Indoor Pheasant Needs a Beak Trim...Can I do it?

[FarmPrincess]

Hi All & Thanks in advance for any replies! I have a teenage male Jones Silver that's been living in my house for a month or 2 now... he came down w/ the pox and it was too cold & dark in the garage. I've been keeping him in a medium sized dog cage and letting him sleep in the bathroom in a large pan of sand. He doesn't seem to bathe or preen and I think it's because his beak has gotten too long. He won't or maybe can't eat crumble or seed so Ive been giving him boiled eggs and lettuce as well as fruit since he became ill. As far as I can tell the pox are no longer in his mouth or throat so I think I need to trim his beak to encourage eating seeds and bathing. Can I do this myself or is his beak brittle and need to be trimmed by our vet? Any suggestions on feeding, bathing or trimming his beak would be greatly appreciated. Also I've had to keep him segregated from the other birds. Can anyone suggest how to reintroduce him to others? He seems anxious when they get near his cage if I put him outside.

 

[Tony K T]

I trim mine with dog toe nail clippers.Just cut back to the bloodline,but no further or he will bleed like crazy.You have jones silvers?Do you have any for sale?How about posting some pics of them!I have true silvers and lewis silvers.I would love to add jones and annemese.I have contact with a guy on this site that has them,but he lives in Vietnam.
What other breeds do you raise?
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[FarmPrincess]

@ Tony-Actually I tried to raise a dzn or so of the Jones & had one male Ringneck (because he was so colorful) but now I'm down to just the one because the others kept wandering off. For a while I was able to sneak up on them and grab them out of the bushes etc. Eventually they wandered farther or have been eaten. I imagine he would be gone too if he hadn't become so sick. I'd love to try again... maybe next yr. Unlike our chickens, guineas, ducks etc. they never got real friendly/tame. When you trim yours back do you just clip them or do you try to file them into shape?

 

[Tony K T]

I just trim them,they grow back so fast especialy if they are not foraging.Filing them would sertainly stress them out,I would just cut it and leave him be..Are you sure it is a jones silver?I would really love to see a pic of him.I take it you are not in the U.S?
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[FarmPrincess]

Yes I live in E Tx! I'll try to get a pic of him this evening after I clean him up (I have to wash his beak before bed). I don't know a great deal about pheasants, but I was told they were Jones Silvers when we got them. He is still young so he's the usual brown that the females stay. He can't forage because after he came down with pox it's been 1 thing after another... First pox, then his feet were swollen, then his eye kept matting shut and his inner eye lid has a pock that made his lids grow together. Since then he's had diarrhea, ripped off a toenail or 2 and the other day we cracked the corner of his beak. He tried to escape when I was moving him to an outdoor cage. He has terrible scar tissue from the pox and lost sooo much weight! I would really love to move him back outside permanantly, but I'm afraid to after keeping him inside. It's gotten very cold (for us Texans anyway) and alone I'm afraid he would get too cold! I read someplace that the vets usually file the beaks down with a special tool and that you have to try to keep the shape. I don't think Ive ever had one that needed trimmed before. Then again I've never had one in a cage in my house! I've been contemplating giving him a bath but he's difficult to handle...but he is getting rather smelly

 

[Tony K T]

Any pics of that jones silver yet?I really love to see pic of one.Do you have or know anyone that has some for sale?Here's a pic of my lewis silver pair.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[jenbright9999]

Hi All & Thanks in advance for any replies! I have a teenage male Jones Silver that's been living in my house for a month or 2 now

Can you please post photos of your pet pheasant living inside your home?