Trimming Vent Feathers

[cafarmgirl]

need some advice re: clipping feathers round the vent, basically how short can I cut without harming the bird or hurting it? My bird is bad at cleaning and always has really claggy dried poo on her rear feathers under her vent. It's not gleet but once it starts to build up she doesn't clean it and I have to try to bathe her and chip the stuff off. It's set like concrete and I feel like I must be hurting her an awful lot when I have to break the lumps off her poor red skin and back end. I've been told I should clip the feathers there to stop it building up again save putting her through the pain and stress of a regular bath. I chopped a little off today but it's so hard to see as the feathers are so dirty, even after soap, water and a thorough picking. Can I cut too short or will it not hurt her too mcuch. Is it more cruel to let her walk around with a wet, sore gritty bum than it would be to have her feathers chopped back?

help. I felt so cruel cutting some of them today. Keep worrying she'll bleed to death or get an infection or something because of me

You can clip the feathers, it won't hurt her. The only time this might not be true is if she's recently molted and has new pin feathers coming in that still have a blood supply.

The other issue is why she is having such a problem. It's not unusual for some birds to get a little messy back there but if it's an ongoing really big mess then something else may be going on. Is this bird a regular layer? Has she ever been dewormed?

 

[Xtineart]

she's just been wormed again, as I've had her 6 months and I wormed her when I got her. she had real laying problems at first, a few broken eggs inside the vent and a lot of blood in the first days. I'm pretty sure her vent looks a bit odd too, like pursed lips if that makes sense? it really sticks out at the top 'lip' so maybe that's causing some of the dribbling. She got her feathers in around 2 months ago now so all the pin feathers are full grown out and fluffy, but I'm certain she's never had feathers before, she was a real mess when she came to me, almost completely bald and scared of her own shadow. She's also had a bit of adjusting to do to her new diet and the fact that food is on tap for her and it's a real job to stop her just eating herself silly, she eats everything she can see, the ivy, the apple tree, all my grass is gone, she was nibbling the gooseberry bush this morning and where she came from she'd never have had more than basic chicken feed and even then starvation rations. I've treated her for gleet but had her checked twice with a full stool sample check at the vets so there is nothing medically wrong with her. she's just a mucky pup.

 

[Xtineart]

oh meant to add, she lays a perfect egg every day