- Joined
- 3/7/19
- Messages
- 624
So my cockatiel, Charlie, came to me missing the outermost feather on his left wing, and over time, it became apparent that it would never grow back. As a general rule, this doesn't slow him down. He's not the most efficient or graceful flier, but he gets around well enough.
...except when he moults.
Now this is only the 2nd time he's moulted since I got him, and the first time around, he'd been cooped up in a too-small cage for years and wasn't accustomed to flying (a flight across the room would leave him exhausted for two days), so the effects weren't as pronounced. However, when he moulted the 2nd-outermost feather, it took FOREVER to grow back, because without the big, outside feather to protect it as it grew in, he kept damaging it. He lost it twice as a blood feather before it finally grew out fully.
After a year at my house, he's a solid flier. Not the strongest or most graceful, but he can get where he wants to go.
Recently, though, he moulted that all-important 2nd most outermost feather, which has set off a chain reaction. The missing outer two feathers left the 3rd feather to bear the brunt of the air flow when he flies - air flow that is increased because being off-balance means he has to work harder to fly. That 3rd feather isn't designed to handle that level of stress and came out. That, in turn, left the 4th feather in the outermost position, with the same result.
Long story short, he's now he's missing ALL the long flight feathers on his left wing, while his right wing is fully feathered. For all intents and purposes, he's got a one-sided wing clip. He can no longer fly properly in a straight line, he can barely gain any altitude, and if last time is anything to go by, it could take months for them to grow back.
When he first moulted the 2nd feather, I was going to just wait for it to grow back, same as last time, but the chain reaction took me by surprise. I never expected him to end up so terribly off-balance. I'm starting to wonder if it might be better to just trim the right side to match the left. He'd lose some power (and he's not that powerful to begin with), but he'd at least be able to control his direction.
The problem with that, of course, is that when the left side DOES eventually grow back, he'd be left with the reverse problem: the right side trimmed and the left side grown out. The last thing I want to do is get stuck in a cycle of wing-clipping. And if I DO trim, what if he loses so much power that he can't fly at all? He'd be heartbroken.
So what do you think? Better to wait for the left side to grow in? (which could take a very long time, considering that flight itself is pulling the feathers loose), or trim so that he can immediately fly straight, but which could potentially lead to other issues?
...except when he moults.
Now this is only the 2nd time he's moulted since I got him, and the first time around, he'd been cooped up in a too-small cage for years and wasn't accustomed to flying (a flight across the room would leave him exhausted for two days), so the effects weren't as pronounced. However, when he moulted the 2nd-outermost feather, it took FOREVER to grow back, because without the big, outside feather to protect it as it grew in, he kept damaging it. He lost it twice as a blood feather before it finally grew out fully.
After a year at my house, he's a solid flier. Not the strongest or most graceful, but he can get where he wants to go.
Recently, though, he moulted that all-important 2nd most outermost feather, which has set off a chain reaction. The missing outer two feathers left the 3rd feather to bear the brunt of the air flow when he flies - air flow that is increased because being off-balance means he has to work harder to fly. That 3rd feather isn't designed to handle that level of stress and came out. That, in turn, left the 4th feather in the outermost position, with the same result.
Long story short, he's now he's missing ALL the long flight feathers on his left wing, while his right wing is fully feathered. For all intents and purposes, he's got a one-sided wing clip. He can no longer fly properly in a straight line, he can barely gain any altitude, and if last time is anything to go by, it could take months for them to grow back.
When he first moulted the 2nd feather, I was going to just wait for it to grow back, same as last time, but the chain reaction took me by surprise. I never expected him to end up so terribly off-balance. I'm starting to wonder if it might be better to just trim the right side to match the left. He'd lose some power (and he's not that powerful to begin with), but he'd at least be able to control his direction.
The problem with that, of course, is that when the left side DOES eventually grow back, he'd be left with the reverse problem: the right side trimmed and the left side grown out. The last thing I want to do is get stuck in a cycle of wing-clipping. And if I DO trim, what if he loses so much power that he can't fly at all? He'd be heartbroken.
So what do you think? Better to wait for the left side to grow in? (which could take a very long time, considering that flight itself is pulling the feathers loose), or trim so that he can immediately fly straight, but which could potentially lead to other issues?
