# Deformed wing? Or just clipped?



## erosinelysium (Dec 30, 2012)

Hi everyone  its my first day here, and I'm already having a problem. We settled our white lutino in her new cage today and we noticed that one of her wings looks smaller than the other. Anyone have an idea of what this could be? I heard that some bird breeders cut feathers from one wing to prevent escape. Sorry for the bad quality photo, she's still wary of us walking behind her. 

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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

It looks like maybe her right wing has already molted in new feathers, and the left wing is in the process of doing so. It doesn't look like anything to worry about.

Is this a new bird that you've brought home to the rest of your flock? If so, it does not look like you've quarantined her so I would like for you to read this information so that you will be aware of the risks you are taking and how to properly quarantine a new bird from your current flock: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=10824


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## erosinelysium (Dec 30, 2012)

Thanks for the quick reply. We had her in a separate cage for 3 days until her new one arrived today. 
Thanks again! 

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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

But you have her in with another bird so you are risking any disease she may have spreading to the other bird. Proper quarantine is a separate cage in a separate room with the door closed. A separate building is even better so the new bird and current birds do not share the same air space. 

Also, budgies and cockatiels do not do well housed together. Cockatiels are very very laid back birds (pushovers really) and budgies are invasive of their space and can very easily and commonly bully cockatiels.


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## Shayla Fortune (Nov 29, 2012)

I agree with the budgie and 'tiel thing. Don't keep them together unless they want to be together, and quarantine for AT LEAST 30 days. Sometimes budgies and cockatiels mix, but sometimes not.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Yes, it does look like the feathers are clipped on one side and not the other. This can be dangerous if you're planning to let her have out of cage play time; the lopsided arrangement won't stop her from flying but it will wreck her ability to steer, and she'll do a lot of crashing. It's much safer when both wings are approximately equal.


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## JennyLynn (Feb 13, 2012)

What a beauty, a pure white cockatiel.


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## erosinelysium (Dec 30, 2012)

Thank you for your help everyone. I will have to look into this and see what the breeders were thinking when they did this. 
Happy New Year all  

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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

The theory behind the one-wing clip is that the bird will stop trying to fly after a couple of attempts with lopsided wings. Apparently this actually works with the larger parrots, but it does NOT work on small flighty birds like cockatiels and budgies. They will never stop trying to fly.


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