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Tail feather fell off prematurely???

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Tail feather fell off prematurely???

Postby Waffles » Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:09 pm

Hi! So my bird when I first got him, didnt have his tail feathers, and when he finally grew one back, A couple weeks later, it fell off! I didnt do anything to it, and theres blood on the tip of the feather. What should i do? Is my bird purposely plucking his tailfeathers off or are they getting caught and pulled off? What can i do to prevent this?

Sincerely, Waffles the cockatiel
Waffles
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 21
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: cockatiel
Flight: No

Re: Tail feather fell off prematurely???

Postby Pajarita » Sat Sep 30, 2017 9:39 am

Well, it could be either she plucked it or it got tangled up or caught somewhere and pulled out. It was definitely not a natural thing or something that should have happened but it does happen sometimes - especially with birds that have very long tail feathers. Usually, birds like conures, parakeets, budgies and cockatiels -which all have in common tails as long or longer than their bodies- do get their rectrices [that's the name for the long tail feathers, singular is 'rectrix' and it literally means 'she who directs' cool, isn't it?!] all raggedy and worn out when they are caged for too many hours [this is because they tend to hang on to the bars and their tails crash and rub against them all the time]. And, when the birds are not getting good nutrition, they also break very easily BUT there is no blood on either end and the birds just end up with shortened feathers [what we call a 'duck tail' :D ] . Sometimes, when birds are young and have not had healthy parents and good food when they were babies, they take a couple of molts to get a good plumage so I would not worry too much over it but I would make a mental note to not only ensure the bird is getting a real good diet but also to check on its plumage every now and then to see if it's coming out stronger and better. Add a tiny bit of sesame seed to it's dinner seed mix, they are rich in methionine, an amino acid needed for feather production and make sure she is getting a good vitamin/mineral supplement - but don't over do it! Too many vitamins and minerals are, often, worse than too little!
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Tail feather fell off prematurely???

Postby liz » Sun Oct 01, 2017 5:16 am

When I got Rainbow she had no flight feathers. She also had junk food in his every day diet. She was 15 when I got him. I think she was 30 when I saw flight feathers growing. I was following the diet set up by the hands on and researching people in this forum. I don't think she ever flew before and did not know what to do with them.

It has been a good while but she has gone from jumping off her cage and hitting the floor to flapping hard and getting distance with a soft landing.

They do grow back even after not having them for a long time. It just takes proper care.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes


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