Parrots can take up to a year to renew their flight feathers and some, such as macaws and larger cockatoos, can take up to two years before molting. Molting allows a bird to regrow clipped feathers, but a clipped bird may have its feathers prone to damage as its new blood feathers grow.
These showy feathers need the protection of neighboring full-length feathers to prevent damage. When blood feathers break, the bleeding can be profuse and painful.
Most parrots have around ten primary feathers that are attached to the “hand” and 12 secondary flight feathers along the “forearm”. The primaries are used for propulsion during takeoff and can be used as brakes with a reverse thrust action on landing and (with the tail) assist in steering. The aerodynamic shape of these feathers provides free lift when air passes over them.
The rate at which the bird’s main wing and tail feathers grow is about 3–4mm per day and some typical long primary feathers on a Gray or Amazon can take about 40 days to grow. The bird can moult two or three flight feathers at a time on each wing.
If a bird has been clipped, it is best to repair the wings quickly and without delay, especially in the case of immature birds. This is important because these young birds require good, healthy wings to learn to fly in their first few months, although they can be a bit clumsy at first.
There are two ways to repair damaged feathers. You can go to avian veterinarians who can repair the bird’s damaged feathers and quickly restore flight, or follow the simple steps below on your own.
If you intend to repair your bird’s feathers on your own, you can use the donor feathers of the same species to re-splint them, or remove the damaged feathers under anesthesia and allow the bird to regrow on its own.
To repair damaged feathers on your own, follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Prepare a feather to collide with a clipped bird’s wing.
Step 2: Remove part of the shaft from the donor pen.
Step 3: Prepare a small bamboo partition.
Step 4 – Insert the ferrule half and glue it into the hollow shaft of the donor pen.
Step 5: Splint the donor feather onto the stump of a feather on the clipped wing of the bird.
If you want to let the bird’s feathers grow back by molting, rather than pressing or pulling, it means the bird may not be able to fly for up to a year. During this time there is also a risk of the bird damaging its blood feathers as they grow.
This is something that you should consider because it is important for a bird to take flight as part of its normal behavior and exercise repertoire, and that you should encourage it to be active and also to prevent other complicated problems such as frustration, anxiety. , nervousness and detachment from themselves if they are denied this flight.