Is anyone tried imping (feather grafting)?

[sodakat]

I ran across something today that has me very curious: imping (or grafting feathers, especially wing feathers). From what I have read on the internet it is common to falconry. I found a couple mentions of it here, including a short reference from Monica, but I haven't found first hand accounts by parrot owners who have tried this.

I began searching under damaged wing feathers and found this site:
http://completeparrotguide.com/repair-damaged-feathers, which I must say astounded me. So, I continued searching and started seeing more references to imping. Apparently it is quite common in falconry.

It really does seem quite amazing to me.

I wonder if it would be practical in medium to large parrots? I have a male that has one wing with broken/damaged primaries that seems perfect for this. Not enough donor feathers though.

--Kathy

[sodakat]

Good grief, I meant, HAS anyone tried imping. I can no longer edit!

[Abby]

Personal opinion is that it's a waste of time for parrots. I have heard of someone getting it done and she was thrilled with the results. Her other birds were flighted and she wasn't willing to wait for her new bird who had been clipped by the breeder to grow out the clip. Personally I wouldn't bother with it.

I understand using it for raptors and the large sea birds whose survival depends on flight for getting food. makes sense then. With a companion parrot, I think putting them under anaesthetic for what is essentially a cosmetic procedure is a huge risk.

Feathers drop out, new ones come in, it's a case of being patient. With a bird such a my zon who chewed his flights imping would be more likely to draw attention to the feather chewing problem and cause more issues.

[Valo's Moirana]

Yeah, what mary (abby) said:)

[Monica]

I do recall a B&G macaw that the flight feathers were a complete mess, and the new owners considered pulling the feathers or imping them. I think they went the route of pulling but I can't recall for sure.

Personally, I don't think that pulling or imping should be done unless under special circumstances.... maybe the bird has a feather cyst? The bird has a blood feather? Or perhaps having trimmed feathers is resulting in plucking so imping or pulling the flights to encourage regrowth may be warranted, but otherwise, probably not something that needs to be done. Actually pulling out feathers can cause follicle damage, which may result in mishapen feathers, or no feather growth at all. I don't see any harm in imping, unless of course the imped feathers bother the bird, or perhaps the feathers aren't sitting "right" because they don't align up properly with the rest of the feathers?


If you are really interested in doing the procedure though, perhaps you can try looking on Ebay or maybe asking some macaw owners for some short trimmed (near the skin) or molted feathers... although there is a worry about bacteria or diseases when you ask for feathers from a bird that you may not know the health of.

[sodakat]

I have a vet appointment on the 23rd and will discuss with her. This is an area on the wing that has been problematic for more than a year. Our previous vet pulled several flight feathers last August because of sheath retention. When the new feathers started coming in, he broke them or clipped them... not sure exactly. He is not a plucker nor does he overgroom. Anyway, now he has a number of flight feathers, say number 7 through 2, that are from one two 3 inches long. Not from clipping. He has not been clipped in more than a year. They just won't molt out. The stubs I mean. I hate to have them pulled again, but I hate more for them to be short and rough like they are. So, this imping seems feasible, although very "out there" for sure. The shafts are definitely large enough in diameter to work with. I can't imagine holding him down long enough to glue in new feathers! What a process that must be! The end result would be fantastic though, if the articles I've read in the last couple days are any indication. I'll probably just have them pulled and keep a really good eye on them as they grow out this time. He got a bunch of secondary and covert feathers roughed up when going in and out of the nest box this past spring, but those are all coming in beautifully now. And his other wing is in great shape. I pull broken tail feathers myself, but will not pull wing feathers.

Mostly I wanted to see if anyone had first hand experience with this. Not for cosmetic reasons... but instead to help their bird regain flight.

Thanks, Kathy

[Monica]

I would be interested in hearing what your avian vet says! Keep us updated!

[RubyMuse]

I heard the author Greg Kendall discuss his experiences with imping and he finds it quite useful. I will look for his book and try to find the part with the reference...

[sodakat]

For those interested, I have an update. Vet visit was today, a 300 mile round trip. So, guess what. She has experience imping feathers. Learned at the Univ of Minnesota in their raptor program years ago. She said it works. We discussed my LaFitte's left wing primaries that had retained sheaths and irritated him until he clipped them. Inspection showed several about 1 inch long and several about 3 inches long. He has not been clipped in 18 months. Last August four or five were pulled by another vet. I agreed to her pulling them again this year, as long as he was sedated. So, once she got him sedated and was able to examine completely, she found that 10 needed to be pulled. Two others will molt naturally so they were left. A culture was sent to the lab to be sure there was no infection. It did look good, but... we'll see. The plan is to monitor the feather regrowth and of course hope all goes well this time. I am going to start saving molted primaries from the other wing now, because there is a chance that this regrowth could irritate him and he may clip them again. At that point she does want to attempt imping. He would be a candidate because the base of the feathers is strong, and he does not pull them.

So, we shall see. I am of course hoping for normal feather growth. I want this guy to be able to fly again.

Kathy

[MissV]

I just don't feel that looks or flight is so important that such procedures are necessary....but then again, i keep my birds clipped.

Eitherway, I would only go to such extreme measures if it eased discomfort for the bird or was necessary to their life (like with raptors and seabirds as mentioned)