Blood draws hard on birds?

[thunderbird]

I would love to get my baby conure sexed and general work up, but am a little worried about how difficult the blood drawing is on these little birds? Any thoughts?

 

[Featheredsamurai]

It's not bad, a certified avian vet will know the correct amount to take out so that no harm comes to our birds

 

[Pajarita]

It also depends on where they take the blood from, the wing been more uncomfortable for them than the jugular.

 

[Mayden]

You can also use pulled feathers for sexing

 

[Featheredsamurai]

It also depends on where they take the blood from, the wing been more uncomfortable for them than the jugular.

My vet takes blood from the leg

 

[JerseyWendy]

My vet takes blood from the leg

So does mine. As easy as 1-2-3.

 

[Echo]

I find the leg to be the least stressful...

 

[ruffledfeathers]

I was always surprised how little my birds have cared about it!! My dogs FREAK OUT but my birds totally take it in stride. Even when i had Georgie microchipped, the vet told me it can hurt and they often fuss, but she was over it right away.

 

[Agapornis]

My vet gets a DNA sample from clipping the nails. She will clip one just a little too short, and use the little drop of blood that comes out. That seems less invasive than drawing blood with a needle.

 

[MonicaMc]

My a-vet draws from the jugular vein and finds that to be the easiest, because of the way the birds neck is naturally positioned, once they draw the blood and allow the bird to sit normally, there is no reason to put any powder or bandage on the bird. The way that they naturally sit stops the blood from coming out.

I've heard blood draws from the leg and from the nail bed, too... never had a vet draw blood from either one.

 

[Pajarita]

Me neither, it has always been the neck. It's the easiest because it's completely exposed (you can see it if you blow on the feathers, it's a huge vein just under the translucent skin). My vet wets the feathers there, separate them (they don't actually grow on the spot but they grow in such a way that they cover it) with her/his fingers and just put the needle to the vein. Easy as pie. And you can't get blood from a feather or a nail for blood work, only for DNA sexing but what I do is ask the doctor to put a little bit of the blood they draw for the tests into the little vial they send for the DNA so the bird doesn't have to suffer needlessly.