Pinioning

Pinioning is the act of surgically removing the pinion joint, the joint of a bird's wing farthest from the body, to prevent flight. Pinioning is often done to waterfowl and poultry. It is not typically done to companion bird species such as parrots.

The act of pinioning

Removing the pinion joint of a bird is anatomically similar to removing a person's hand at the wrist. This removes the primary feathers, preventing the acceleration required for flight. Pinioning may be done by a veterinarian or by a trained breeder, and is similar to other forms of modification of domestically raised animals, such as docking the tail of a terrier.

The Jubilee Acres farm gives a description of what it is like to pinion a bird's wing:

"We use a sharp pair of docking scissors. You take one wing (we do the same one on all birds). Extend the wing; on the end of the wing there is a joint. There are two pieces of wing attached at this joint. One piece is very small and the other a lot bigger. You need to cut off the larger piece at the joint, leaving the smaller piece in tact [sic]. We cauterize all cuts as that stops any bleeding and the birds recover much faster."

"We pinion our Egyptian Geese - otherwise they would not stick around very long. It is best to do this before they are four days old. We have done one at a few weeks of age but it is more stressful on the bird and they tend to bleed more and definitely need to be cauterized."

Alternatives to pinioning

A non-surgical alternative is clipping the flight feathers, though this only lasts until feathers are replaced during the moult; however the flight feathers are only replaced once every year.

Permanent enclosures designed to prevent accidental egress (escape) of birds remove the need for pinioning.

Keeping birds who through natural adaptation or selective breeding have lost the ability to fly removes the need for pinioning; for example, keeping Indian runner ducks as opposed to wild-type mallard ducks.

Quality of life

The removal of a body part of a captive animal by human beings is an issue of contention (see animal rights). Quality of life for a captive animal is often used to justify modification. In some circumstances if an animal is to be kept in captivity pinioning can increase quality of life. An animal allowed to roam a property and pond likely has a higher quality of life through freedom of movement, allowance for natural behaviors, and increased mental stimulation when compared to penning. Wing clipping can appear to be an equal alternative to pinioning but wing clipping is not always reliable. The moult may occur earlier or later than anticipated. A partially moulted bird may be able to fly away, which does not increase quality of life as captive-raised wild and domestic birds often lack survival skills such as predator avoidance and the ability to navigate back to shelter and safety. (See Thick-billed parrot reintroduction.) For management of large flocks it may be very difficult for the keeper to identify, catch, and clip each bird.

See also

• Wing clipping
• Information on pinioning ducks, geese and swans