Wing feathers

[Christal]

Hey! I've had my quaker parrot Sol since February. I've posted before about her scared nature, and although she's not any less people shy, she's a happy bird. Chirps a lot, plays with her toys, and eats well. I worried a lot the stress of people around would cause her to pluck but she hasn't thankfully. I wish I could hold her and give her head scratches, but as long as she's ok that's all that matters. The reason I'm posting now is because when I bought her, her wings were clipped I personally would like her to be able to fly. I feel bad when I take her out of her cage to clean it and she flaps around on the grounground or flops down from things. She likes a to hold on to her cage or perch and flap really hard. I feel like maybe some of her fear will diminish if she has her wings back. Or so I hope. I read online that it can take weeks to a few months for clipped feathers to grow back, is it normal for her to still not be able to fly? Her wing feathers are still short... and it's been 5 months now.

 

[SailBoat]

There is a ton of miss information about Primary and Secondary Wing Feathers and how long it really takes for them to be replaced.

Natural Wing Feather replacement 'depending on the Parrot' can take as little as a month to as long as five years. Since so much of feather replacement has to do with the available energy, i.e. the health of the Parrot and the quality of its diet. Because of their size and complexity, feathers of the Wings and Tail Feathers are expensive to replace (requires great stores of energy).

So, if we assume that the Parrot is in great health, and very low stress levels. The Parrot will replace one to two feather per Wing (or a total of two to four at a time). The process starts with that /those feathers becoming loose and falling out! This natural process would be on-going as the Parrot cycles out the older feathers first, then on to the next younger.

With very young Parrots this process can be slow to start, since near every feather is a fairly new feathers. The active flapping of your Parrot is driving two things: First, building /maintaining flight muscles and development of its Heart and Air Sacks. Second, a signal to the 'system' that flight is not possible and that Wing Feather replacement is needed.

It is very important to provide a very health diet, minimize stress and allow active Wing Flapping.

 

[Christal]

Thank you so much for your response!! I'm sad to hear it might take very long for her to grow her feathers. I try to keep her as healthy as possible. I've tried tiressly to get her to eat something other than her seeds, but she won't. I bought her some egg food to sprinkle over her seeds to hopefully provide needed vitamins and such. I know she needs fruits & veggies but she doesn't touch them. I try to keep her stress low, not an easy thing to do with such a skitsh bird. She looks healthy... sleek, bright green feathers, moves around often. She wont let me near her, but she likes when people talk to her. �� She's a sweet little thing. I hope to get her a check up with a avian vet when money permits. Again thank you!

 

[SailBoat]

Quaker's as a group commonly replace Flight Structure Feathers more quickly than Amazons!

So, I think at this point, you are faced with the watched pot problem, i.e. It just seems to take forever the more attention you pay to the process. Whether it is boiling water or waiting for the first signs of new Wing Feathers, its just mind bending!

So, enjoy your time with your Parrot. Work at developing a comfort with your fingers being near by and then work at Step-Up. This may help the time to pass a bit faster!

Enjoy!

 

[Kentuckienne]

One thing about regrowing feathers...watch out for a single long feather surrounded by clipped ones. The feathers protect each other, and an unsupported lone feather us susceptible to breaking, especially dangerous in the blood feather stage. A bird can bleed to death from a broken blood feather! Once the feathers begin to grow, maybe post some photos and if there is anything dangerous someone will know what to do.