Feather on wing messed up

What should I do with this rogue feather? Let it fall out on its own or pluck it or cut it at base? It bothers her sometimes she picks at it a lot. Been like this a week or two.

Definitely don't pluck it, that's painful for the birdie. I think you should trim it at the base if it's bothering her. When my tiel was clipped he broke ALL his tail feathers, so I had to trim them and he had no tail for a while. When he grew back his flights, he stopped being so clumsy and the tail feathers grew back in. He never broke a feather since he became fully flighted. If your bird is clipped, that will contribute to the clumsiness and cause them to break feathers.

The Beebs seems to get quite a few feathers that get all wonky and screw-gee..I'll leave them and usually find them on the floor in a few days.






Jim

Really? Interesting. My birds never break or mess up their feathers, it only happened when Ducky was clipped and he kept breaking tail feathers.

mine mess up their feathers constantly. Jazz sleeps on the side of her cage near the top and also in her travel cage (when she comes to work and its nap time) she crawls up in the corner on top of her toys and her tail feathers get all ragged. She was clipped when I got her from the pet store and I've had her since jan. She's gotta be close to a year old by now but still can not fly. She is very clumsy when she tries. flopping all over the place.

My black capped conure broke all his tail feathers when he was clipped and everytime they start to grow back he snaps them when he lands on his butt. yesterday I had just let him out of this cage and he jumped from my shoulder to the couch and BAM broke his latest growth. It bled a bit but stopped on it's own and when I barely touched it to see the damage he screeched at me like never before. So I think the best thing to do is leave him in his cage for a month till they grow back. I feel awful cause he bobs his head to be let out but If this continues he will never get his tail feathers back! He will get his daily scratches though so he still feels part of the family

So my greatest problem with owning birds is their feathers. I feel like my birds are always having trouble either keeping tail feathers and looking healthy. Jazz's wing where that feather is hanging out is all jacked up and I brought it up with the vet but she said they are fine and when she molts maybe it will clear up. I want them to have beautiful feathers but it never seems to work out. I have appropriate sized cages too so what the heck?!

BB isn't quite 1.8 years old. He was clipped lightly by the breeder when he came home with me. It seems like it took forever for him to molt and get his new set of adult clothes
I haven't had him clipped since. He doesn't go outside (yet) and I'd like him to learn how to fly...Amy never did learn
But Beebs isn't too competent at zooming around this place,and he doesn't try to go too far. Sometimes I think he says to himself "Phewwww~ I did it! I made it to where I wanted to go!" And some of his landings are...ummmm...LESS than graceful





Jim

from things I've read and heard feathers like that do crop up. Essentially just a "bad hair day", often the feather will come out on its own soon after going like that, either through being knocked or naturally falling out

Baby had feathers like that for awhile in the past, but not recently. It was painful for him for less than a day, and then it just came out. Plucking it out isn't recommended as it's painful for them. Sometimes when they aren't clipped they can be really clumsy and especially when they're younger. When they molt they can also knock a blood feather which can cause pain and sometimes they can stick out. Eventually they fall out.

When they aren't clipped they are clumsy? I've found the opposite to be true!

they're only clumsy when they don't know how to fly. Clipping at a young age can cause it mostly as they never learnt to fly or develop their muscles

FlyBirdiesFly said:

When they aren't clipped they are clumsy? I've found the opposite to be true!

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Sometimes especially when they're younger. I've found that some 'tiels are clumsy with their feathers even when flighted and especially when molting because of blood feathers.

Ducky had all his primaries clipped at a young age and was extremely clumsy, had trouble climbing around his cage and fell off his perch. Now that he is flighted, he no longer has any issues like that and is quite a strong flier. I have noticed that large birds that have been clipped as babies never learn to fly, while smaller birds usually do learn to fly again. With clumsy birds that mess up their feathers, I find that bathing usually helps put the feathers back into place.