Your help is needed

Not sure if any of you have ever read about Dr. Greg Burkett. He has done some really great work . If you google him

https://www.thedodo.com/injured-mallard-receives-a-lif-520543455.html
is one example

His FB site is https://www.facebook.com/TBBDurham

What he needs now is Feathers from
Congo African grey feathers; more specifically we need primary and secondary wing feathers from both wings, and tail feathers.

Here is his full story from his FB Page. If you can send you can also post to the story what type and how many you are sending.


Hello bird lovers, I have a patient that needs your help.
My Patient is a Congo African grey. She has no wing feathers and therefore is having a problem balancing and she has no self confidence. The poor bird is frightened about the world, if we give her some wing feathers, she can balance and she will develop some self confidence. We plan to do procedure on he known as imping. This is procedure of replacing the missing feathers with donor feathers. The is where your help is vital to this procedure, which will give this bird s better quality of life. We need Congo African grey feathers; more specifically we need primary and secondary wing feathers from both wings, and tail feathers. Please send only whole feathers that have been naturally molted from healthy birds. You can make a difference for this bird. Please send them to me at my hospital - The Bird Hospital: Avian Veterinary Services, Attention Dr. Greg Burkett, 3039 University Durham, NC, 27707.

Update :

Before I tell the story of this African grey, I want to THANK EVERYONE who sent feathers to help this bird. Your generosity and compassion. This procedure with your birds' feathers dramatically improved this bird's quality of life. He is literally a different bird. This initially sad situation began with an African grey who became cage bound with extreme anxiety because the owner had aged and was ill. The situation led to causing this bird to self-mutilate its feathers. The owner died and the bird was inherited by a family who was completely unfamiliar with birds. This is a terrific family who wants only the best for this bird and to learn the best way to care for their new companion. They decided to bring him in to see me for a health check. During the history taking the owner expressed concern that this poor bird was terrified to be handled and come out of the cage. They did not know how to handle him but wanted to. He had plucked on his body, but most important is that he had completely chewed all of his wing feathers and tail feathers. Without his wing feathers he had no balance and was falling from his perch when approached. When he was frightened, even from just putting a hand in the cage, he flapped and thrashed about. After the my exam i determined that most of the behavior problems (flailing and frightened, etc.) were related to his inability to perch. I knew I could help this bird, but he needed you first to give him some feathers. I took the feathers and performed a procedure called imping. This is a procedure that has been used for decades to repair broken feathers in raptors so they can fly efficiently. In raptors typically one tail feather or flight feather. I adopted this technique to use in parrots, however instead of repairing one or two feathers, I have repaired up to 25 on one bird. My first attempt at imping a parrot was in 1994 and I have done several others since. All cases were successful. This case was no different, with the exception that this bird was more affected psychologically and physically than any previous imping candidate. However, this bird had chewed his wing feathers to the point that only a few feathers could be repaired. I was able to repair 6 on each side. Only three on one side was successful because the other follicles were not strong enough to hold the feather. But the 9 feathers that were successful changed this bird's life. As you can see from the image in a previous post that he is handleable and will step up. A completely different bird. We worked with the owner on how to get him out of the cage and handle him. The family is so happy. And I am thrilled that i was able to improve the life of another bird. - Dr B

Hello, I am only a parrot owner but if you would sent any contact information I could use to follow this procedure I would be grateful. D.D.