Chewing and Pulling wing feathers

[siavash]

Hi everybody. I have an IRN. he's 7 months old. His wings were trimmed. after sometime his wings started to grow back. but, the problem is, he chews and pulls on some of the wing feathers. I know for a fact that this is NOT plucking or distress or disease or whatever. the feathers that he's chewing and pulling on, are like STALE bread; they are blood feathers that seem to be done; no blood in them, hard, almost whitish... as I figured, he's trying to pull them out so the new feathers can grow or something. now, my question is this:
Should I pull the feathers that are chewed and stale? or should i leave them?
i wouldn't want to interfere with nature, but i ask this question for 2 reasons:
1- he gets tired. it makes him irritated. i can't bear seeing my baby like this.
2- i want him to fly and get new feathers as soon as possible. I HATE TRIMMING....
thanks for ur help.

PS: I pulled one of the feathers on the left wing to make sure that i'm right and you have all the facts. (he has stale feathers on both sides; they seem to be the trimmed ones.)

 

[Calpurnia]

Do you have a picture of the chewed/pulled feathers? As well as his wing? It's kind of hard to visualize what is going on....

 

[JLcribber]

I know for a fact that this is NOT plucking or distress or disease or whatever. the feathers that he's chewing and pulling on, are like STALE bread; they are blood feathers that seem to be done

You do NOT know that for a fact because feather destruction is a very complicated thing. Many factors.

Blood feathers are only blood feathers until they are full grown. Then the blood recedes back to the calamus (follicle line) and is not visible. If the big feathers were at end of life there won't be any blood in it. Small body feathers won't have any blood in them either.

If a bird has a bad wing clip and someone did a hack job on them then it's going to be a very irritating thing to the bird. Stumps poking into its sides for example. If all the flights are clipped it can/will take a year and possibly two to replace them all because fight feathers are only replaced one or two at a time (for survival/safety reasons).

A bird that young does not "pluck" in the pure sense unless there is something else going on. My guess would be irritation from a bad clip. What is his diet and environment like?

Clipping wings never really solves any problems but it sure creates a boat full.

Some insight for you.

The Basics of Feather Picking

 

[siavash]

thank you people, for ur kindness and time. so, some answers for your questions:
diet:
- some almonds, apple, some coconut, walnut, some broccoli, millet, sunflower seed (red and black), some pistachios..... he eats well.
* When i say some, i mean it is less than the others.
- he's almost always out of the cage, he usually stands on the cage (i built a little wood thingy so he'd be comfortable). only time he's in the cage is for sleep. my room is normal (about 12 meters), i take him to the living room once or twice a day to change scenery and let him do what he wants. i'm in Persia/Tehran; here is cold but my room temp is normal (ALMOST warm).
- about the wing clip, i assure you it was done poorly, 'coz i know these people who breed and sell them.
- there is no blood in the wings. i'm sure. i think u call it Sheath in English?!! i don't know the word, sorry.
- here's the picture of the feathers, one he pulled (right wing), one i pulled (left wing):

 

[siavash]

This is Him (Happy)... sorry about the wing picture. i don't wanna make him do something, specially that I pulled one feather... he doesn't like to be grabbed. if you absolutely needed a pic of his wings, then i will do it. i'm hoping with this info and these pics, i'll get an answer.
thanks everybody...

 

[JLcribber]

- some almonds, apple, some coconut, walnut, some broccoli, millet, sunflower seed (red and black), some pistachios..... he eats well.

Thats not a horrible diet but it's not great. It's missing some vital stuff. You would do well to get that bird to eat at least "some" pellets to fill in the gaps that are missing.

"Some" seed in the diet is fine but it should only be a small percentage. The reason being the bird will always choose the "tasty" seed over more nutritious healthy food and fill up on that

Some good reading for you.
Feeding Our Parrots Well

 

[siavash]

thanks for the advice... i'll find the best pellet that's available in Tehran. i had one couple of month ago called "Wellness; veterinary diet"... this was the most expensive (and by a stupid logic, the best )
But, the question still remains:
do I pull out the feathers? will it help him regrow them faster or better or at least will he be more comfortable if i do that ?

 

[Calpurnia]

I don't think you should pull them out. If he already hates handling you are only going to traumatize him further. They will eventually fall out in time. Given he is only 7 months old he is likely going through or going to start a molt relatively soon. He may continue to chew on them in the meantime but you can try to distract him with foraging or toys.

