Uh Oh… I clipped too much! So what happens if you DO clip the Quick and blood supply? Well one of the first things you do is reach for the one thing you always have either in the cage stand cubby or shelf, or the storage container under the coffee table full of bird stuff like toys and extra bags of food, or make sure you have it where even if its in a closet or even in another room that its only a few feet away from where the birds normally are and you have a supply that you use STRICTLY for the birdies…. That product is… Corn starch.
Corn starch will be one of your best resources. We prefer to use Argo brand in the yellow plastic resealable container. You want to make sure you have a separate container for bird blood clotting purposes only. The last thing you want is to take that corn starch that you used to bread those fish you caught at the lake 6 months ago, and have that contaminated fishy bacteria laden powder that’s had 6 months to fester and have it freshly applied to an open wound on your bird. If you can’t afford an extra $3 for a separate container of corn starch… don’t get a bird. Besides, if you somehow go through THAT much corn starch then you can always take a clean spoon and scoop some from the bird stash to your cooking stash. Its sad that I have to say this but again, go on Facebook bird groups and you will be amazed. Most of the time, unless you bake 4 times a week, if you’re using corn starch its for a special occasion. Hell half the time, ingredients like that are used once or twice before the expiration date. If its expired, it doesn’t necessarily mean its bad, especially powder. Most food companies have a “recommended FRESHness” date where they guarantee that its fresh and the expiration is far past this. Anything for my birds though, I have a strict rule of not using anything past the expiration date. That way if something ever happens, the company can’t use the “out” of “well, it was past the expiration date”. Due to a family medical condition, I also do this with most foods that aren’t rice and dry stuff like pasta or chips. That way the company can’t use that as a reason to not be at fault even though its merely a “recommended freshness” date.
Also ALWAYS keep on hand and actual clotting agent as well. A styptic powder of sorts but they actually make products specifically for birds. It’s a bit pricy. Its like $12 per 1 or 2 ounces but if you ever need it its hands down worth it. Use this as a last resort. This stuff has chemicals in it that if ingested can harm your bird. Obviously if your bird bleeds to death he’ll die anyway but birds bite at/pick at their injuries so having that on there is not a good idea if it isn’t necessary to stop bleeding. It is recommended you spray bottle it off with water or lightly soak a paper towel in water and carefully get the excess clot powder off when the bleeding stops.
Just like birds are small so small amounts of things can kill them, they also have small amounts of blood so even what doesn’t seem like a lot of blood might not look like much, it is probably a significant percentage to the bird. Hence, if anything happens be it a blood feather break, one bird attacks another, a door closes and it pinches their foot, clipping the nail too close, make sure you’re prepared to act quick with corn starch and clotting powder if necessary. Use corn starch first and if the bleeding continues or is rather profuse, use the clotting powder. The corn starch doesn’t burn (or at least never has seemed so when we’ve used it) but the clotting powder will probably burn and the bird won’t like it so it will probably run away. Animals don’t know that they’re bleeding to death. They react with animal instinct. So be prepared for that. Keep the bird as calm as you can and control the bleeding. For severe injuries like loss of limb, beak or wing, I’m not going to attempt to suggest on that since I don’t rightly know. What I will suggest is that on your first vet visit, ask what they would recommend if such a horrendous accident ever happens and take their advice. But like anything in life regarding a life threatening emergency, there’s no such thing as lucky or unlucky there’re prepared and unprepared. Which one are you?