Posted March 24, 200817 yr Hi there, Just wondering, as I have never had experience with clipped wings. At Christmas time I was given a young budgie which had a clipped wing, I have read that it should fix itself when it next moults. It has been three months now and I was wondering how long it usually is between between moults? Also, is it true to speed up the process it is possible to pull the feathers out? I'd rather not do this, but I'm not sure how long it will be until it moults. Cheers, Lucy
March 24, 200817 yr Mate, firstly Congrat on the Xmas Pressie : ) .... Secondly Let nature take it course The flight feathers should grow back this all take time kinda like a hair cut .... Can you post a picture of your bird, So we can see how it is all travelling???
March 24, 200817 yr Author Here are photos of clippy...they were taken 3 months ago, just after christmas day. She/he is still living in my boyfriend's parents aviary, so I won't be able to get some new pics for a fortnight or so, until I go there next. The side on picture shows where the flight feathers have been clipped. Hopefully it won't be too long until he/she moults again.
March 24, 200817 yr Looking at the picture HE looks like only one of HIS wings is clipped .... I am not 100% when it will grow back i think it may take upto 6 -12 months but Like I said I am not 100% The only clipped budgie I have is my MIl who didn't bond with because the othe one flew away Hence wing clipped ... I can time it though (Laughing out loud) so far 2 months still no growth
March 24, 200817 yr Author Looking at the picture HE looks like only one of HIS wings is clipped .... I am not 100% when it will grow back i think it may take upto 6 -12 months but Like I said I am not 100% The only clipped budgie I have is my MIl who didn't bond with because the othe one flew away Hence wing clipped ... I can time it though (Laughing out loud) so far 2 months still no growth Is it a 'he' - I wasn't sure, becoz he is a fallow and I think I heard somewhere that sometimes their cere's stay a fairly neutral colour and its hard to tell.
March 24, 200817 yr Fallow Ohhhhh I thought cinamon .. Dam these Gene things LMAO Looking at the Cere thingy it is an even colour NOW I COULD BE WRONG here But others will let you and me know .... Sits with fingers cross it's a boy
March 24, 200817 yr I’m not sure of the exact time it takes for the large wing & tail feathers to moult, but they are usually the last ones, a young bird goes through a body moult by something like 4 months. Usually the wing feathers are only moulted once a year, but in young birds it may be quicker. As you said you could remove some of the cut feathers, then they will be replaced in about two weeks, but of course this will cause the bird some pain. If you were going to do it I would suggest one at a time, so it’s not too stressful for him. You are right about Fallows being harder to sex, but from you picture he looks like a male to me.
March 24, 200817 yr Author Thankyou Norm. I don't want to stress the budgie at all, but I would like it more if it was fully flighted. Maybe I should try to pull out one flight feather first and see how much it stresses the bird. Otherwise, I'll just be patient!
March 24, 200817 yr Oh my gosh don't pull any feathers out that is is like pulling hair out of your scalp that would hurt and it won't make them come in any faster along with that you will loose your birds trust. If he was clipped in December you will start to see a few new flight feathers come in 1 at a time they don't come in all at once and he will start to get lift. Withing 6-12 month he will have a full set.
March 24, 200817 yr Author I'd already come to that conclusion - I'll just be patient. I certainly don't want to cause him any pain. He is happy and healthy enough, so I will just leave him be. I just find it sad that he can't fly around the aviary like he was born to. It's also sad that whoever clipped him only clipped one wing, as from many postings I have read, if you do have to clip it is much kinder to clip both sides evenly. Anyway, hopefully he will moult soon enough and be flying with the other budgies.
March 24, 200817 yr Definitely pulling feathers will cause some pain that can’t be avoided & like someone said it may cause him to trust you less, but I’m like you I feel it’s sad for a bird to have it’s wing cut, as they still try to fly & that can hurt too. If it was my bird I would go for the short discomfort, if you hold the wing it’s self with one hand & pull the feather with the other it will be minium pain & some feathers come out quite easy & then as I said before the feather will be replaced straight away. But the choice is yours.
March 24, 200817 yr l personally would never pull their feather's out , too much pain. l would choose wing clip, it is like when you clip your nails, it is painless. **edit, l just read your thread again and realized what you where saying. in your situation, l would just wait until he molts** Edited March 24, 200817 yr by birdluv added info
March 24, 200817 yr Decisions, decisions!!! Yes we can only advise...you have to make the hard decisions...(Laughing out loud)... life is hard.
March 24, 200817 yr OUCH!! I had to pull out a broken bleeding blood feather once --- It's horrible to do - it was more like pulling teeth then pulling hair. Is the other wing clipped??? Personally i would clip the other wing and s/he might be able to fly a bit better Then they will BOTH grow back with the next moult
March 25, 200817 yr I was going to suggest clipping the other side also, to reduce the risk of injury. He is very off-balance with only one side trimmed. I would not pull them out, there is a risk of damaging the feather follicle when you forcibly remove the feather, instead of allowing it to drop naturally.
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