# Tail Feathers



## shoreset (Apr 19, 2008)

I posted alittle while ago about birds lack of flying ability and how he panics etc as a result of that he trashed his tail feathers, which I didnt panic about as I'd been told thats normal with young birds, but today I've just been giving him a good check over, something I cant do too often and he doesnt like been prodded and poked  and I've he only has 3 tail feathers now, one of which looks about ready to snap off 

He's not in any pain, he's still flying around the same as ever and he doesnt seem unbalanced or anything, but is it something to worry about and what can i do in the mean time to help him not lose those 3 and how long will it take for them to grow back?


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## Ozcat (Sep 1, 2011)

Feathers are made of protein so perhaps add some boiled egg to your bird's diet as this is the gold standard as far as proteins go. Perhaps you could get a nutritional supplement from your vet that enhances feather growth as well. It may take several weeks to months for the tail to grow back but this varies depending on the size of the bird, the length of the feathers, metabolic rate, etc.


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## suewhite (Oct 31, 2009)

I have 2 aviaries one with budgies and another with canaries,a few of my budgies have moulted and lost all there tail feathers same happened last year but they did grow back,I also have a couple of budgies with french moult where there tail feathers grow but fall out immediately and they cannot fly


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## shoreset (Apr 19, 2008)

Ozcat said:


> Feathers are made of protein so perhaps add some boiled egg to your bird's diet as this is the gold standard as far as proteins go. Perhaps you could get a nutritional supplement from your vet that enhances feather growth as well. It may take several weeks to months for the tail to grow back but this varies depending on the size of the bird, the length of the feathers, metabolic rate, etc.


I'm still trying to get him eating anything that isn't his seeds/pellets, I'll put the fruits and veggies on old and focus on getting him to eat eggs now and I'll phone the vets and see what they say, I really dont want to take him in as the last two times he got so stressed and panicked non stop and didnt settle for a few days so I only want to go through that again if I really need to



suewhite said:


> I have 2 aviaries one with budgies and another with canaries,a few of my budgies have moulted and lost all there tail feathers same happened last year but they did grow back,I also have a couple of budgies with french moult where there tail feathers grow but fall out immediately and they cannot fly


fingers crossed he's just moulting and they'll grow back

thanks for the replies


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

Are they broken off or falling out? If they are broken they wont be replaced untill the broken ones moult out. Once one has broken the ones next to it tend to break because they no longer have the support from the feather next to it. To be any help to feather growth suppliments have to be fed while there is a blood supply to growing feathers. Once they have grown they are dead and nothing can help them. Wet feathers don't break as easily as dry feathers so yo could try spraying him before he came out


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## shoreset (Apr 19, 2008)

hawksport said:


> Are they broken off or falling out? If they are broken they wont be replaced untill the broken ones moult out. Once one has broken the ones next to it tend to break because they no longer have the support from the feather next to it. To be any help to feather growth suppliments have to be fed while there is a blood supply to growing feathers. Once they have grown they are dead and nothing can help them. Wet feathers don't break as easily as dry feathers so yo could try spraying him before he came out


Some look to have broken while others seem to have been moulted out, I'll make sure I spray him before he comes out and hope for the best


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