Feather growth

[mickw]

One of the menagerie (Pebbles, the Scaley Breasted Lorikeet) had his tail feathers plucked out by a bully Rainbow in December..........they havent grown back ......anyone got any clues?.....will they grow back?.......I have no idea of Lorikeet moulting patterns....................


I know, I know, Pebbles isnt a finch, but he's good mates with the WE Masks & I & has been helping out with the new aviary build, so we told him we'd ask around here.......

[gomer]

Are they completly pulled out or broken near the skin.If they are not fully pulled out you might need to finish the job and pull the broken ones out.I would have thought you would have seen some growth by now if they were fully out.

[jusdeb]

Has he had a moult since the feathers came out ??? I agree that you may need to pluck them out but go easy and be prepared in case they are blood feathers. Id be pulling one out at a time and over a period of time .
Ive had to do this with wing feathers on quarrions and a short sharp tug is the best way .

[finchbreeder]

Confirming if they are fully out they should re-grow with his moult, which he should have done/be doing. If not as above.
LML

[mickw]

Thanks for your replies......I'm pretty rusty at knowing when to intervene..........I will check him out tonight to see if they are completely out, I think you might be onto something there Gomer......I have just been patiently expecting them to regrow but nothing much has happened......his wing feathers are growing slowly.......I assume they were cut by the people who hand tamed him............he's been moulting progressively over the last few months......he's a bit scruffy on the chest & back now so might be moulting still now??......when would we be expecting a Lorikeet to moult anyway?

[gomer]

As deb said pull only a few a week or so.If that's the problem.As it takes alot of energy to grow alot of feathers.You could maybe look into moulting aid ? If there is quite a few feathers ton regrow. I don't know alot about that product.

[jusdeb]

Hard to tell when a hand reared is going to moult ( Im assuming he is inside ) my hand reared quarrions religiously moult twice a year , when it warms up and when it cools down .
This may change now they are sleeping in the garage at night . Its hard to know when to intervene , and if to intervene so keep watching and maybe pull one out every now and then ( they dont have that many tail feathers really ) .
If he is still a tame bird remember lots of scratches and cuddles after pulling any feathers so he doesnt associate pain with being handled .

[mickw]

Thanks for all your advice........checked him out & found they'd been broken off........had a crack at pulling one out today..... couldnt get a good grip with an old pair of tweezers we had and very distressing for him and his doting owner,my partner, so we gave up............

Do we really have to pull them or will they come out naturally whenever he moults?.....

[gomer]

They will come out eventually, could be many months though.

[jusdeb]

yeah leave him be ....the stress is gonna be worse than the broken feathers.