Question about feather function.

[crittermom]

My B&G Chica, a rescue bird, came to me clipped. I consulted with the rescue about my intentions on allowing her to fly, and I was told that she had been allowed to fly in her previous home. Of course, for safety reason she was clipped from the person she came from: 10 feathers on each wing gone, eccept for the 3 primaries on the very end...
I truly believe that flight is a RIGHT for pet birds that is all too often denied and I have been slowly working up her strength and determination towards flight (using perches placed at a small distance apart & eventually spacing the distance more) and she is now flying through my house with ease. She only has 5 feathers on each wing (the first few secondaries on each wing) left to molt out.
I've begun renting a large arena for working on training with her in, and I was wondering if anyone knows the science behind how much certain feathers affect flight ability? She is able to do a full loop around the area before losing momentum (or getting tired) and losing altitude and I was wondering if anyone might be able to guess how much of this might be from the lack of feathers or if it's just more from lack of exercise. I've considered having my vet perform a procedure known as "imping" (as described at this link Imping; Replacing Mowglie's Clipped Flight Feathers by Steve Hartman    The Parrot University) and wasn't sure if it'd be worth it to help improve her dexterity or if I should just be patient and wait out the next molt to get rid of those remaining clipped feathers. Input appreciated.

 

[Dacombe]

When my bird has been flying an awful lot she sometimes breathes pretty heavily, like panting after the excercise. She doesn't do this as much anymore and I suppose it's because she's gotton a lot fitter as she's got better. Maybe if your macaw does this after flying you could guess she's out of shape, if not maybe it's just the lack of feathers giving her trouble. How long has it been since she's flown?

 

[sodakat]

I think I'd wait one more molt cycle instead of imping, although I think imping is great, especially for birds who whose new feathers break due to lack of support from a severe clip.

Maybe you could contact Chris Biro who flies his macaws in an indoor arena as well as outdoors in Utah occasionally. Avian Training and Flight Instruction I'm sure he has flown birds who are growing out their flights from a clip and would be able to give you answers to your questions.

 

[mcw009]

I would guess her trouble is mostly due to missing all those feathers. Most birds molt in a pattern that avoids a big gap like you seem to describe her having, and long-distance migrants won't even migrate with any gaps.
I would wait for them to come in naturally (you could pluck what's left of the feathers to force her to grow new ones, but that's a terrible idea). Imping is difficult to get right, and it's not like you're trying to release her back into the wild. There's plenty of time to get her back into shape.

Beware though that big gaps promote uneven, worse feather wear (another reason birds naturally avoid big gaps). Since she's not migrating or avoiding predators or anything, it's not a huge deal, but maybe something to consider right now.

 

[weco]

Leaving the outboard 3-4 flight feathers on each wing is called a show clip.....

You mention I've considered having my vet perform a procedure known as "imping." Have you spoken with your vet about the procedure.....though I've never done this, I do model HO railroad rolling stock, from commercially available items into as-run equipment for the old fallen flag New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and would imagine "imping"/refeathering Chica might run anywhere from 8-15 hours for prepping & installing the feathers and possibly longer for someone who may have never done this before.....that's not taking Chica's patience into consideration.....

I think it would be great for Chica, but then would the cost of these pasties outweigh waiting for natural replacement.....you know, there is another option that can speed up feather replacement outside of waiting for seasonal moults & that's the fact that a parrot's feathers are designed for quick release as a self-preservation escape method & when a feather is so removed, the bird's body replaces it irrespective of moult schedules.....

The only caveat would be that to prevent discomfort to the bird, the feather needs to be snapped/jerked out smartly & in line with the shaft's placement in the follicle.....no wiggling, lest you upset the bird & risk its ire.....

Speak to your vet about the "imping" & about your removing the remaining cut shaft stubs...I might imagine a shaft every 2-3 days or so.....keep in mind that this will probably curtail your arena flights for a while.....

