How long for flight feathers to grow back

[jeanbridgeford]

Can anyone tell me approximately how long it will take for the flight feathers to grow back in? I am so sorry now that I had Smokey's clipped. He/She has just been devastated since the clipping. I hope it won't take to long and I'll never have her clipped again. She will be 3 in November. First and last time clipped by the vet!

[Dave007]

There's no set amount of time when that'll happen. It'll depend on how much was clipped, how many flight feathers were dying and were near the point of naturally falling out or whether fresh or dying feathers were clipped at the same time. Some clipped feathers will fall out quicker than others. Those will be the first to get new feathers but other older feathers will remain and new ones will grow out later. It also depends upon the blood supply that each feather had before it was clipped. So all in all, it may be a short period or long period of time. Not to scare you but regrowing flight feathers has taken about 3 mts to 1 yr in some cases and it all has to do with what the stage was when those feathers were clipped. Eventually, they'll all match up but that make take a while. Of course you can try the *imping* process that's been talked about here but be prepared to spend a large amount of money and understand that the original feather that's still connected to the body that's getting an addon which is a dead feather,won't prevent the the feather that's connected to the body to not fall out when the time has arrived when the blood supply dries up and falls off. What that means is that the original clipped feather plus the dead feather that's connected to it will all fall off.

[JaredJay]

Parakeets usually will be able to "glide" about 4-5 wks or so after their wings have been clipped. They won't be able to fly for several more weeks after that. At the pet store I worked at, I would trim the wings when we got them in, (so they didn't fly all around the store) and they didn't start getting out until we had them for several weeks.

[NotMyCupOfTea]

Thanks, I've had Adrian from a adoption for a couple years. Her flight feathers have still not completely returned. Is this usual?

 

It hurts me that she is almost 12 years old now and still doesn't know what it is to have a full set of feathers!

[Dave007]

Thanks, I've had Adrian from a adoption for a couple years. Her flight feathers have still not completely returned. Is this usual?

 

It hurts me that she is almost 12 years old now and still doesn't know what it is to have a full set of feathers!

 

Depending on how the fether/featheres were plucked/pulled, there's chance that not only was the feather plucked but the follicle was also plucked out. If that's the case thn most of the time another feather won't grow back in that area. A feather needs to have a follicle to grow from. Another possibility is how the feathers are growing in. A new feather might be growing in and rub or mix in the the clipped feathers and will cause iritability because the clipped feather is being jammed into the skin. The bird's first reaction is to either pull out the irritated feather or pull out the new feather in order to ease that iribility. So, many times, feathers aren't growing in with other feathers that have been damaged. It's a matter of luck when all the feathers are growing in right and no discomfort is happening and that process may take a long time. After a while, a bird may be used to pulling out feathers and become what's called a chronic plucker which means that the bird is used to pulling out featehrs on a regular basis and becomes a habit. Only time will tell. the only thing that can be done is to use aloe type gels on the bare patches to ease the irritation.

[Dave007]

Can anyone tell me approximately how long it will take for the flight feathers to grow back in? I am so sorry now that I had Smokey's clipped. He/She has just been devastated since the clipping. I hope it won't take to long and I'll never have her clipped again. She will be 3 in November. First and last time clipped by the vet!

 

I answered that question

above to another prson that has a similar problem.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Dave007