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Have any of you had to deal with your bird growing in primary flight feathers, and them bothering or hurting their wing? Chibi is *finally* starting to grow some flight feathers back in, but on his left wing, they are apparently very bothersome or even painful. Several times over the last 3-4 days, he has literally screamed out in pain, and the only thing I could see was those two pin feathers. AFIK, he has not injured his wing, but he possibly could have during a short fall on the playgym several days ago. His right wing primary flight feathers are now at the pure pin stage, and no actual feather has appeared. It won't be long however, but he does not seem to have any problems with the right.

Sam

My Gimo ff just grew back and has not seemed to have any problems and truth is you'rs should not. you might want to check to make sure they have not grown in bad

Bubba screams all of the time when he is moulting... he will be in his cage all by himself, and you will hear a scream as he sorts his feathers or he will be flying a lap or two around the room and he will lose a large feather and yalp in mid flight. Of course I feel bad for him, but it is kind of funny that he sort of seems to be yelling at himself. To me, your situation seems normal for a bird who is growing in large and sensative feathers...

Just in case though, you may want to check to see that the feathers are growing in normally and that none are broken in which case you may need to pluck them out.

Good Luck!

Jackie and Bubba

Mine has had the same thing happen with pin feathers as far as the sensitivity. I heard that misting the bird will help.

Yeah, misting should help soften the feather quills on the feathers that are molting out, as long as the water gets down to them and doesn't stay on the surface.

Chester only complains for a few days, though, so I imagine it won't take much longer...

The way Chibi was screaming each time he either bumped his left wing, or at least did something when he would jump from a scare, I was concerned he had somehow managed to break his wing. I took him to the vet yesterday, and they took an x-ray of the whole bird. Nothing at all showed up in the x-ray at any area on his left wing, not even a hairline crack. About the only thing we could figure out was his new feathers were somehow getting hit, and them being as sensitive as they appear to be, that would explain his painful screams. Gosh, I sure hope the rest of the feathers don't do like these are doing. Chibi hates a bath, and misting even more, so I thought about using a damp towel or something to just saturate those feathers. He will let me extend his wing as long as I lay him on his back -- go figure.. almost like he enjoys it, but not quite! I really wish the breeder hadn't clipped him so short. He'll probably the last bird to gain flight if he doesn't break them before.

Sam

Maybe put him in the shower with you... Even if all he does is sit on the shower rod or something, he'll absorb the steam and it should help to soften those feathers.

The shower is a great idea... Bubba hates misting, but unlike yours will bathe in the sink/on a plate with a little water and in the shower. He likes to sit on the rod and will often volunterily come into the shower with me... sometimes when he just needs a bath and doesn't want one, I will take him in, get him use to the water, and get him a bit wet... he doesn't seem to mind that much. So even if your baby doesn't seem to want to come in, try to take him in your hands if he will let you and try to get a little water on him (generally petting Bubba's head and beak work for me). That is a great suggestion and I would give it a try!

Good luck!

Add a little aloe vera juice to the water for misting - it sooths and moisurizes thier skin. You can get the juice at most health food stores and I've heard Walmart even carries it.

Apparently, Chibi does have some sort of problem with the new feathers. The vet looked at them, and did not see any problem areas, but since then, Chibi has chewed off one of the blood feathers, and is constantly picking at the remaining one. It, and the one he chewed off are extremely sensitive, and I suspect, painful. I imagine I'll take him back and let the vet check it out again, and perhaps pull the offending ones. They look(ed) perfectly normal, but there may be something at the follicle end I can't see causing him so much pain.


Sam