Peacock’s train growing bent

[niri]

Hi everyone! I need your help in identifying a problem with my peacock’s train feathers. Rambo is 4 years old and in the first year his tail feathers grew out fully, he had a healthy train. However, I’ve noticed last year that his train was droopy and grew bent. I was hoping that the problem would correct itself but it’s the same thing this year. I’ve noticed that the tip of the feathers is also a bit withered-looking when compared with a healthy specimen. I’ve asked a vet but he has no idea what’s causing the problem. I’ve got other birds and all are healthy. Help please!

 

[sourland]

@casportpony any ideas?

 

[KsKingBee]

Usually, this is a sign that the bird is not cleaning the keratin shaft off of the feather as it grows out. We have two problem birds like this and have to catch and scrape the keratin off or at least loosen it so he can remove it. Some birds just have a hard time removing the extra hard sheaf from around the feather. Oddly enough that extra keratin is quite heavy.

 

[niri]

Usually, this is a sign that the bird is not cleaning the keratin shaft off of the feather as it grows out. We have two problem birds like this and have to catch and scrape the keratin off or at least loosen it so he can remove it. Some birds just have a hard time removing the extra hard sheaf from around the feather. Oddly enough that extra keratin is quite heavy.View attachment 2601619View attachment 2601622

Thank you so much!

 

[KsKingBee]

We worked on our boy this afternoon for about an hour and got a lot of the keratin off of him. I held him on his back on my lap while Candy used a curry comb to break the keratin then we used a stiff bristle brush working mostly on the underside of the feathers. We at least loosened it up so he can get more off. We did a little damage but here are some pics of what the feathers look like with the keratin still on them. He looks so much better now, I'll get a pic tomorrow after he has shaken out more of the dander and preened a bit. He has been breeding but this should help the cause.

 

[niri]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain and also take photos of the process. I will get started on Rambo’s train ASAP.