortable. All greys and other parrots are uncomfortable when new feathers grow in. That's par for the course. There's nothing you can do anyway that's gonna help him but you may irritate those soft gentle areas of the skin where the pin feathers are coming from. Plus, it isn't alright to do it to an adult bird unless there's a special problem going on and with an adult bird, there's a very good chance that you'll get a very nasty bite when messing around in those areas. Almost all birds are irritated when new feathers grow in and all can be very short tempered if you mess with nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pchela Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Okay. So basically what you're saying is I should leave all of the feathers alone! Got it. I can do that. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Right, leave them alone. Think about for a minute--what could you possibly do with a baby or adult bird when it's growing new feathers? Pet him? That won't help the feathers grow out. Squeeze the shafts? That won't help the feathers grow out . Pet the bird going in the opposite direction of where the shafts are aimed? That won't help the feathers grow out and do that to an adult bird and I guarantee you he/she will bite you instantly with no warning. Baby birds and adult birds are always irritated when feather growth is occuring. Adult birds will become moody and short tempered. Baby birds just fall asleep. A bad follicle /shaft will cause a very red irritation mark and it'll look inflamed and it needs to be taken care of. Your baby is just growing in his first set of feathers with no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm_2007 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 i saw someone in a earier post try to pet dave and he nearly bit there head off. so yeah just stay away from them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Really. Hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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