Question

[Chain123]

My pigeon that i rescued a month ago (doing well, can read first post in emergency care) well his tail feathers are all split and in terrible condition

will he grow new ones?

[PapaPigeon]

If he is staying healthy he should grow new feathers with his next molt. The molting season is coming to end I think(around December?). I have had birds with bad feathers and they have molted out of them, good luck with your new pet!

[rosey_love]

Yea that happened to Rosey. All of her tail feathers were missing and the ones that were there were all torn up, well it took a whole summer to grow them back but now she is one of my beutiful birds.

[phantom]

Usually the cause of damaged feathers is from some type of stress, such as an injury, starvation, or birth defect. It should resolve when he molts.

[re lee]

If the feathers are not broke. You can bathe the bird or spray the tail. Work each feather to pull the webing back in place. The tail will look better then. OR you can pull the tail on a feral there should be 12 tail feathers. Pull 4 per day. Then it will grow in new feathers. It takes about 6 weeks to grow them all in. Pulling the tail wont damage the bird.

[SmithFamilyLoft]

Originally Posted by Chain123

My pigeon that i rescued a month ago (doing well, can read first post in emergency care) well his tail feathers are all split and in terrible condition

will he grow new ones?

I might suggest that you take a pair of scissors and cut the tail feathers at least half to 3/4 off first. Then wait a couple of weeks and then gently put out the feathers. The reason for this is to limit the discomfort of pulling the feathers.

[TerriB]

Originally Posted by SmithFamilyLoft

I might suggest that you take a pair of scissors and cut the tail feathers at least half to 3/4 off first. Then wait a couple of weeks and then gently put out the feathers. The reason for this is to limit the discomfort of pulling the feathers.

Do you mean that cutting part of the feather off would make it hurt less when pulled out? I thought that a mature (no blood visible in the shaft) feather was the same as a human hair - composed of dead cells. Only the part of the feather below skin level still attached to a living tissue. Does cutting the feather accelerate moulting by shocking the cells at the base of the shaft?

[re lee]

I trim tails on my fantails for breeding. Then after breeding and just prior to the moult I pull tails. To me the trimmed feathers pull the same. . thats why I pull a few each day. Less pain on the bird. But they moult in even. A damaged tail if not repareble Best thing to do is Is to pull the tail or wait. And the moult is not close at this time. 6 weeks for a new tail is not long. But as mentioned earlyer. Is there ample room for the bird not to rub its tail alot aginst wall or wire. If not pulling will not help.

[Pigeonpal2002]

My bird Eggbert has a really bad tail as well. The feathers are all tattered and the barbs don't stick together nicely. This has been the case since I've had him and that is nearly 3 years now. I thought perhaps with subsequent moults this would improve, but it never did. I also thought it was due to poor nutrition but he gets good grain here with vitamins and proper care. I think perhaps some pigeons might have genetic problems that cause this. Maybe it's something that happens to them from inside the egg like improper incubation temperature.

[SmithFamilyLoft]

Originally Posted by TerriB

Do you mean that cutting part of the feather off would make it hurt less when pulled out? I thought that a mature (no blood visible in the shaft) feather was the same as a human hair - composed of dead cells. Only the part of the feather below skin level still attached to a living tissue. Does cutting the feather accelerate moulting by shocking the cells at the base of the shaft?

Terry,
Yes that is exactly my understanding behind cutting the feather. I could be wrong on this, but that is what I was told and it made sense. Now of course the discussion was on cutting the ninth and tenth flights on the wing.