Hi everyone! @Miss Lydia @Isaac 0 @Magnolia Ducks @casportpony
CCP is 10 weeks old as of today. He's been doing really well and has gotten really big!
However, we can't move him outside yet, because we're still integrating him in with our flock of chickens. We want him to get big enough so that he can establish himself in their pecking order before we let them live in the coop together. So he's been growing in his flight feathers, and will easily get himself 6 or even 7 feet off the ground. However, this is dangerous inside of a house. When he's under control, he does well inside, he gets daily bath and play time, lots of kisses and cuddles, and sometimes watches an opera or two on a laptop. He also loves listening to classical. (He particularly seems to love violin concertos. He'll perk his head up to listen!)
Its just a matter of monitoring him very closely and not letting him fly around and hurt himself. We've learned his takeoff stance. He even makes a little face before he does it.
I've looked into clipping his wings, which is something we've planned to do since the beginning. Because he was raised entirely in captivity by two very overprotective parents- he wouldn't be able to make it for long if he was to fly away by mistake. So its something we're comfortable with, but because I've only raised chickens, I've never clipped a wing in my life, never had to.
Websites and other forum posts are saying to wait at least 15 weeks to clip his primary flight feathers. He is getting rowdier by the day, and clearly wants to go back outside again. And we don't want to keep him from having fun outside for much longer. Even if we don't want him to fly, he still deserves to flap his wings in the yard. So our safest option is to clip as soon as we know that its safe for us to.
Here are my questions-
1) Is 10 weeks to early to clip his primary feathers?
2) How do feathers develop? What stage of development are his feathers at at 10 weeks?
3) Is there any risk of blood at this stage? What exactly is a blood feather?
4) What are your recommended clipping methods, for when the time comes? I want to make the safest cut as possible when I do.
5) Whats the safest and most efficient way to restrain him when we do decide to clip?
Bonus) Do any of you know of any online patterns for making duckie diapers? I'd love to see them! Even when he moves outside, he's always going to come back in for cuddles!
Thank you guys so much for all of your help as always, and for following along with us with our baby! I hope you all are doing well! Stay safe out there. More updates soon, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you all.
CCP is 10 weeks old as of today. He's been doing really well and has gotten really big!
However, we can't move him outside yet, because we're still integrating him in with our flock of chickens. We want him to get big enough so that he can establish himself in their pecking order before we let them live in the coop together. So he's been growing in his flight feathers, and will easily get himself 6 or even 7 feet off the ground. However, this is dangerous inside of a house. When he's under control, he does well inside, he gets daily bath and play time, lots of kisses and cuddles, and sometimes watches an opera or two on a laptop. He also loves listening to classical. (He particularly seems to love violin concertos. He'll perk his head up to listen!)
Its just a matter of monitoring him very closely and not letting him fly around and hurt himself. We've learned his takeoff stance. He even makes a little face before he does it.
I've looked into clipping his wings, which is something we've planned to do since the beginning. Because he was raised entirely in captivity by two very overprotective parents- he wouldn't be able to make it for long if he was to fly away by mistake. So its something we're comfortable with, but because I've only raised chickens, I've never clipped a wing in my life, never had to.
Websites and other forum posts are saying to wait at least 15 weeks to clip his primary flight feathers. He is getting rowdier by the day, and clearly wants to go back outside again. And we don't want to keep him from having fun outside for much longer. Even if we don't want him to fly, he still deserves to flap his wings in the yard. So our safest option is to clip as soon as we know that its safe for us to.
Here are my questions-
1) Is 10 weeks to early to clip his primary feathers?
2) How do feathers develop? What stage of development are his feathers at at 10 weeks?
3) Is there any risk of blood at this stage? What exactly is a blood feather?
4) What are your recommended clipping methods, for when the time comes? I want to make the safest cut as possible when I do.
5) Whats the safest and most efficient way to restrain him when we do decide to clip?
Bonus) Do any of you know of any online patterns for making duckie diapers? I'd love to see them! Even when he moves outside, he's always going to come back in for cuddles!
Thank you guys so much for all of your help as always, and for following along with us with our baby! I hope you all are doing well! Stay safe out there. More updates soon, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you all.
