Tail feathers

[bridget503]

I recently added a new keet to my flock, I saw her on craigslist and was so cute I couldn't resist, lol. Anyway, her owners have her wings clipped, which is fine, but they also clipped her tail. It's like about a half inch long. Poor thing can't fly with the others, but seem ok with that. Is it normal to clip a tail? Will it grow back? She looks like a lovebird, lol.

 

[wenz2712]

It is definately not normal for someone to clip a Tail! I would imagine it will grow back in time, but I have no idea how long this will take !

 

[greycloud]

Are you sure it is clipped and she is just not molting her tail feathers? A bird's tail is very important for balance even if they don't fly.

 

[jaimmorr]

That's awful! No, I don't think you're ever supposed to clip tail feathers. They are important for balance.

 

[cdog]

Could you take a pic, are you sure she just doesn't have broken tail feathers? Are they all scraggly? Clipping the tail is an awful thing to do, they need it for balance and without balance they cant do everything at normal speed or they cant do it at all.

 

[MikeyTN]

The only time I've ever clipped a bird's tail feather is when they break it and it's splitting. If really bad, I yank it. Birds break their tail feathers often so its nothing unusual.

 

[bridget503]

No, it's definitely clipped. Actually, it looks like it was just chopped off. I will try to post a picture, but am not technologically savvy, so it may take a while, sorry. I tried to measure the length, but she kept moving, but it's around half an inch, give or take. It was definitely not professionally done, though. Poor thing.

 

[IcyWolf]

It is definitely not normal to clip a birds tail! That's just cruel. As Mikey said, if the tail gets damaged, that is one thing but to purposefully clip of a birds tail....:headwall:

They will grow back in when he molts so at least it's not a permanent issue, until then you may want to keep his perches lower than normal since birds without tails are much more likely to fall off of their perches. And if his wings are hacked as badly as his tail he will probably drop like a rock if he would fall.

 

[bridget503]

His wings are okay, as she hasn't dropped like rock, lol. I was able to post a picture here, somewhere, if anyone wants to check it out.

 

[bridget503]

Good news! A little tail feather is starting to grow back!

 

[bridget503]

To update my tailless bird story--the tail grew back in and he(turned out to be a boy) is flying with the others! His wings are still growing in, so he can't fly as well as the others, but he sure does try. I have high hopes for him!

 

[dishgal1]

It is definately not normal for someone to clip a Tail! I would imagine it will grow back in time, but I have no idea how long this will take !

No it is definitely not normal. Shame on them.