Flight Feathers not Growing

[WeasleyLover]

I've had Grey Bird for a bit over 2 years. I was told that he has plucked since he was young, and he is 22 now. When I got him, he started growing in flight feathers on one of his wings. Most of them grew in nicely, and he still has them. On his other wing, however, no feathers ever came in. I've been waiting for over a year and a half, praying that they were just taking longer, but I believe that he damaged his wing with plucking and that they aren't growing back. Which makes me very sad.

I am wondering if I should clip the flight feathers on his good wing. I am very against clipping, but they aren't doing anything for him if he doesn't have the other set. I think that they make him have balancing issues, and he looks lop sided sometimes. So should I clip them?

 

[CrazyBirdChick]

Awww, poor Grey Bird

I wonder if imping would be an option?

 

[Birdbabe]

He may have damaged the follicles so badly that they may not come back, does he have unmoulted flights on the other wing? If so, there's still hope!

 

[sunnysmom]

Sunny was missing all of his primary flight feathers on his one wing when he came to us. I have no idea how long it was like that. I talked to my vet about it and his thought was that at some point he had banged his wing and damaged the follicles. However, I know of 2 other people who had older tiels that had primaries missing. So I think that perhaps it was age related. Anyway, Sunny flew just fine with the feathers missing. Perhaps not gracefully. LOL. But he had clearly learned to compensate. So unless Grey Bird is having problems, my thought is to let it be and not to clip.

 

[Monica]

Have you asked an avian vet about the wing?

Perhaps having a professional take a closer look may help to determine if those feathers may ever grow back?

 

[JLcribber]

Have you asked an avian vet about the wing?

Perhaps having a professional take a closer look may help to determine if those feathers may ever grow back?

I agree. You need a professional opinion on the condition of those follicles and if feathers will ever grow.

If not I would have to agree with you that it could be a balance issue and just not as comfortable (always lopsided). I would consider clipping them. The tip there is to clip them "well". There is a proper technique (your avian vet "should" know) where the feather is clipped outward and down from the inside of the wing. That way the pointiest part of the cut is always pointing outwards away from the body. Not just hacked straight off. This is to ensure that the clipped feathers do not bother/irritate the body. This is very important.