Tail Feather Growth

[pacoparrot]

Bella had an accident tonight and all of her tail feathers were pulled out. She flew off my shoulder and when I went to position myself to grab her my big toe pinched her tail and they all came out. I feel absolutely horrible about it. It was dark in the room so I'm not exactly sure how it happened. It must be a survival technique for the tail to come out like that. She is fine and is eating and behaving as normal. Just slightly off balance. Is there anything I can give her to promote the growth of the new feathers? Does anyone know how long it will take for them to grow back? I feel just awful. She didn't hold a grudge thank god. I will be babying her for the next few weeks so her feathers will grow back nice and full.

 

[Mattroma]

There was a member who a had their conure eject all of its tail feather at the vet last fall. Think they started growing back in about a month.

 

[getwozzy]

You're right- it's a defense/survival technique...she probably felt scared in the dim light/darkness so she wasn't sure what was grabbing her so she ejected her tail feathers in a last-ditch effort to get away. (Birds don't see very well in dim light/darkness)

I believe the other member was Boomer the sun conure- can't remember how long it's taken for his tail feathers to come back, but there's not really any way to speed it up

 

[pacoparrot]

Well feel better knowing that I'm not the only person this happened to. She is fine and is currently on my shoulder rubbing her beak on my shirt. I'm glad she didn't hold a grudge.

 

[aether-drifter]

Flower lost all of her tail feathers in a night fright right before I brought her home. It look about a month for them to grow back:

 

[pacoparrot]

I'm glad that it grows back! She looks like a lovebird right now! It doesn't seem to be bothering her too much and Jack doesn't seem to care. I will be watching her closely once the feathers start to grow in to make sure no one bothers them.

 

[LauraBear]

I once accidentally did that to my Louie Bird, who's since passed. I was much younger than I was now, maybe 7 or 8 and she flew away and in my process of trying to catch her in the house I fell and my hand landed on her tail and in her spook of my epic fall all her feathers came out. But she didn't seem to mind and held no grudges. And they started growing back right away. I think your bird will be fine.

 

[Allee]

Since Bella's tail feathers were ejected shaft and all they will probably come in beautifully in just a few weeks. I'll bet it bothers Mom more than it bothers Bella. My cockatiel broke all her tail feathers off due to night frights and clinging to her cage because she had no perches before we got her. She is slowly dropping the remaining short feathers but for now she has a little duck butt. I can't wait to see her with a tail.

 

[pacoparrot]

You're right it bothers me much more than it bothers Bella. It was a very clean pull. None of them broke. In fact she lost every feather on her tail. I feel bad every time I have to explain to someone what happened, haha. But I'm hoping it will grow back quickly. Here is a picture of him on his big tree stand.

and here is Jack who was very accepting of the sudden change to his cage mate.

They have been out all day on their stand and on my shoulder. It's so nice out today! I had them in the travel cage to get some sunlight this morning.

 

[Dustbunny]

Huh, I did not know about birds being able to eject their tail feathers. That is very good information to have, thank you. I hope I never need to know it though because the guilt must be horrible for you! Bella is probably going to love all the extra attention and she treats she gets as a result though.

 

[pacoparrot]

You have no idea. I've never hurt a bird before and I've been working with them since I was a little kid. She doesn't seem to be affected to much by the lack of a tail. With any luck her wing feathers will grow in with her tail and then she will be able to fly again. I clipped Jack and Bella so I could tame Jack but now that they are tame I want to train them to fly properly. I plan to spend more time with her now that this happened so we can have a close bond.