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Feathers not regrowing

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Feathers not regrowing

Postby Michael » Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:20 am

Kili has had a lot of problems growing back the primary feathers on her right wing since she was clipped. Every time one would come in, it would end up breaking off. Luckily the other wing successfully grew in 3 feathers and then the protected each other from there. The broken feathers were pulled and then they grew back in. Some of those broke again but some of them did not grow back in at all. It's probably been 2 months since the quills of broken feathers were pulled but new ones did not grow back in. Is she just going to have to wait till her next molt? Because right now she only has 3 primaries left on one wing and full set on the other! I'm really worried that if new feathers don't come in, the remaining 3 will be really vulnerable to breakage.

The whole deal about pulling feathers and growing back in, how many times does that apply? Should they keep growing back in every time they are pulled or is there a set number of times? Or do they only grow back in once and then wont grow back (if pulled) until the next molt?
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Michael
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Re: Feathers not regrowing

Postby Mona » Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:13 am

Hi Michael:

Bailey had his primaries pulled out of his wing when he was injured and they never did grow back in. It has been three years.

One of the problems with pulling primaries is that the feather follicles can become damaged. My cockatiel used to have night frights and the vet pulled out primary feathers. One follicle was so damaged the feather always grew in like a cork screw.

I wouldn't pull any more feathers. Just wait it out and they will either grow back or not. That's about all you can do at this point

By the way, How are you doing and how is your bird search going? I've been really busy with family and visitors this Holiday season and haven't been on my computer much but I've been thinking about you.

Thanks!
Mona in Seattle
Phinneous Fowl (aka Phinney) TAG
Babylon Sengal
Doug (spousal unit)
Jack and Bailey (Gremlins)
Kiri (CAG)
http://www.flyingparrotsinside.com

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Re: Feathers not regrowing

Postby Michael » Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:48 pm

I don't know anymore. I think it all fell through. So about a week ago it seemed that everything was agreed and I was ready to pay a deposit. The raiser said she was about to put a deposit on the Timnehs babies from the initial breeder. I told her when everything went through to email me an invoice and I'd send a deposit. On that day she added to her website that she will have 2 Timnehs babies coming soon, one already reserved. Then the following day I refreshed the site and the mention of Timnehs was erased. I tried calling her but no pickup. I tried calling her several times throughout the week without any success of reaching. At some point I called from work but no answer. Then I got a call back but did not immediately recognize the number. I answered and was saying 'hello. Helloo???" and she hung up on me without saying anything. Later I checked and realized that it was a call back from the breeder. So I have NO idea how we went from ready to place deposit to ignoring my calls overnight. So at this point I have no idea what's going on with the grey situation.

I guess I will take my time and start looking for real local breeders. But overall I'm really disappointed. I've been really depressed about Kili breaking another feather, seeing blood there, having it pulled (it had to be pulled cause it was fluttering when she flew and she looked like it hurt her), there was more blood after getting pulled but it stopped. I know it was the right thing getting that feather pulled though. She seemed depressed and didn't want to fly the last few days with it like that. After the lady pulled the feather, she showed me that it was slightly broken on the quill which was causing it to bend and flutter when Kili flew. Kili seems more happy and back to normal since getting it pulled. Though now she's flying with just 3 primaries on one wing and full set on the other. I worry a lot that she might break the remaining ones.

I will never buy a clipped bird again!!!

On one hand I want to get the ball rolling with the grey acquisition sooner than later but on the other hand I've got some other issues:

A) Timing to do summer outdoor flying
B) Have a 1.5 week business trip just scheduled for May (don't want to bring a new bird in April and then leave it alone for a week a month later)
C) Breeder went under, don't trust breeders anymore

I do think it would probably be better for me to get another bird though. Sometimes I train Kili too hard or if she doesn't want to train I get really upset. If I had another bird I could easily say "Kili, you don't want to train? Well too bad cause bird #2 does!" and I'm sure that would encourage each bird not to goof around and if they did I could just ignore them and train other. However, with a single parrot I sometimes find myself having nothing to do during my scheduled training time if my parrot refuses to train. Also with the whole feather situation, I don't think I'll be able to safely harness fly Kili (inside or out) unless she molts again before the summer.