Just some thoughts you might not have considered.....

 

[mcw009]

Besides upsetting the bird, removing the cut shafts can also damage the follicles such that the feathers won't grow back at all or will grow back all funky. I'd say it's fairly uncommon (~10%?), but the risk is higher with a big bird (since the feathers are harder to remove). I'd also just be worried she wouldn't forgive me for doing that!

 

[weco]

Besides upsetting the bird, removing the cut shafts can also damage the follicles such that the feathers won't grow back at all or will grow back all funky. I'd say it's fairly uncommon (~10%?), but the risk is higher with a big bird (since the feathers are harder to remove). I'd also just be worried she wouldn't forgive me for doing that!

Actually MCW, that's not quite right...speak to your vet about the best way to remove a broken and/or cut feather shaft & I think you might be surprised.....

Whenever I need to have a bird DNAd, I simply jerk 4-5 feathers (all at one time), either from its back or from its chest, to send in...no fuss, no bites & no damage to feather follicles.....now, if you are unsure of what you're doing & set there & pull/tug on the feathers, the bird will get upset.....and.....if you set there & try wiggling the feather shaft, rather than giving it a sharp snap of a withdrawal, there is a possibility of damaging the follicle(s).....

Here's a link to the Avian Biotech site, explaining how to collect feathers: Feather Collection for DNA Sexing

MCW, if you'd like further information on removing broken, damaged or cut feather shafts from a bird, just send me a PM, I'm usually online sometime during a day, but if I'm away, don't fret, I will respond to your message as soon as I'm back online.....

 

[mcw009]

I (with help) pulled about 100 secondaries from a group of starlings. Multiple birds had feather abnormalities in the regrown feathers (twisted the wrong way, thick shaft and didn't elongate) or missing feathers. They were probably pulled out improperly, but it's not always easy to pull feathers straight out.
Flight feathers and retrices are also attached much more strongly than contour (body) feathers. I don't think pulling body feathers incurs much risk.

Personally, with a pet bird, I would never pull a flight feather unless it was broken dangerously close to the wing and/or bleeding (like a broken pin feather).

 

[sodakat]

There's a person on one of the other online forums that imped her bird herself. I think the success would depend a lot on how cooperative your bird is. I actually started to do LaFitte's left wing. I have tons of molted primaries since I have lots of Eclectus. I chose what looked like a good set, trimmed the shaft a couple inches and glued in sticks I'd carved from skewers.

Then I got LaFitte and the fun began. He did not want me to mess with him. His right wing is perfect but his left wing is screwy -- has been for a few years. He won't let the outer primaries stay on that wing once he molts. We think he injured his "wrist" and the weight of the feathers, or something about having long feathers, bothers him. Once he trims the feather he doesn't mess with it until the next molt cycle.

I managed to trim the outermost feather a bit since it was kind of a chewed stub, then tried to hold him still while i examined the feather shaft to see if I needed to use a tiny drill bit so the wood pin sticking out of the donor feather could be inserted. NOT a drill with the bit in it, just a very narrow bit that I could use to ream out the feather shaft.

He was not happy and kept squirming. I knew I needed some help but I wanted to try just one feather to see how it worked. So I held up the prepped donor feather to see how long it was, making sure I had trimmed his stub enough and I realized the dang feather was angling the wrong way! I had prepped the wrong feathers. They were from the opposite wing. Good grief.

So, that was that. I figured I'd have my daughter help me sometime then time got away from me and we didn't get to it. That was in January I think. Well, amazingly he has molted several of those outer primaries since then and for some reason he is leaving them alone!!!!

So, I'm hoping like you that I will have a fully feathered wing at some point and maybe a bird who can fly again for the first time in years.

My long winded point is, imping is not a terribly difficult process from what I can tell with my limited attempt.

I did ask a vet a couple years ago and although she was game because she had learned on falcons years ago, she said it might be costly depending on how long it took.