Feather picking/overpreening in a quaker

[LaManuka]

Hiya team,

Scenes from yesterday....

First is in the travel cage on the way to the V E T.... (not happy!)

Second is well guess what species they chose as their poster boy parrot at the clinic. Told you I had a good vet... sorry .... V E T

He's styling my hair for me for work today. Great!

 

[Laurasea]

Gorgeous poster boy!!!!!! Yes Neptune is flying!!! Took two months to get two primaries on one side and one primarie and one clipped feather on the other, the rest are still blood featheres... But he can fly like a champ, and when he is out that's every few minutes. I'm glad you have your gorgeous boy, and that he is going to have the best life!!

 

[LaManuka]

Thanx Laurasea. In truth I think ScoMo and I have rescued each other.:smile015:

 

[LaManuka]

Things are moving quickly here in Briz Vegas. ScoMo goes in for primary wing feather imping tomorrow! He goes in at 1000hrs to be measured up for his new flight suit, have implants fitted, some recovery time from the anaesthetic and a few test flights in the afternoon before he comes home! I think he knows something is afoot because he was all very flippity-flap in our back yard just now. He should obtain his final flight clearance tomorrow followed by more intensive flying/landing coaching here at the NFI Flying School.

Will post pics asap!

Chocks away ScoMo - hopefully crash landings will soon be a thing of the past! (Might just leave those blankies & pillows & cushions on the floor a leeeetle longer though)

#birds_gotta _fly

 

[LaManuka]

Excellent news from the Quaker front-lines!

ScoMo had his new feather extensions implanted yesterday and boy do they work! His first flight was when the doctor gave him a bit of a boost and he flew straight to me for a BIIIIIIIIGGGGG cuddle :smile015: He snuggled in for about 20 minutes while I worked on his pin feathers around his head for him and he took some more time to recover from the anaesthetic. He has also been microchipped and has a blingy new stainless steel leg band to replace the cheap nasty aluminium one. He looks like a new bird!

Bloodwork has come back, no nasties, and no psittacosis (phew!) Doc says he has a bit of a hunch in his posture most likely due to not enough nutrition to the parents after a double-clutch season. Other than that doc says he is in remarkably good physical condition which makes a mother very proud

I was permitted inside the clinic to watch the feather implanting take place. I do have a few photos of the procedure if anyone would like to see them.

All in all a good result, a few less things to worry about, and another few car/mortgage payments I have made for my birdie doctor! ScoMo is not taking any calls today while he recovers from the events of yesterday so all correspondence please route thru me

Love youse all :smile015::smile015::smile015:

 

[Laurasea]

Awww .. recover quickly, abd definitely want to see pics! He flying Amazing, wow you are the best mom ever ... I made my poor baby wait till he grew his own I'm a bad parront...good news on blood work! Maybe we can see s flight video when Scomo recovers

 

[LaManuka]

Thanx Laurasea, but there's plenty of way better parronts out there than me, including you!

I will post pics when I get home from work tonite. Doc said some owners don't like to see their birds under anaesthetic cos they look too much like a "dead birdie". I was ok at that stage cos I could see him breathing. But after the procedure they popped him in his travel cage where he laid on the floor recovering and while he was waking up he kind of flopped about like he was having a seizure and THAT bit was disturbing!

Flight school may take a while cos by the looks of things he was clipped before he learned to fly so he is a little reluctant, only taking very short hops at present, but that's OK, we have all the time in the world

 

[LaManuka]

Hi again gang.

As promised here are some shots of ScoMo's big day at the birdie doctors. He is much recovered today but still in flight training. Airman ScoMo has absolutely NO idea how to handle those new wing feathers so is under extra supervision from Squadron Leader Fang plus mum and dad! That's the big drawback when you go from clipped to fully flighted overnight!

Pics in sequence are:

1. Airman ScoMo sans primary feathers
2. Airman ScoMo zonked out under anaesthetic, microchip implanted and receiving first transplanted feathers.
3. One half done!
4. Both sides completed.
5. Recovering at home, "what the fudge just happened mum???"

NFI Flying School is now open for business. Fly high Airman ScoMo, but not too high or you'll hit your little noggin' on the ceiling :15:

 

[Laurasea]

You're right scary to see so vulnerable... But well worth it! He is such a cute cute baby bird!!! I love him!

 

[LaManuka]

Thanx Laurasea. I’m sure he’d send you his best too if he wasn’t head down in his food bowl eating like a horse! He’s still trying to store pellets in his shoulder feathers. His doctor said there’s a B&G macaw comes to the clinic who likes to store food in his armpit. Bizarre!

 

[LaManuka]

Thanx Laurasea he has the best wings money can buy. The hops are getting a little longer today, I think he covered about four feet this morning, and sticking those landings!❤️

 

[Laurasea]

Woop Woop! I think it was a very wise choice for a lifetime of positive mental health, and confidence!!! I hope our boys can be feathered brothers for a long long happy life!

 

[LaManuka]

And wouldn’t you know it the dopey little bugger has already managed to break one transplanted feather off. He’s having trouble with steering, and his landings are still not pretty sometimes but as they say, any landing you can walk away from is a good one. I’m thinking of changing his name to Five O’Clock Charlie!

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL@Charlie


I am glad he is doing great flightwise.

Can I ask if the overpreening is less now he is flighted again and can get rid of all that youthfull energy that way?
(Or did you fix it by not feeding pellets?)

 

[LaManuka]

Its apparently not overpreening or picking at all, rather something that some birds just do, like a quirk in behaviour that isn’t actually harmful. I overreacted thinking it was a picking problem because of the awareness that Quakers can be prone to plucking more than most, a case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing perhaps! Anyway my excellent CAV took one look and said it’s not picking/plucking at all and because I know how good he is that’s enough assurance for me! I will of course be remaining vigilant. He still tries to store pellets but to a lesser degree I think.

Because he was clipped before learning to fly he is still reluctant and very wobbly in the air and on landing. I usually prefer allowing the feathers to grow back naturally so that the flying is a more gradual process but because of the potential for psychological issues in his case we decided on the implants. But my heart stops every time he takes off cos I’ve no idea where he’ll end up!

The airborne adventures of ScoMo continue...

 

[ChristaNL]

That is great!


Japie is not a plucker/overpreener either, but give him a smallish stick to gnaw on and he will stick splinters in between the feathers of his neck and throat and pretend to "preen them out".
He is a grey but does not realise it... he was with a few amazons for a long time (5+ years), but now I am suspecting quacker-influences as well


Good luck with being aircontrollcenter!

 

[Anansi]

I'm so happy for ScoMo! The gift of flight is an awesome one, and it must've been downright amazing when he flew to you for the first time! Keep the updates coming!

 

[LaManuka]

Thanx Anansi, I got very teary when he took his maiden flight, even the vet had a tear in his eye! I’m extremely lucky to have such an extra-ordinary CAV only 5 mins drive from my house, he really is one of the very best and also has a dedicated team around him too!

 

[LaManuka]

Well stuff me if the dozy little beggar hasn’t gone and snapped another feather off. And didn’t have the decency to do it on the opposite side to the first one either so now he has 6 on one side and 4 on the other. I can’t find it either so have no idea how he did it - unless it’s up on top of my kitchen cabinets.

I named him after our Prime Minister - nuff said!!

 

[Anansi]

Oh, no! Has his flight been terribly hindered?