Crooked wing, is this normal?

[Chungki_Peanut]

I adopted a 10 year old Quaker 3 days ago and I noticed that one of her wings looks a bit crooked. Her previous owner mentioned that she used to clip her wings but hasn’t done it for a while now. I wanted to see if this is normal or not. She only tried to fly once so far. I think she is still very scared, since she is in her cage most of the time. I can’t really tell yet if she is able to fly well or not.

 

[LaManuka]

Welcome Chungki-Peanut to you and your quaker (whose name is btw?) Thank you for adopting her and giving her a loving home!

The crookedness of the wing could have a number of causes, from injury sustained long ago while trying to fly when clipped, all the way back to possible birth defect or maybe his mother sat on him a bit to long or awkwardly in the nest. I have a budgie who has a curved spine from exactly that, and as a consequence he carries one wing significantly lower than the other. He's not the very best flyer in the world but he doesn't let it slow him down, though he does tire more easily than my cockatiels. A good avian vet would probably be able to tell which of those category your quaker might fall into, without too invasive a physical exam - mine certainly did!

Often young birds are clipped before they learn to fly properly too, so that may be a factor in your quakers reluctance to fly. She should learn to be more confident eventually, but it will take time.

Anyway welcome again to the forums to the two of you! We have many quaker afficionados who will be only too happy to share their insights with you too I'm sure. I'm glad to have you aboard!

 

[Chungki_Peanut]

Welcome Chungki-Peanut to you and your quaker (whose name is btw?) Thank you for adopting her and giving her a loving home!

The crookedness of the wing could have a number of causes, from injury sustained long ago while trying to fly when clipped, all the way back to possible birth defect or maybe his mother sat on him a bit to long or awkwardly in the nest. I have a budgie who has a curved spine from exactly that, and as a consequence he carries one wing significantly lower than the other. He's not the very best flyer in the world but he doesn't let it slow him down, though he does tire more easily than my cockatiels. A good avian vet would probably be able to tell which of those category your quaker might fall into, without too invasive a physical exam - mine certainly did!

Often young birds are clipped before they learn to fly properly too, so that may be a factor in your quakers reluctance to fly. She should learn to be more confident eventually, but it will take time.

Anyway welcome again to the forums to the two of you! We have many quaker afficionados who will be only too happy to share their insights with you too I'm sure. I'm glad to have you aboard!

Thank you for your reply. Her name is Lexi Lou, and we decided to call her Lou Lou for short. Her previous owner never went to the Vet with her so I was thinking it might either be an old injury or maybe from being clipped in the past. I’ll wait and see how she is doing once she is more settled in. As of right now she doesn’t seem to be in any pain, but I do tend to worry a lot about my birds so I figured why not ask people who also have quakers and more experience.

 

[LaManuka]

Why not indeed! We have a number of very experienced quaker people here whom I'm pretty sure will be only too happy to welcome you and to share once they spot your post

Depending on the cause of the droopy wing and how long it's been that way, Lou Lou may never be a particularly strong flyer. I had a GCC called Baci once who was clipped before having learned to fly, and once those flight feathers grew back he certainly could fly, he was just a bit reluctant to do so. Which was actually a good thing in our case because Baci hated my husband, and I'm sure it was only his reluctance to fly that kept hubby safe from Baci's beak and claws, lol!!

 

[Chungki_Peanut]

Why not indeed! We have a number of very experienced quaker people here whom I'm pretty sure will be only too happy to welcome you and to share once they spot your post

Depending on the cause of the droopy wing and how long it's been that way, Lou Lou may never be a particularly strong flyer. I had a GCC called Baci once who was clipped before having learned to fly, and once those flight feathers grew back he certainly could fly, he was just a bit reluctant to do so. Which was actually a good thing in our case because Baci hated my husband, and I'm sure it was only his reluctance to fly that kept hubby safe from Baci's beak and claws, lol!!

Okay thank you. I will keep an eye on her to see how she is doing. I guess it makes sense that she is not flying right now because everything is also very new to her. I will give her some time.

 

[Laurasea]

Hello! Welcome to you and lovely Lou lou!

When birds are clipped young * ( as unfortunately many breeders do) they haven't fully developed and the big flight feathers are needed to guide wing growth. So their wings will cross in back when feathers finally come in. Where babies allowed to grow and develop properly won't have wings crossed. Even if clipped later and then allowed to grow in flight feathers.

I can't say for sure ...but because of the one wing cross body probably this happened. But a wing drop can be a sign of past Injury. While both wing dropping can Indicate weakness just as an FYI..as people can see that with a bird that isn't feeling well.

Parrots are remarkably adaptive. So hopefully given a chance to build up and use things might improve. Or can learn to deal with on their own.

Thrilled you joined us
!

 

[HeatherG]

I agree with the above posts. I wonder if maybe she was wing clipped roughly and the one wing was injured? I had a Quaker for many many years who could not fly at all. I had to take care that she didn’t fall as she had leg problems, too.

I am happy to see another Quaker Parakeet person here!