wing feathers twisting/breaking *grrr*

[Callistobass]

I am pretty mad again..

When I adopted Lola I took her to a local Avian vet for a check-up and to get her toenails (err.. talons at that point) and wings trimmed..

The Vet asked if she was flying, to which I said "like a brick with wings." Lola has never been a talented flyer, so I asked the Vet to take it easy when clipping her wings, because I didn't want her crashing down on the floor (before the clip, she was lucky to get across a room).

But since I didn't know what a "light trim" of the wings was at the time, the Vet took WAAAY too much off, and we (Lola and consequently myself) have been suffering ever since.

Now when she gets spooked or is her usual clutzy self and falls off her perch, she is not like a brick with wings, but more of a plain old brick.

As a result, I am scared to death she is going to break her beak.. she is already having problems breaking her tail feathers when she "lands" and she has since broken every single one of her flight feathers in painful twisting motions (see the pictures... this was the last one).

I guess I am just posting to see if anyone has had similar problems, and if you can just reassure me that these feathers will eventually grow back. I just find it hard to believe they can when they have no support and will just perpetually keep twisiting and breaking off.

Also - what should I do with this last feather (in the pic)? In the past I have left it to her to "fix" but I am wondering if I should perhaps clip it?

Any/all advice is more than welcome!!

[dyeman]

It looks like your vet clipped some interior flight feathers and left the outer 2 for appearance sake. I have seen this before, but I never do this because it leaves the outer flights open for just the kind of damage Lola did. I clip the the first 3 flights on Greys unless they are exceptional flyers. I would definitely clip the damaged wing so that she doesn't cause more damage. I think Nancy (The Outlaw) has posted a wing clipping diagram on here before. I would follow that and clip just the first 3 flights once her wings grown out.

If you look at my Avatar picture of KC, you'll see what I mean about clipping just the outer flights. KC actually has the first 5 clipped.

[Rue]

I think we have the same problem with my daughter's budgie...they clipped her wings way too short at the pet store (back in Feb.! ) and everytime a new primary comes in, it has no support, it breaks, often with bleeding...

...nothing we can do except keep her locked up...over the past 6 weeks, the primaries on one wing have finally come in , but the other wing is still a mess...I'm also really ticked off with the petstore, there's no need for such a short trim! But since then I've seen some of the 'techs' hacking off feathers...it's not pretty...

[Monica]

Noel is the same, a 'brick with wings', but actually appears to be a 'ragdoll with wings'. She can't fly with her flights, and has only been clipped once since coming to me... She does occasionally get a feather that gets broken like Lolas, though Casey normally gets more broken feathers than Noel. I normally just clip the feather off where it breaks...

[Callistobass]

about where should I clip the twisted feather? as close to the body as I can or somewhere in the middle?

ps - thanks for the advice!

[yehudasf]

BS"D

When any of the psittazens here get a feather that is twisted in the follicle, I pull it. If the shaft is left until the next growth cycle, there is a good chance that the follicle itself will be deformed & the resulting feathers will be twisted, or damaged in some other way.

[Callistobass]

Can you give me some pointers on how to do that? I have never pulled one out, and don't want to use to much/too little force and hurt her any more

Originally Posted by yehudasf

BS"D

When any of the psittazens here get a feather that is twisted in the follicle, I pull it. If the shaft is left until the next growth cycle, there is a good chance that the follicle itself will be deformed & the resulting feathers will be twisted, or damaged in some other way.

[yehudasf]

BS"D

Callistobass:

Can you give me some pointers on how to do that? I have never pulled one out, and don't want to use to much/too little force and hurt her any more

With my Macaws, the tried-&-true method is to pet them, with one hand, while getting the other hand on the feather, followed by a sharp yank. Since the feather is close to one-third out of the follicle already, as well, it is twisted & as such has lost much of its "grip", removal will not be painful. It will surprise the psittazen, & almost certainly there will be a squawk, but the follicle will be dry,(not bleeding) & most importantly, the errant feather will not be sticking out, bumping things & causing more pain & bother. You could towel drape your baby, but that usually causes pressure on the twisted feather, & makes the bird struggle.

[cavinandhope]

When Stitch has one like that I just go up to him and talk to him getting his attention away from my other hand and grab the feather an yank it out.. Its less pain on them if any...
Now when the vet pulled the blood feather out he didn't even make a sound...He pulled it slowly.... OUCH.... But I think he was glad to get that annoying feather out though..

Plus if he flys like a brick with feather then don't clip him... If he can't fly good with all his feathers what do you have to worry about?

[Jer]

That is EXACTLY what Ozzie look like. She is a year old this month and has never been able to fly. My question is do these feathers come back only at molting time??? But you are lucky, I see Lola does have SOME tail feathers. Ozzies are slowly coming back, but seems to be taking forever. I have been leaving these twisted feathers for Ozzie to pull out herself. I don't want her to hate me. AND???? Will Ozzie ever learn to fly being a year old and having not done it yet??
I would REALLY appreciate some advice on this. I know I am not here much anymore, and sometime I feel nobody wants to take the time for some of my questions, but I've been having major computer problems.

Thanks,
Jer