Eclectus Wing Feathers Sticking Out

[Keatz]

I have an eclectus, Oscar, who is about one and a half years old. When I first got him, he was about fourteen weeks old. He looked very shabby. One of his wings looked a mess. None of the feathers on it sat in their proper place, and one large feather towards the bottom of the wing stuck right out. I put his shabbiness down to the fact that he was so young and hoped that his feathers would improve as he got older. They have improved somewhat, even if he does seem to be going through a really long molt at the moment with grey patches around his neck and on his body. Nonetheless, when he started molting his wing feathers, most of them seemed to grow back normally. However, the large feather that stuck out of place, grew back the same. I've included a picture of him sitting on the shower. It's not the best pic, but I think you can easily see the feather in question.
Unfortunately, the nearest avian vet is over a three hour drive from where I live. I took him to my local vet. She seemed to know a lot about eclectus and said she had treated them before. She believed that the feather may have grown out of place due to a trauma in the nest, eg he didn't receive enough light or a proper diet. She said she did not want to treat the feather since he was in good health and treating it would only cause stress for him. She suggested I wait for the feather to fix itself, but my concern is that if the follicle is damaged, it will keep growing back the same.
Also, I don't know whether it's because he's molting or has been scratching, but he also has some little feathers poking out on his shoulder now. This is only a recent thing. Until then, other than the large feather sticking out, his wing was looking rather good.
Has anyone had a similar issue with their bird? Has anyone got any suggestions about what I could do?
I considered taking him to another vet. I called a vet in the nearest city to where I live, which is about a fifty minute drive away, and the vet said she does not normally treat birds and kept referring to Oscar as an electus parrot, which did not inspire any confidence in me.

 

[littleredhen77]

Hello Keatz! i have been living with a similar problem with my cockatiel Jake for what must be 6-8 years now. he damaged a primary flight feather during a night fright and ever since then, it sticks out sideways like your birds. actually Jakes might stick out a little further. every time he molts it out the new one comes in at the same angle. so far it hasnt caused any other problems but i am afraid that itll break off and cause bleeding..he has a routine thing where every night at about 7pm he flaps like crazy while standing next to his biggest toy and it looks like that feather would catch on things very easily. it hasnt done that though i think maybe hes gotten used to it and is careful. its still scary though, and where your eclectus is so young i would try to have it corrected if it was my bird. i dont know exactly what can be done to fix that though..

best of luck! if you do get it treated, could you let me know what they do to it?

 

[Terry57]

My conure, Phoe, has the same issues with multiple feathers. He was checked by the vet, and she thinks that during his weaning period he may not have gotten enough nutrients.
His come in so crooked that he plucks them. He was tested for everything, and that's all she could think of.
I hope you can find an avian vet, just to rule out any underlying problems.

 

[Keatz]

Hello Keatz! i have been living with a similar problem with my cockatiel Jake for what must be 6-8 years now. he damaged a primary flight feather during a night fright and ever since then, it sticks out sideways like your birds. actually Jakes might stick out a little further. every time he molts it out the new one comes in at the same angle. so far it hasnt caused any other problems but i am afraid that itll break off and cause bleeding..he has a routine thing where every night at about 7pm he flaps like crazy while standing next to his biggest toy and it looks like that feather would catch on things very easily. it hasnt done that though i think maybe hes gotten used to it and is careful. its still scary though, and where your eclectus is so young i would try to have it corrected if it was my bird. i dont know exactly what can be done to fix that though..

best of luck! if you do get it treated, could you let me know what they do to it?

Thanks for your reply. I've also consulted several eclectus breeders about the feather and they said that since it doesn't affect his health and he can still fly, it probably bothers me more than him, which is true. The vet said that there was something should could have prescribed for me to rub on his feather to fix the follicle, but she believed it would stress him out to have it rubbed on him everyday. One of the disadvantages of living in the country is that I'm so far away from a proper avian vet, but there is a vet in a city about a two hour drive from me who is supposed to be good with birds, and I'm thinking of taking Oscar to him one day. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again for your response.

 

[Keatz]

My conure, Phoe, has the same issues with multiple feathers. He was checked by the vet, and she thinks that during his weaning period he may not have gotten enough nutrients.
His come in so crooked that he plucks them. He was tested for everything, and that's all she could think of.
I hope you can find an avian vet, just to rule out any underlying problems.

Hi, thanks for responding. I thought that perhaps Oscar's parents abused him in the nest, but the vet seemed adamant that it was either a nutritional or light problem. Before I took him to the vet, I kind of got bird hypochondria where I kept diagnosing him with all types of ailments, from fungal and bacterial infections to beak and feather disease. The vet ruled these out and insisted that birds' feathers are quite delicate and can easily become deformed or grow out the wrong way if they experience a trauma while they're developing.
I'm sorry that Phoe plucks his feathers. I hope that he's a happy bird, nonetheless.