fret marks

[MadMick22]

:confused: Hi all,i am new to this and having just purchased my first FHH i have noticed feint lines at two points on one of her new tail feathers,these lines run across the width of the feather and seem to be very see through at these points,are these fret marks that i have read about and do they affect the bird in anyway,sorry if i have not explained myself properly and any advice would be very welcome-cheers
Mike

[GregMik]

Yes,
What you are seeing is prolly fret marks. Your bird was stressed when that feather was coming in. More than likely the marks are on other feathers also. Has this feather been growing in since you have gotten her? Or did she have it when you picked her up from the person you perchased her from?

Greg

[MadMick22]

the feather was already marked when i got her and she has since dropped a new one with no visible marks on it

[GregMik]

That feather will be weak at the fret marks. Keep her fed up while she is molting to avoid more. You need to keep the feathers that she is dropping right now, or get some feathers from your mentor. She will most likely break the ones with fret marks and you will have to imp a new one in. If you don't imp in a broken feather, more will tend to break because they all support one another. When one is missing the ones next to the gap tend to break.

Greg

[MadMick22]

Thanks for the advice Greg,does this affect the birds performance?

[GregMik]

Mike the only time it will effect her performance is when the feathers actually break. You can get away with a couple broken feathers but after that they will start to effect her flying. If one breaks you should fix it as soon as possible.

Greg

[MitchellBrad]

A rule of thumb is to run your thumb nail down the shaft of the feather. If the shaft is OK without any indentations I wouldn't worry about it.

Good luck

Brad

[Dean]

These marks are un-sightly but will not always break,especially with soft plumaged birds such as yours!Her performance will not suffer as long as you keep her in perfect feather!Many falconers do not realise how important a few breakages are,always imp emmediately any breaks as to protect the next feather in line!I go berserk if a barb twists!!!!!!!!!!Capable wild birds do carry fret marks,a credit to you for asking such a question!

[MadMick22]

Thanks for the advice guys it is very much appreciated-Mike

[Moses]

greg and dean nice read lads, thanks for the input, it taught me alot today, something i lacked woz reading aboot fret marks, a good read


cheers to mick for asking it

all the best mick