Can a bad clip keep feathers from growing?

[KimKim]

Can a bad clip keep wing feathers from ever growing back? There has been a few people I know that said this happens.. and that they know of birds that this has happened to. Myself and a friend have doubts about it, so can anyone answer this? Thanks.

[Talon]

As far as I know, they will continue to grow.

[djohnson]

I am by no means an expert and I am trying not to be facetious (ok, maybe just a little) - but what is a bad clip vs. a good clip? If we were to follow the line of thinking of the people with whom you spoke, isn't a clipped feather a clipped feather albeit good or bad; so why would a clipped feather grow at all? Does that make sense?

 

Anyway, unfortunately, Tumnus was clipped when I got him and in my opinion it ended up being a bad clip. He was chewing on his feathers and I didn't happen to notice until one day I saw that he didn't have any feathers in one section. Took him to the vet as I was afraid I had a plucker and wanted to nip it in the bud. The vet said that the clip was irritating him and he was just trying to get comfortable. Comfort ended up being that Tumnus eventually removed the irritating feathers (pretty much all of the clipped feathers) and then allowing new ones to grow out.

 

So if there is such a thing as a bad clip, I guess the feathers will eventually be replaced.

[Dave007]

A good or bad clip won't necessarily end up with the bird starting to chew or pluck feathers. A good clip is one that allows a bird to fly straight ahead for about 6 to 8 ft before gliding down to the floor. A good clip doesn't allow the bird altitude, just horozontil flifht. A bad clip is when the feathers are cut too short and doesn't allow the bird to do the above. Instead, the bird may go a short distance and basically fall. A very bad clip is when the bird's feathers are cut so short that the bird simply falls to the floor when trying to fly. The bird can bounce off the floor and seriously injure itself.

Any feathers that are clipped whether they be improper or proper will eventually grow back unless the follicle was also removed. Then feathers won't grow back anymore in that area..

[KimKim]

These people said that the feathers were clipped to short, and one said the feathers were clipped all the way down the wing. I did not think this would stop the feathers from growing out, thanks for confirming. One of the birds in question, one of his wings looks smaller than the other and it has some clipped feathers on it. The owner said it was a clip that damaged the wing and feathers. I dont know why he thinks this... so I wanted to find out if this could happen.

[Dave007]

""""The owner said it was a clip that damaged the wing and feathers. """""

 

That's possible. As a matter of fact it happens often but that still won't stop the bird from growing back feathers.

[danmcq]

Dave gave a great response as always.

 

This may be a request you could not do, but if your bird would let you spread a wing out and snap a photo quickly, it would help Dave in seeing what your describing.

 

If those primaries were clipped all the way to the actual socket and it damaged the sockets (Which would have been VERY painful) it could affect the outcome.

[KimKim]

Dan, this is not my bird, it is a bird that goes to the bird store for boarding sometimes

[danmcq]

Oh ok.

 

I suspect as Dave and others said, they will grow back. The poor baby, it sounds like an atrocious clip job.

[judygram]

Some people should never be allowed to handle scissors, I can't stand it when people botch a wing clip.

[Coral&Andrew]

Some people should never be allowed to handle scissors, I can't stand it when people botch a wing clip.

 

yeah if they know that there not realy sure what to do, and are worried about doing it wrong, they should leave it for the experts and try to do it themselfes.

 

 

ive always known feathers to grow back.