# Lost Flight Feathers



## Midwestmary (May 6, 2011)

My 'Tiel, Sammy became frightened during a recent thunderstorm. I was not home at the time but came home to find she had lost all her flight feathers on her left side. Poor Girl! Now she cannot fly.

This was Two weeks ago and I see no evidence of new feather growth. I am concerned as she is caged with her cousin who is becoming aggressive toward her. This is new behavior.

Any suggestions? I am assuming her feathers will eventually regrow. Has this happened to any of your birds? 

thanks!


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

I'm sorry to hear that happened to Sammy. The same thing happened to Honey a while ago. She had terrible balance due to an ongoing blood feather problem. She would constantly be breaking her flight feathers, either during night-frights or during the day on accident. This meant that her wings always looked like this:



It was so bad people thought I clipped her, but she just had weak follicles. She _was_ clipped before, however, and I believe that's what started it all because the new feathers had no neighbouring support, so they were highly likely to get broken or knocked out.

Eventually I converted a stubborn Honey to a healthy diet of variety (she was on all seed), and kept her caged most of the time because she would forget that she couldn't fly and would drop like a rock, hurting herself badly. With time, all of her feathers grew back, and now she's fully flighted and can fly like a dream. It took the better part of a year to get to this point. Her feathers are much, much stronger now and they barely ever break, although during a (very rare now) night fright she is always the one to lose feathers.

It's hard, and Sammy won't like it, but I'd advise that you keep her in her cage most of the time to give the feathers a chance to regrow. If she's out of the cage and she falls, she could hurt herself very badly. Make sure she gets plenty of calcium and a good diet, and she should have her wings back really soon. If you're able to separate her from her cousin, this could benefit her too while she's healing.


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## Francesca (Apr 30, 2015)

Honey is beautiful!


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## Brandon2k14 (Nov 26, 2014)

Francesca said:


> Honey is beautiful!


I love all his birds their so lovely he really picked a nice flock or maybe they chose him.When I went to get Rocko he was with another tiel who looked exactly like Rocko and I chose Rocko even though he wasnt really active and he didnt look scared of me.I also love honeys long crest Rocko has a long one too.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Brandon2k14 said:


> I love all his birds their so lovely he really picked a nice flock or maybe they chose him.


I'm a female  and my birds most definitely chose me I think.


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## Binca (Oct 15, 2013)

When I got Rocky his left wing had been clipped very short. He couldn't fly at all, and for a long time didn't even try.

Now, over a year later, his flight feathers are almost 100% grown back, and he can fly short distances. I think now it is just about regaining the strength to fly further. And learning not to fly to dumb spots, like lace curtains that result in hi doing the splits until I rescue him!


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