New member with "grounded" GCC question

[Nemed]

Hello!

My 12-year-old cinnamon GCC's vet passed away recently, and it's a 10-week wait for a first appointment with the only other avian vet in my area. So of course, Caiomhe (pronouned "KEE-vah") had to have her first real problem in nine years! The new vet's office doesn't want to answer questions for a bird they haven't seen before, so I'm hoping this community might be able to help.

Caiomhe is usually super easygoing and adaptable, but a short period of uncommon stress in our household this month caused her to over-preen her wings and she managed to break all of her flight feathers, leaving her temporarily grounded. This is a particular problem because she was born with severely malformed feet, so she doesn't climb very well and can't do many activities that other birds can. To compensate, she is allowed to fly freely around half of my home from morning till bedtime. So, being grounded is a really big deal for her.

Caiomhe is handling her plight very well at the moment, but I'm concerned about how long it might take for her to literally regain her wings. She's not a young birdie, so I'm concerned about her getting out of shape in the meantime, among other worries. How long is it likely to take for her to shed the broken flight feathers and grow in new ones? Will we have to wait for her next molt? Is there anything that can be done to help the process along?

You'd think I'd know more about feather stuff after more than two decades of bird ownership, but fortunately nothing has ever happened to prompt much study of the subject. Alas, now here we are.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you might have for me!

Note: I never thought to join a parrot forum before... nice place you have here!

 

[zERo]

Welcome to the forums!

Sorry you’ve come here under unfortunate circumstances!

Sorry to hear of your vets passing. Hopefully the new vet is wonderful! I would request a blood test to make sure her plucking wasn’t for a medical reason too.

Do you know the last time she molted? I mean a big molt where she replaced flight and tail feathers?

I’ve heard of people pulling out the damaged flight feathers but this (from what I’ve heard) puts a ton of stress on a bird as their bodies have to regrow tons of feathers at once. Maybe imping is something your vet does? Not all will do this procedure however.
Does your conure live in a short style disabled bird type of setup? We have a special needs forum you can look through here:

Special Needs Parrots

Special Needs Parrots and other Birds

www.parrotforums.com

 

[wrench13]

Yeah I would not start yanking a bunch of broken feathers out of wings. She damaged ALL her flight feathers?? Thats a lot of feathers! If she is hobbled by foot issues, what I would do is keep her in her cage, with a soft towel on the bottom to cushion her feet and just wait it out. Imping ( basically gluing a good feather into the hollow base of a broken or damaged feather shaft) can be done but I have never heard of it being done on multiple ones and certainly not all the flight feathers at once. And, you need good condition feathers to use as the replacements and the right ones too. Very tall order here.

Good luck and prayers to Caiomhe!

 

[LaManuka]

Hello!

My 12-year-old cinnamon GCC's vet passed away recently, and it's a 10-week wait for a first appointment with the only other avian vet in my area. So of course, Caiomhe (pronouned "KEE-vah") had to have her first real problem in nine years! The new vet's office doesn't want to answer questions for a bird they haven't seen before, so I'm hoping this community might be able to help.

Caiomhe is usually super easygoing and adaptable, but a short period of uncommon stress in our household this month caused her to over-preen her wings and she managed to break all of her flight feathers, leaving her temporarily grounded. This is a particular problem because she was born with severely malformed feet, so she doesn't climb very well and can't do many activities that other birds can. To compensate, she is allowed to fly freely around half of my home from morning till bedtime. So, being grounded is a really big deal for her.

Caiomhe is handling her plight very well at the moment, but I'm concerned about how long it might take for her to literally regain her wings. She's not a young birdie, so I'm concerned about her getting out of shape in the meantime, among other worries. How long is it likely to take for her to shed the broken flight feathers and grow in new ones? Will we have to wait for her next molt? Is there anything that can be done to help the process along?

You'd think I'd know more about feather stuff after more than two decades of bird ownership, but fortunately nothing has ever happened to prompt much study of the subject. Alas, now here we are.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you might have for me!

Note: I never thought to join a parrot forum before... nice place you have here!

Welcome to the forums, @Nemed and Caiomhe, though I'm so sorry to hear about the very difficult situation you and your girl are in.

As @zERo and @wrench13 have mentioned, implanting new feathers is something that can be done to restore flight, and it does so immediately, but unfortunately not every avian vet offers it and it seems like sadly you have a bit of a wait before you'll be able to see one. I've had it done twice and it can be done on both wings at once, my vet performed it on a quaker of mine some years ago with great success! I have also just had it done on a recently acquired princess parrot who had suffered a pretty brutal single wing clip. It has worked out extremely well for her, but in Caiomhe's case, as her feather loss was caused by stress, the whole imping procedure may stress her out again and she might just end up breaking off those new feathers It's SUCH a pity that you can't get in to see your vet and discuss it with them sooner, to see if they think it might work or if they even offer such a service, but you might just be better off waiting for those feathers to gradually grow back naturally.

I'm sorry I can't be more definite about it for you and I wish the two of you all the very best when you finally do get in to see that vet!

 

[Nemed]

I would request a blood test to make sure her plucking wasn’t for a medical reason too.

Do you know the last time she molted? I mean a big molt where she replaced flight and tail feathers?

Does your conure live in a short style disabled bird type of setup?

