pin feathers?

[noodles123]

My cockatoo gets very itchy due to all of her pin-feathers (post-molt and post-liver problem----fixed). My question is, when the feather still has a blood supply but the keratin-covered white part if VERY visible, how close to the blood line do you go when assisting with head preening (if at all)?



I don't preen any that are reachable to her, and she enjoys it when I help her....If I leave them alone, she ends up scratching up her face, so I DO try to help.


I just have never been certain as to how far to go down the feather shaft. I generally leave at least 1/2 to 1/4 of an inch of the white/keratin portion above the pink/blood line....


What do you guys do, if anything?

 

[ChristaNL]

I just go by touch ...

(grey and macaw / haven't cuddled up with a too this entire century! )

the end of the pin is crispy and will just fall apart if you put a bit of pressure on it -
so start at the very tip and work your way up the shaft.
The moment it is not brittle anymore... just stop and go to the next pinfeather.

As long as you don't put too much pressure on it too fast you cannot go wrong.

 

[noodles123]

That's what I do but do you think she would warn me if I got too close to the blood portion? She has warned me of discomfort on 2 instances before (once because I moved a sensitive feather and once because she moved when I pinched down and inadvertently pulled at her feather a bit lol)

 

[ChristaNL]

Oh, they always warn you (several times) so no wories about that
I sometimes make a mistake with Sunny - since her feathers are so much larger I have issues with using the right amount of force.

Well ... so does she when she is 'preening' my fingers, hands etc..
Actually our reaction is usually the same: the preeney will be moving the bodypart away from the painfull spot or (vocally) protest if it really is way too much. The one who is preening wil gently start/continue somewhere else...

 

[noodles123]

Good lol- Guess we are on the same page, as that is what I do! ha