BTW Mona, how often do Senegal Parrots molt? Once a year? Every six months?
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Re: Feathers not regrowing

Postby Mona » Fri Dec 11, 2009 5:54 pm

That really sounds disappointing. I'm not sure on the molt. I just don't really notice it but I think about once a year. Here's an article on African Parrots molting:

http://www.africanqueenaviaries.com/themolt.htm

By the way, Jean Pattison (that's her website) is a very famous African grey breeder. She's in Florida but you might want to contact her. If you spend some time on the website you can see her philosophy and level of experience. I also just saw this website and there may be somebody who knows a good breeder here:

http://www.greyforums.net/

I haven't spent time on it...but it seems logical that they might have some references. Some breeders ship. I don't think it's that stressful for the bird if they are in a dark crate and if you fly nonstop for a few hours. Any way, you are a pilot, right?

Sorry about Kili's feather.....There just isn't much you can do with feathers except wait them out....
Bailey is flying fine even though he is still missing a few primaries. Neither one of the boys keep up with Babylon but that's because she's been flying all of her life - but Bailey does fine even with a few feathers missing.

Take care!
Mona in Seattle
Phinneous Fowl (aka Phinney) TAG
Babylon Sengal
Doug (spousal unit)
Jack and Bailey (Gremlins)
Kiri (CAG)
http://www.flyingparrotsinside.com

youtube: Avian Flyers
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Re: Feathers not regrowing

Postby Crazy Bird Lady » Wed Dec 23, 2009 3:00 am

Hi
I am sorry to read about your birds feather problems - and can unfortunately relate to what you are going through, as I am having quite a lot of issues with my cockatiel who's feathers were brutally cut by a pet shop before I bought her. This is a little long, but hopefully it will give you a few ideas.

When I got her from the pet shop, they were selling her as "hand-tamed" but they merely made her unable to do anything except rely on humans. Before I bought her I knew that her wings were badly cut, even though I really have no experience with wing clipping, it was obvious because she had real problems balancing, and her wings just did not look right at all. Also, I noticed dried blood on her wings. I decided to get her because I felt really sorry for her, and I arranged a vet appointment for a few days after I brought her home.

I started looking online at wing structure, and advice on how to clip wings properly, and realised that the pet shop people had cut not just all 50 of her primary and secondary feathers, but also the primary and secondary coverts as well. They had cut all the way to her wing bones, and had cut a few blood feathers in the process.

It was lucky that I had made a vet appointment, as by the time it came around, Luca needed some medical attention. She had knocked her wings that very morning, and was bleeding again. The vet removed the bleeding blood feathers and recommended that I find "sunshine factor" which is an immuno booster - I could only find it online, and ordered it straight away.

She was ok for a few days, and then she knocked her wing again, and the one feather that was starting to regrow was bent and bleeding. I took her back to the vet who decided not to remove the feather, due to the stress it would cause her, so I went home with this solution to apply to her feathers any time they began to bleed - im glad I wasn’t working at the time, as I was able to monitor her and apply the solution each time to stop the bleeding.

That was almost a year ago now, and my cockatiel still only has about 14 main feathers – mostly primaries, but a few secondaries, thankfully most of her coverts have grown back – but not all of them.

It was so hard for her feathers to grow, as she would get a few new feathers and because they were sitting alone, and because she had no balance, she was banging them and twisting and bending them frequently. Any progress with feather growth would usually be ruined with one bump. This was especially a problem with the longer outer primary feathers.

However, luckily she now has 4 primaries on each wing that are finally growing straight and strong. I think because they are growing together that they are not as susceptible to injury, whereas one or two feathers growing alone were very prone to injury.

she has had 4 moults in the time I have had her (even though cockatiels are only supposed to moult 2-3 times per year) and she is now able to fly, but its very clumsy flying – which makes me anxious because she has real problems navigating and can land quite badly… which has added to her wing injuries before… I suspect that if/when her secondary feathers grow in, it will help her a great deal with flying, as now it is a clumsy and really loud wing beating type of fly. My other cockatiel ducks and dives and it sounds like a “whoosh” when he goes past, but with her it’s a loud flap flap flap sound, and she has no ability to swerve – its just flying to get her from place to place. I'm just glad that she can fly to an extent now, as it will take time for her to build up all the muscles related to flying properly as well as feather re-growth.