Thank you, zERo!

Asking mostly because it will be over two months before the new vet can see her: If I can readily tie the problem behavior to a specific trigger, do you really think an underlying medical condition might still be to blame? I won't hold you responsible for the opinion you share, but I gotta ask since Caiomhe has always been very healthy. The over-preening/plucking clearly started a couple of days after the major stressor did.

She hasn't done a true molt in a while... several months, but I can't recall exactly how long. (Note to self: start keeping a bird journal.)

I've never had a special setup for Caiomhe except for ramps and flat perches in her sleep and travel cages. She's never been caged during the day as an adult except to travel (the previous owner kept her in a large aviary), so I've decided not to add a new major stressor since the one that started this mess is now over.

Instead, I've limited her to the room where we spend the most time, which was already fitted with lots of platforms for her to land on and a long, narrow table where she has her food and water setup, her bathing pool/fountain, a tunnel she likes to hide in, and her favorite toys. I've just finished building a system of ramps and bridges to give her access to some favorite nearby spots in the room without having to fly. She can walk and perch just fine on flat surfaces and is accustomed to adaptive pathways to get from one place to another, so this solution has been working nicely.

 

[Nemed]

I'm sorry I can't be more definite about it for you and I wish the two of you all the very best when you finally do get in to see that vet!

Thanks for the welcome, LaManuka, and I understand your not feeling like your suggestions were helpful... but they totally were! As you say, the problem is that I can't talk to the new vet for several weeks yet, but the information you gave me is still very valuable for future reference. And who knows? Perhaps Caiomhe will still be in need of such options by the time her new patient appointment finally rolls around. I hope not, but it could very well happen.

 

[zERo]

Thank you, zERo!

Asking mostly because it will be over two months before the new vet can see her: If I can readily tie the problem behavior to a specific trigger, do you really think an underlying medical condition might still be to blame? I won't hold you responsible for the opinion you share, but I gotta ask since Caiomhe has always been very healthy. The over-preening/plucking clearly started a couple of days after the major stressor did.

She hasn't done a true molt in a while... several months, but I can't recall exactly how long. (Note to self: start keeping a bird journal.)

I've never had a special setup for Caiomhe except for ramps and flat perches in her sleep and travel cages. She's never been caged during the day as an adult except to travel (the previous owner kept her in a large aviary), so I've decided not to add a new major stressor since the one that started this mess is now over.

Instead, I've limited her to the room where we spend the most time, which was already fitted with lots of platforms for her to land on and a long, narrow table where she has her food and water setup, her bathing pool/fountain, a tunnel she likes to hide in, and her favorite toys. I've just finished building a system of ramps and bridges to give her access to some favorite nearby spots in the room without having to fly. She can walk and perch just fine on flat surfaces and is accustomed to adaptive pathways to get from one place to another, so this solution has been working nicely.

I must’ve missed the part about not being able to get to the vet! Oops! 😅

I would think the feather destruction is caused by the stressor but I can’t say that for sure.

Ramos are a great idea. I bet that helps her move around a lot. It also sounds like you love her tons and take wonderful care of her!

Have you ever given her avian tea? My green cheek really loves chamomile tea but certain places make calming/hormone tea blends.

 

[Nemed]

Yeah I would not start yanking a bunch of broken feathers out of wings. She damaged ALL her flight feathers?? Thats a lot of feathers! If she is hobbled by foot issues, what I would do is keep her in her cage, with a soft towel on the bottom to cushion her feet and just wait it out. Imping ( basically gluing a good feather into the hollow base of a broken or damaged feather shaft) can be done but I have never heard of it being done on multiple ones and certainly not all the flight feathers at once. And, you need good condition feathers to use as the replacements and the right ones too. Very tall order here.

Good luck and prayers to Caiomhe!

Thanks for the well wishes and sage advice, Wrench. Yeah, I considered pulling feathers myself--very gradually and strategically--but I'd be way out of my depth and I don't want to risk harm.

And yes, it was ALL of her flight feathers! Took her a week to get down to the last three, and I think two of that last trio broke just from being left so vulnerable on a bird that was trying to figure out how to navigate life without flying.

I'm actually impressed by how well she's adapting. Her reaction to the stressful situation (a houseguest's very spoiled and noisy young children) was so surprising. Caiomhe has historically remained cool as a cucumber in the face of disruptions, even as major as a cross-country move and the demolition/rebuilding of the house next door!

 

[LaManuka]

Thanks for the welcome, LaManuka, and I understand your not feeling like your suggestions were helpful... but they totally were! As you say, the problem is that I can't talk to the new vet for several weeks yet, but the information you gave me is still very valuable for future reference. And who knows? Perhaps Caiomhe will still be in need of such options by the time her new patient appointment finally rolls around. I hope not, but it could very well happen.

You're most welcome, @Nemed, I'm happy I could be of some help! I will face a similar situation in a year or two when my vet retires, and as it's his privately owned business I don't know if his clinic will remain open with another vet beyond that. There's another very good avian vet about a 40 minute drive away but I have become VERY spoiled with my current guy, who is the best in the business and only a 2 minute drive from my house! It seems there's a general shortage of all types of vets pretty much everywhere at present too which doesn't help either. I hope your new one has you on a waiting list, just in case an earlier appointment does become available.