 

[siavash]

thanks.. really appreciate the help. hope someday I can answer somebody in need.
Cheers

 

[finchly]

He is very pretty.

 

[InTheAir]

Hi. He should moult his flight feathers at around a year old. Hopefully he will regrow them easily.
Definitely make some changes to his diet, that will help him grow strong feathers. Adding pellets to the diet is a really good idea for those of us who don't have a degree in nutrition and supplementing them with lots of vegetables and a small amount of fruit and nuts. Remember that ringnecks are pretty small and a couple nuts actually provides a lot of calories, especially if the bird isn't flying around.

Also turn meals into a challenge, called "foraging". You can hide bits of food in paper or carboard boxes, place them in different parts of the cage or playstands. There are also a great selection of puzzle toys (you may be able to order online?). This will keep him busy which, hopefully, will keep his mind of his wings.
Just make sure he does know how to get at the food you have hidden. Make it nice and easy to start with. You'll be amazed at how clever ringnecks are at solving puzzles when they get the hang of it!

 

[siavash]

hey everyone.
as you suggested, i got the best pellet available. but the little bugger won't eat everything, he just picks what he likes
if anybody here knows EXACTLY what we should give our parrots (IRN in particular), then i can make him eat with tricks and such. but this way, he only eats what he likes or as u said, what's tasty for him.
if someone could provide me with a list of things i should give him, then i'll make do.
thanks again for ur time and knowledge.

 

[finchly]

Give it some time. He will try the pellets eventually.

 

[JLcribber]

hey everyone.
as you suggested, i got the best pellet available. but the little bugger won't eat everything, he just picks what he likes
if anybody here knows EXACTLY what we should give our parrots (IRN in particular), then i can make him eat with tricks and such. but this way, he only eats what he likes or as u said, what's tasty for him.
if someone could provide me with a list of things i should give him, then i'll make do.
thanks again for ur time and knowledge.

Read the article I posted above in post #6 (because I can tell you didn't)

 

[siavash]

oh, sorry... i was using UNIX to read the comments. didn't realize the Hyperlinks... i'll check'em out now.
thx

 

[siavash]

JLcribber, I read the article. awesome... learnt a lot. 2 questions, though:
1- it says you can store (keep) the mix that u make for 4 to 7 days. it says let the parrot choose what he wants. it also said feed them morning and evening. so, just so i'm clear, i put the mix out for him in the morning, then take it away (put it in refrigerator) and do it again in the evening? 'coz if not, then the mix will go bad in the first day.
2- my IRN flaps his wings couple of times a day. is that to strengthen his wing muscles or loosen the wing feather? (or some other reason? ... and no, i didn't read the article on the feather, yet )

thank you

 

[Doublete]

Most of us make the "fresh" mix and create enough for 2-3 days (portioned into freezer safe bags)... freeze these. Pull each bag out and put in fridge to be fed daily. I feed mine in the AM and only give them what they will eat in a few hours so it doesn't go bad.

 

[JLcribber]

day.
2- my IRN flaps his wings couple of times a day. is that to strengthen his wing muscles or loosen the wing feather? (or some other reason? ... and no, i didn't read the article on the feather, yet

He flaps his wings because he wants to fly and can't.

Here's another great article all about flight and why clipping any young birds wings does nothing but harm.

Thinking on the Wing | The Parrot University, llc

 

[Calpurnia]

Yep! This fresh food (called "chop" by many parronts) freezes really well so long as you don't add a lot of fruit. Fruit tends to just get mushy so I like to add it fresh in the morning. For a single bird you can freeze this food in ice cube trays for easy portioning. My two parrots each get one cube per day. That way you aren't wasting a lot of food.

And you don't need to follow a strict feeding schedule. Whatever works for you. I like to feed the fresh food in the morning, then pellets in the afternoon. Before bed everyone gets some seed as a treat.

 

[InTheAir]

Make sure he always has pellets available in their own dish.
Has he tried pellets? If he hasn't tried them you can put boiling water over a small amount of pellets and mix a little freshly squeezed juice into it or mash them into his favourite fruit.

With both my ringnecks I just hand them a pellet or 2 to get them to try them. They both started eating pellets pretty much immediately. I also removed all sunflower seeds from their diet and only used sunflowers for treats. They are a bit like kids who would rather eat chocolate (sunflower seeds) than a healthy dinner.

My female ringneck will not eat coloured pellets though. She tried them and spat them out, so I tried them and they were gross!