My vet said she may never fly, so at least she has made it into the air. Another woman who runs a different pet shop was telling me that she rescued a cockatiel that was in a similar situation – where a person bought a cockatiel, cut its wings badly, and then wanted to get rid of it once they realised it needed medical attention. They took it back to the shop, and she took it home to look after it herself. She said it took 3 years for her tiels feathers to grow back and for it to regain a normal flying ability.

I think its important to remain hopeful, and be to patient and check the wings regularly. I believe that the “sunshine factor” does help, but I also changed her diet to include more calcium and protein to assist feather growth, and the majority of the bird seed she eats is sprouted first. Also, cod liver oil mixed in with seed (in small amounts) is good too.

I also have a youtube update that i posted a few months ago that you might be interested in to see what her wings looked like.



I wish you well with your bird’s wings…
parrots arent mere ornaments, and they're hardly "just a pet" they are intelligent and emotional creatures who want our companionship. As a bird owner, its a pleasure to make my parrots lives as happy, enriched and healthy as possible
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Re: Feathers not regrowing

Postby MissLady9902 » Wed Dec 23, 2009 9:09 am

That poor poor bird!
Thank you so much for rescuing her! Poor baby.
:cockatiel:
Cathy

Busy beaks are quiet beaks!

:senegal: - Noodle
:gray: - Marvin
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Re: Feathers not regrowing

Postby triplebbirds » Wed Dec 23, 2009 9:29 am

She is beautiful. although im crying after seeing her wings. Pugzy-Butt (green cheek conure) said pretty bird... nice baby when she seen Luca.
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Re: Feathers not regrowing

Postby MandyG » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:44 am

That is so sad. Whoever did that to her shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a bird. When an animal gets hurt because of a person's ignorance it infuriates me!

I am so happy that she has such a loving home now, I can see why you bought her, I'd never be able to leave her in a place like that. And she definitely is beautiful!
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Re: Feathers not regrowing

Postby Crazy Bird Lady » Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:09 pm

Thankyou Mandy, TrippleBirds and Misslady -
I smiled widely reading about Pugzy-Butts response!
I get so angry about it all - i am banned from the petshop where i got her now - because i documented everything and went to the RSPCA and lodged a complaint. I wouldnt have made the complaint if the petshop owners had been reasonable - after my first trip to the vet i went back to the shop and told them about my trip to the vet (they thought i wanted them to pay for the vet bill and were instantly making excuses). I gave them several sheets i printed out on how to clip a birds wings properly, and what can go wrong with a bad clip, and a massive diagram of the structure of a birds wings. i tried to explain that i didnt want a refund, or the bills paid, i just wanted them to stop clipping birds wings like this. They told me to get out and never come back.
Before i got Luca i had been in the petshop many times (i police petshops, by going and checking on the health of the birds they have - but im usually looking at their feet, their beaks etc) but because i had never had any experience with wing clipping, it never occured to me that the countless budgies i had seen had suffered from the same style of brutal wing chopping.
It was only from having seen up close, Lucas poor balance, and the blood, that i decided to look into wing clipping some more.... as all my birds have been fully flighted ever since i was a child, no one in my family has ever clipped a birds wings.
I made the RSPCA report, and it turned out they got a fine, a lousy little fine, and that was it. Im not happy about that response, but i have employed some of my friends to act as "undercover police" so that when they go to that shopping centre, they check all the birds to see if their wings have been clipped. I broke the rules, and went back to the petshop and told them to watch out for my friends, because i was going to make sure someone was checking on them regularly.... and i got away before security could arrive!!!!
parrots arent mere ornaments, and they're hardly "just a pet" they are intelligent and emotional creatures who want our companionship. As a bird owner, its a pleasure to make my parrots lives as happy, enriched and healthy as possible
Crazy Bird Lady
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 44
Location: Australia
Number of Birds Owned: 7
Types of Birds Owned: 5 Budgies and 2 Cockatiels
Flight: Yes

Re: Feathers not regrowing

Postby triplebbirds » Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:45 pm

They have security at a pet store??? OMG. OK on that note. I would only go in there when its REALLY crowded. I am a bit more assertive than most. If security would come up on me i would ask very softly if they wanted to leave me alone or want me to make a scene. But like i said im a bit more assertive. I have almost been banned from petland here a time or two. But my god people should have the right to know about these birds there. Do they breed themselves or how do they get their "stock"? I know if my babies ended up like that i would be livid. And hun she is absoutly beautiful. She shows you her wings to tell you how much she loves you and remind you that you saved her.
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