by Dave & Karen » Sun Sep 22, 2013 4:42 am
I was thinking about imping our ringneck after we got her since the breeder clipped her wings and was surprised how many people sell their birds' molted feathers on ebay etc..
The process is done by clipping each flight feather at a certain point then clipping the donor feather to match but leaving a small section of the shaft exposed, since the shafts are hollow, the donor feather shaft is slid into the existing shaft then super glue is used to make a permanent bond until the new feather comes in. They use this in falconry when a falcon or eagle breaks a feather to protect the adjacent feathers from breaking more easily as each feather protects it's adjacent feathers. This does take someone with good experience to do the process successfully tho since each feather needs to be the right size and shape, as well as placed on the existing shaft at just the right angle so it'll not only catch the air correctly, but also so the bird can fold his wings in without the feathers getting in the way.
I remember our ringneck would molt out a clipped feather then break the new one by playing too hard and it took her a lot longer to regain flight because of it. She finally regained her flight but it did take longer than if we would have had her imped.
As far as regaining her flight goes, she flew almost as well as she did before being clipped by the breeder, at first she became able to fly short distances and could fly straight but not gain lift, but as soon as more feathers came in she flies perfectly normal now.