Abnormal feather

[Neena]

Hi, I have an 8yr old alexandrine parakeet. She has a deformity in her feathers from birth, in which some feathers would grow out twisted and is very painful for her. We have contacted some local vets and they don't have much idea on how we can cure her. It would be great if anyone here have any idea about such issues.

I don't know whether it's related, but she's a bit small and not colorful like other birds of her age. She hardly has any tail feathers.
And she doesn't fly. We have never clipped her. The few times she flew, she didn't land well, she would hit the wall and fall down, probably because of the lack of good feathers.

 

[WendyN]

Welcome to the forum.
I am optimistic that someone will be able to explain what may be happening.

 

[Birdbabe]

Maybe some extra protein in her diet may help,,try some scramble eggs and get some KNOX unflavored gelatin to sprinkle on her food.

 

[Neena]

She loves chicken and eggs.. I'll try the gelatin. Thanks..

 

[MnGuy]

How long have you had her?

When I adopted my Meyer's (she was already 17), she had one feather on each wing that was twisted like that. The vet had no idea why, and I had no way of knowing how long they had been like that.

I forget how long it took, but after one or two molts, the feathers started growing in correctly and never grew weird again. I didn't do anything special.

I never did figure out what caused the weird growth.

Good luck.

 

[expressmailtome]

Welcome! Have you seen a veterinarian that specializes in birds?

 

[Macawnutz]

Have they tested for beak and feather disease?

 

[Milo]

I agree that a test for psittacine beak and feather disease would be in order. It's not a characteristic presentation but with feather abnormalities it's a good idea. It looks like she has some pretty poor feather quality overall. Has she had any blood work done recently? What sort of diet does she eat?

 

[Neena]

@MnGuy - I have had her since she was very young. And this has been happening for long.

@expressmailtome - hi, no I live in a remote area with limited/generic vet availabile. I consulted with 3 doctors and none of them have a clue.

@Macawnutz - yes they did. Couldn't find any problem.

@Milo - none recently. We have sort of given up on a cure until I came to know about this site. She generally whatever we have at home. She basically join us on dining table or sit on our lap until she gets whatever she liked the smell of. Plus lots of guava, oats and seeds.

 

[Neena]

The doctors gave antibiotics for if and when this gets worse and starts bleeding.

 

[iamwhoiam]

I don't know if this will help her but Nekton Bio is beneficial for feather growth.
Amazon.com : Nekton Labs BNK207035 Bio Feather Grow For Birds 1.23 oz : Pet Health Care Supplies : Pet Supplies

 

[clawnz]

I am going to say it is not any disease. As the feathers do look good. Normally PBFD the feathers are very distorted and not complete.
I am going to say more likely follicle issues.
You say this has been going on every since you know. That could mean a deficiency with the formula if hand raised.
You could do Bloods and send off to a lab, that may or may not show anything.
Try adding bee pollen, and B vitamins.
I should not have to say lots of good veg for vit A. Sunshine, or at least outside time most days if at all possible.

Why I have commented above is because I worked with Dexter for 3yrs on his feather issues. They were not this bad, But like yours, he could not grow in good feathers on one wing and also had tail feather in poor shape.
You need to make sure you have a blood stopping agent on hand and a good pair of clamps or such.
Just in case you need to pull a damaged feather. Outer primaries should not be pulled unless under anesthetic. But in your case you may have to.
So add pain killer to your list of first aid things.

 

[Neena]

That's really helpful @clawnz . And the problem does sound similar. I'll add more vitamins to her diet. Thanks a lot.
Regarding the bee pollens, I couldn't find anything specific to birds but found one online for humans, would you happen to know whether both are same?

 

[JLcribber]

If you've had her most of her life and she's on a good diet I don't think it's a disease. The feathers themselves look healthy enough. They're just growing in funny? If that's the case there is no cure for that.

Red Palm (Fruit) Oil added to the diet does wonders for beaks nails feathers and colour.

 

[clawnz]

That's really helpful @clawnz . And the problem does sound similar. I'll add more vitamins to her diet. Thanks a lot.
Regarding the bee pollens, I couldn't find anything specific to birds but found one online for humans, would you happen to know whether both are same?

Sorry I missed that you had already done bloods.

My choice of Bee Pollen, is because it is easy to sprinkle on foods. And will keep in freezer.
All bee pollen is good as far as I know.
The issue will be (And I do not consider this any real issue, as you are not going to be doing this on a continuous basis.) is the levels of protein in bee pollen. Collected from gorse is one of the highest. While Manuka seems to be around 15%.

My choice was to dose for a few weeks and stop. Say I was just as worried about over doing it.

John is correct. Add Red Palm Oil as well.
That one slipped past me.

 

[jmfleish]

Where are you located? Do you have access to pellets? It could be that she's just not getting a balanced diet so the feathers aren't growing in correctly. If you aren't feeding pellets you might want to give them a try if you can get a hold of them. Otherwise, red palm oil is good for feather condition.

 

[Big Badeepie]

That looks a lot like how Lucia's flight feathers were when they first started to grow back. For her it was due to a horrid breeder (Now shut down) who cut her wings so short he damaged the cuticles.

What I had to do with Lucia was have her put under so the damaged feathers could be safely pulled. She had to go through this 4 times and each time I was instructed to use a special oil that softens the feather shaft while lightly massaging the feathers in the right direction as the new feathers grew out. Some of her feathers are still at the wrong angle but they don't hurt her anymore which is the best I can ask. I'll see if I can get a picture of how her wing feathers rest now to show you how well they can be repaired with enough time and care.

 

[Big Badeepie]

Alright, got a picture. Sorry it isn't the clearest thing in the world but lil miss didn't wanna stay still. As you can see her feathers are still not perfectly aligned but it is a TON better than before consitering her wing wasn't too far off from what you baby's wing looked like so there is some hope. It's not an easy thing to decide to do and your baby bird won't like it but the results are worth it I think.