Cockatiel Wing Feathers not growing back

[Nighthawk0123]

So I've had Kaz for approx. 9 months and when we got him his wing feathers were clipped. I'm not the biggest fan of wing clipping so I decided to let him moult it back out. The problem is, everytime he grows even decently long feathers, he'll snap them and they'll fall - and the whole process repeats itself.

He got a really bad night fright yesterday and all the progress on one of his wings is now gone (3 feathers). He only has 3 feathers on his right wing now and I can see 2 growing on his left.

Correct me if I'm wrong - but 9 months is just ridiculous for a cockatiel to not grow his/her feathers back. Not to mention it was the. worst. clip. job. i've. ever. seen.

I have taken him to the vet, we had him cage bound (). I've changed his diet to provide more calcium but nothing seems to work. Anyone know what I could do??

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

If he keeps snapping them maybe his cage is to small? Or is he snapping them with his beak?

 

[Ripshod]

Protein for feathers, so egg white, chicken breast if he will and quinoa are good sources.
My Tau has a restricted blood supply to the tip of his left wing (damaged in a night fright) and has lost his first primary flight twice this moult so far, but as the other primaries are almost fully developed he should keep the one he's developing now.
I think @Tiel Feathers has a tiel with a very similar problem?

 

[Tazlima]

I'm on month four of the same problem with my tiel, Charlie. He actually came to me unclipped, but missing the longest flights on his left side. The outer one has tried to grow in twice now and both times broken off as a blood feather. The most recent break was just a couple days ago, and it was soooooo close to being full length. Argh! The problem in his case is that the in-between ones haven't shown any sign of growing, so the outer one is all by itself.

I've only just finally gotten him off the all-seed diet he was on with his previous two owners (and who knows before that), so fingers crossed that pellets and veggies and eggs help it grow in even stronger this time. He's in much better shape, too. When I first got him, he'd be exhausted after a flight of 6 feet or so. One or two such flights and he'd be done for the day. Now he does laps around the living room without batting an eye. Sadly, he can't glide properly with wings of two different lengths, so he has to work harder to fly than I would like, but at least he's getting around on his own.

 

[Nighthawk0123]

If he keeps snapping them maybe his cage is to small? Or is he snapping them with his beak?

No, he's completely fine with his feathers inside his cage - but when I let him out he doesn't have that balance so he falls and snaps them.

Protein for feathers, so egg white, chicken breast if he will and quinoa are good sources.

I have been feeding him hard boiled egg with the shell which he really enjoys with quinoa. Will see if chicken is his thing.

Is red meat like mutton ok? Or should I stick with chicken?

Sadly, he can't glide properly with wings of two different lengths, so he has to work harder to fly than I would like, but at least he's getting around on his own.

Aww - I feel for you and your tiel. I understand. Good on you for rescuing him and giving a new and better life

 

[Ripshod]

Maybe I should have been a little clearer. Because of the poor blood supply Tau's flights are weak and easily broken and removed. All his feather losses have happened outside the cage when practicing his flying (he has never ever flown), either by bumps or just falling out. No problems in the cage bar one feather loss when he stood on it and turned.

 

[Mizzely]

My Quaker was clipped at 3 months and didn't have enough feathers to fly until about 18 months, and that was without breakages. It can definitely be a lengthy process, especially if they keep breaking them.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Since it might take several molts for all of the clipped feathers to come out, it can take a very long time for them to all come back in, especially if they keep getting broken. I had a tiel named Twilight who could never grow all his feathers, wings or tail. He would fly off in a panic and break the new ones, so at best he only had a few on each wing and tail. He would bleed constantly and I could never figure out why. A vet said that some birds just have weaker feather shafts than others, but I don’t know if this is really true. I would think protein would help, but my little guy loved eggs (in moderation) and quinoa, but it didn’t help. He was playing one day with a loofa very energetically, and all of a sudden he got very sick. It looked like he had something in his crop so I rushed him to the vet. They could see a tiny something in his digestive track with the blurry imaging they were able to do, but we weren’t sure what it was. A blood test showed that he had septicemia and he died a couple days later. The thinking is that he got a little loofa or something stuck in his crop, which set in motion a downward spiral that would have happened anyway due to the septicemia that was probably acquired through the broken blood feathers. He did not have any other infections, and I kept his cage very clean. Makes me tear eyed just thinking about my sweet, special boy.

 

[Ripshod]

So sorry @Tiel Feathers, if I'd known/remembered I wouldn't have mentioned it.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

So sorry @Tiel Feathers, if I'd known/remembered I wouldn't have mentioned it.

Oh, that’s okay! I think it was before you were a member here, and it might be useful info for others somehow. I just really loved that little guy!

 

[Nighthawk0123]

Oh, that’s okay! I think it was before you were a member here, and it might be useful info for others somehow. I just really loved that little guy!

I'm so sorry for your loss It can be really hard sometimes.

When we're talking about loofa are we talking about the spongey type? Cause I've been working a lot with my cockatiel to try and get him to play with toys and last week I just had a breakthrough with a loofa sponge toy. I've attached a pic of it below. Please let me know if its the same type - I need to get it out of his cage asap. Thank you for the info.

 

[Nighthawk0123]

Pic:

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Yes, they look like sponges, but they are hard and pointy, like a dried sponge. I know other people on here have them for their birds, and my birds have had them before with no problems. It was a weird fluke, and that’s not what did him in, but it did seem to cause some problem, so I don’t buy toys that have it on them anymore.

 

[Nighthawk0123]

Thanks for the input! Guess I'll try an find another toy he can play with :|

Better to be safe than sorry.