Tail feather backwards?

[rxbrnnn]

So i was trimming my baby's wings yesterday (i do clip myself and i was just trimming, he was clipped when i bought him at 10 wks and i've done a full "haircut" once at about 12 weeks - i live in a VERY small nyc apartment and feel more comfortable keeping him clipped especially since he loves his stoop time) and mid-wrestle it seems like he flipped a tail feather backwards? he's molting at the moment so i figure it will drop soon, but he squawks in minor discomfort if i touch it. not as loud of a squawk as he would give if he caught his foot or tail in something, but still clearly not having it.

i expected he would either fix his feather or drop it within the next few days, but it's still turned around. is this something i should be concerned about? i've read a lot of stuff about split or broken tail feathers but not twisted ones ...

 

[Featheredsamurai]

If it seems to be bothering him if you touch it try holding him carefully and examining the feather, maybe you can fix it's placement. Or if the feather is bent halfway down you can clip it at the bend so it goes back to sitting normally, even if it's now only half a feather.

I used to have a cockatiel that I gave to my BFF, he would always land on his but and broke a few blood feathers in his tail. I had to pluck two that would not stop bleeding, I held him carefully, grabbed the feather near the base and quickly pulled it straight out. He squaked but within minutes he was back to normal like nothing happened(but would get angry if I touched his tail for a few days for obvious reasons). Only pluck if you really have to though, it's hurts and we should avoid it whenever possible.

 

[SandyBee]

It will probably molt out in a short time, Bosley has had this happen, he works it a bit and when it's ready it drops. As long as it isn't bothering him it's OK

 

[rxbrnnn]

awesome. he doesn't seem to be in pain, but he's definitely still mad at me. then again he's been grumpy throughout the molt..

 

[MonicaMc]

It's possible that the feather is broken and he just hasn't fixed it yet... or maybe it started to come out but got stuck???

I've "pulled" out a couple of tail feathers recently from two of my birds, and the feathers were upside down. Of course, the feathers were as I thought they were... ones that were molting out, so they came out with ease! If they didn't come out with ease, then I wouldn't have ended up with a feather in my hand.

I've also dealt with the broken feathers in the past that got twisted... these weren't blood feathers, so I just clipped them where they broke and left it at that.