Parrot feathers growing back weird

Kouken · Aug 4, 2014

I do not claim to know much about parrots, so I decided to ask here. My one green cheek was being overpreened I assume by my other parrot. (He didn't pluck his feathers, he just seemed to preen away at them until the feathers were barely noticeable.)

Anyways, I seperated my parrots and It's been a while now, and it seems that one side of his head is starting to grow feathers, but the other side is not. The one side has had two shafts come in total in about the last month, while a total of about 8-10 have been coming in on the other side. I am curious, do I have to wait for him to molt the dead over-preened feathers before more will come in on that side?

Also, would the follicles be damaged if the feathers weren't plucked?

Kouken · Aug 7, 2014

Bumping this, kind of hoping for a reply.

weco · Aug 7, 2014

If the head feathers have just been barbered, where the shaft is still in place, yes, you'll have to wait for the next molt. If, on the other hand, you want to yank out the remaining shaft, the follicle will regenerate a new feather.

As long as the barbs and/or shaft have been whittled down and no digging/damage has been done to the follicles, all should be well & new feathers will come in...eventually.....

MikeyTN · Aug 8, 2014

IF your able to post a picture so we can understand a bit more of what your asking. Depending on IF the follicles was damaged by the other bird for the feathers to come in or not. Barbered feathers would have to wait until molt to grow back.

Kouken · Aug 8, 2014

I'll try to get a photo when I can - bare in mind the quality will probably be bad. He still has feathers on him, they just seem stripped but the shaft is still there. I thought he was just molting at first but then I noticed he had stripped feathers there.

weco · Aug 8, 2014

I would suggest you get a small pair of needle nosed pliers and remove the barbered/stripped feather shafts.....it those unnatural feeling shafts begin bothering the bird, that irritation can lead to plucking and/or mutilation.

Pulling feathers is actually quite easy and normally doesn't bother a bird at all...grab the feather shaft close to the body and give it a sharp snap...you can even pull a broken blood feather, without the bird giving much notice.....

When pulling shafts or feathers, you don't want to wiggle or push on the shaft/feather as that will irritate the bird & might cause it to bite.....

Good luck.....

Kouken · Aug 8, 2014

I would but I'm far too afraid to hurt my bird or damage the follicles. If I leave them in there until a molt would it hurt him?

Also is there any reason a ton started growing back in one section of the head, but not the other?

weco · Aug 8, 2014

I'm sure a lot of guys want to know the answer to that question when they're losing hair & their contemporaries still have full heads of hair to comb everyday, but to answer yours, a good guess would be that that's where a bunch fell out about the same time.....

I'm pretty sure you could find a how-to video on youtube or call your vet & ask them to show you.....leaving them until they molt out could...as I mentioned earlier...cause a bird to begin plucking and/or mutilate, so, given the fact that some birds may only molt once a year, I would worry about all the time my bird would be irritated with its barbed/stripped feathers.....

Kouken · Aug 11, 2014

I pulled a few barbed shafts out just to see if they grow back. I'm deathly afraid of damaging the follicles. How long do you think it'll take before I see if feathers grow back there?

Parrot feathers growing back weird

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