curing clipped wings

[spite91]

Hullo I have been raising chickens for awhile and was looking to enter them into shows however about a year ago I clipped my mille fleurs' and my sebrights' wings to prevent them from flying away and protect them from predators. So I was wondering if there is anyway I could get their wings back to normal for the state fair in july or if they are accepted at shows? Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[GotGame]

They would not be accepted in a show, and you will have to wait until they molt out new flight feathers....personally, I cant stand clipping a birds wings, but just me...

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! I've read that if you go ahead and pull what is left of the clipped feather, they will grow back sooner than waiting for molt.
Good luck!

Lisa

 

[GotGame]

Quote:
You DONT want to pull a flight feather, pulling fail feathers is ok, but you DO NOT want to pull a flight feather...

 

[al6517]

Quote:
You DONT want to pull a flight feather, pulling fail feathers is ok, but you DO NOT want to pull a flight feather...

Agreed that is why they just clip them, either way they won't grow back in anywhere close to showtime in July, molting feathers take in upwards of 6-8 wks to regrow and flight feathers take forever. I too am not a fan of clipping or removing flight feathers Just sayin.

 

[spite91]

Alrighty thank you very much

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! I've never tried it, but why DON'T you want to pull a flight feather (I know they are more difficult to remove when dressing out birds, but I've never tried to pull one from a live bird)?

Lisa
Quote:
You DONT want to pull a flight feather, pulling fail feathers is ok, but you DO NOT want to pull a flight feather...

 

[GotGame]

Quote:
You DONT want to pull a flight feather, pulling fail feathers is ok, but you DO NOT want to pull a flight feather...


I have tried to pull one from a live bird, and not only did I pull as hard as i could, the bird drew blood on me, and I have been told you can actually scar the sockets that the flight feathers sit in so a new feather may not come back in....I just wouldnt as it seems to be extremely painful for the bird, and if you want to show a bird, dont clip their wings to begin with and you wont have an issue with it.

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:

I have tried to pull one from a live bird, and not only did I pull as hard as i could, the bird drew blood on me, and I have been told you can actually scar the sockets that the flight feathers sit in so a new feather may not come back in....I just wouldnt as it seems to be extremely painful for the bird, and if you want to show a bird, dont clip their wings to begin with and you wont have an issue with it.

I couldn't tell you how many times I've pulled broken wing feathers to encourage new feathers to grow so a bird would be ready to show. I have never had a feather not grow back. I have never heard of a feather not growing back after a broken wing feather was pulled. It's one thing to say "I wouldn't do it" [for what ever reason], it's quite another to say "you DO NOT want to pull a flight feather" as if doing so was known to cause a problem.
That said, it's probably too late for the bird in question to have new wing feathers all the way grown in by July. If you pulled the cut feathers now you'll have new feathers but probably only about 1/2 grown back.
The best way to pull wing feathers is with pliers, they grip the feather better.

 

[GotGame]

Quote:
I have tried to pull one from a live bird, and not only did I pull as hard as i could, the bird drew blood on me, and I have been told you can actually scar the sockets that the flight feathers sit in so a new feather may not come back in....I just wouldnt as it seems to be extremely painful for the bird, and if you want to show a bird, dont clip their wings to begin with and you wont have an issue with it.

I couldn't tell you how many times I've pulled broken wing feathers to encourage new feathers to grow so a bird would be ready to show. I have never had a feather not grow back. I have never heard of a feather not growing back after a broken wing feather was pulled. It's one thing to say "I wouldn't do it" [for what ever reason], it's quite another to say "you DO NOT want to pull a flight feather" as if doing so was known to cause a problem.
That said, it's probably too late for the bird in question to have new wing feathers all the way grown in by July. If you pulled the cut feathers now you'll have new feathers but probably only about 1/2 grown back.
The best way to pull wing feathers is with pliers, they grip the feather better.

To each their own....I have seen a couple birds a friend owned that had flight feathers pulled that DID NOT come back in....