If a tail feather is lost.....

[birdlady]

Hi,
Some of you may have read my previous thread about my harris pulling out his deck feathers.

Have spoken to someone ( with years of experience) since who said that if this happens and you keep the feather follicle open by using an inert substance - he would only use pure beeswax - the feather will then grow back. Basically it seems that you trick the follicle into thinking there is still a feather in place but there is a 4-5 hour window in which to do this. He said without it the missing feathers may never grow back. ( About a 50/50 chance!) Just roll a small piece of the wax into a conical shape and inset it into the follicle. The new feather then grows down and pushes the wax out.

Unfortunately this advice came too late to use on Titan as it was some 76 hours later, so he may only ever have 10 tail feathers... sob!
However, thought it might be a tip worth passing on if it helps someone else in the future. No-one I was with when Titan did it knew that, but it seems that it could have made a real difference. The chap I spoke to carries some around as a part of his first-aid kit.

Happily Titan is still coming on well, flying-free and following-on which I am very happy about.

[Brady]

I bought a male gos of my friend this year he had pulled one of his decks out also i am pleased to say it is now 3/4 grown an not a mark on it .
I also have a female HH that was fully moulted in august but has since moulted 8 new tail feathers an grew them all again so hopefully yours will grow back also.

[Berkut]

My gos pulled both decks out on fences in the same season.They never grew back in unfortunately.

[Salty]

hi birdlady ,ive found that if it loses a feather while still in the blood,sometimes they dont grow back[ bleeding at the end of the feather when pulled out ,tip very soft with blood on]if this wasnt the case and they were dry i assure you they have a good chance of growing back,i have saw this happen on numerous occasions,and to me also ,even if the feather has been moulted not long before,youl definately know 5 weeks after he lost them,the new ones will be on the way down by then,i hope he does and if they werent bleeding i can tell you they most probably will,let me know how it goes , im not talking rubbish ,im talking my experience and only time will prove it, so good luck n keep us informed ,salty:supz:

[OutFlying]

It depends on how severe the pulling of the feathers was, i.e hits a wire at speed and pulls them out. Even with plugging it's still luck if they grow back.

Jim.

[birdlady]

Hi,
Have got my fingers crossed and hoping for new feathers. Will let you know.
No blood in feathers and Titan pulled them out himself, so hoping for the best.

[Salty]

Hi,
Have got my fingers crossed and hoping for new feathers. Will let you know.
No blood in feathers and Titan pulled them out himself, so hoping for the best.how long ago birdlady ,cos il be counting the days haha,maybe a gos being a bit more skitzo temperement ect didnt grow back as berkuts didnt maybe the reason,but i cant comment as ive never owned one,but i still go with what i said n il bet me best marble on it lol ,salty:rolleyes:
how long ago?