Can Wings Not Grow Sometimes?

[Scotty]

BeBe my GCC I've had 7 months and in that time I've barely seen her flight wings grow out.

Could these have been cut in such a way they won't grow? Personally I've never heard of anything like this.

She just turned 1 yr. last month, but wow a year old bird with wings clipped at like 2-3 months of age and still not grown in, what's with that?

THANKS

[cml]

BeBe my GCC I've had 7 months and in that time I've barely seen her flight wings grow out.

Could these have been cut in such a way they won't grow? Personally I've never heard of anything like this.

She just turned 1 yr. last month, but wow a year old bird with wings clipped at like 2-3 months of age and still not grown in, what's with that?

THANKS

I dont think its uncommon. Stitch is turning two in may, and he's yet to have his first molt.
Fortunatly stitch has never been clipped though !

[marie83]

Ollie didn't have a moult in his first year with us. I can't remember what age it did happen though. They are all different and environmental conditions can influence when it happens.

[Scotty]

Ok so they should eventually grown?

I mean there is like no such thing as some type of clipping that prevents them from ever growing?

THANKS

[Andromeda]

Ok so they should eventually grown?

I mean there is like no such thing as some type of clipping that prevents them from ever growing?

THANKS

They will grow back but only during a molt which could take up to another year based on the age of your bird (but could also happen in a few months). A feather grows from a follicle (just like hair) but unlike hair the old feather has to fall out first before a new one regrows.

The only thing that can prevent a feather from re-growing is if the follicle is damaged due to the feather being forcibly removed at the root (as with plucking) and even then it usually takes multiple instances of forcible removal before the follicle is damaged enough to prevent regrowth.



You will know when your bird is molting because the old primaries that have been cut will fall out and you will find them on the bottom of the cage or elsewhere on the ground.

[marie83]

I agree with the last post, however it is possible for a clipped bird with no follicule damage to take years to grow a full set of flights. This is because when a new feather is growing the other feathers surrounding it protect it from getting damaged, with a clipped bird the first few feathers to grow in dont have that support and are alot more easily damaged and can break off.

I've got no idea how likely it is for the feathers to keep breaking off, I'm sure your bird would be fine but if you want to speed things up and reduce the risk of problems growing the wings back you could always consider imping.

[Pricey_boy]

i waited like a year or even long for my lorikeets wings to grow.

and its takes my corella 3-4 months to get most flight feathers back

[Andromeda]

I agree with the last post, however it is possible for a clipped bird with no follicule damage to take years to grow a full set of flights. This is because when a new feather is growing the other feathers surrounding it protect it from getting damaged, with a clipped bird the first few feathers to grow in dont have that support and are alot more easily damaged and can break off.

This is true, it took my Poi quite a while to re-grow all his primaries because he was a very skittish bird and he would panic and fall and flail around and break blood feathers, either at home or during his many visits to the vet.

However, when my conure regrew his primaries he was not falling like my Poi and he never broke any of them.

I'd say they are unlikely to break unless your bird is playing really roughly in her cage or is trying to fly and is falling to the ground so I would try to discourage flight once you see the big blood feathers.

[Scotty]

Thanks guys, didn't think it would take so long, BeBe turned 1 last month, didn't think 8-9 months later still no flight wings...

She had some tail feathers fall out a few months back, but nothing since then...


THANKS