Do parakeet wings grow back? How long it takes?
June 1, 2024
The article will give the time it takes for the feathers to grow back and why, in some cases, trimming the wings is the only way for you to have a parakeet as a pet, and why you should avoid this alternative if possible.
The wings will grow back, and the parakeet will be able to fly again. After three months, the bird's wings will appear, the feathers don't grow simultaneously. Around five months, most of the feathers will be almost fully developed. By five months and a half, you can expect the parakeet to be ready to fly.
We will consider why sometimes the only option left for you is to trim the wings and why, if possible, you should not consider this option.
According to The Center For Avian & Exotic Medicine, there are some risks around the house that you need to be aware of when choosing between trim the wings or not.
When considering the physical and mental health of the parakeet, the best thing for the bird is not to trim the wings. We talk more about that later in the post.
Someone that chooses not to trim a bird's wings needs to pay attention to the possible risks around the house while your parakeet flies all around. Also, you have to train your parakeet properly. If you can put those ideas into practice, don't trim your parakeet wings. If you don't have the conditions to do that, your only option is to clip your parakeet wings.
Another argument for trimming birds' wings is that a parakeet with the total capacity to fly can cause undesirables situations around the house. The bird can damage plants, decorations, reach doors and windows frames, and start chewing. In the kitchen, they can fly in the direction of the fire or the pans. Who choose to trim a bird do it looking hor him to keep flying, but for a short period. The idea is that the bird keeps flying, but this time-limited, so the parakeet doesn't fly away throw the window and ends up in a place where the bird is unprepared to live, which could result in dangerous situations for him.
Small birds like the parakeet can still have a short flight, different from a parrot where the aerodynamic concept of wing loading is different. It means how much weight a wing can carry per unit area. A budgie is about 2.7 kg/m^2, and a macaw is about 8.3 kg/m^2, only over three times as much weight per square meter as a budgie.
There is another argument for clipping the wings, which is when there is a pair of parakeets. You have to be careful during the breeding season. The male can get too excited and start chasing his partner while the partner is not ready yet for the breed season. All that enthusiasm at the wrong time can result in some problems like physical aggression, damaged feathers, fatigue, and not feeding properly. An efficient and easy way to solve the problem is clipping the male wings. But if you can control the situation and deal with it properly, this solution won't be necessary.
Let's hear what specialists in the area have said, so we understand what they expect for the future results in the birds' physical and mental health after trimming the wings. We will describe what veterinary clinics like Brisbane Bird Vet, The Center For Avian & Exotic Medicine, and Ark Veterinary Clinics have noticed over the years. Those clinics don't recommend trimming the bird wings. When birds lost their ability to fly, they became less active, which results in problems like obesity, arthritis, pododermatitis, and some other difficulties, that contribute to a shorter lifespan.
While flying, birds have the opportunity to exercise, being more active. The flight muscles are responsible for 25-35% of their total body mass. Because these muscles are not in use, they will atrophy. A study compared how the wing muscles end up after forty days of not being used. In the image below, we can see a significant decrease in the electrical activity of bird muscles before and after forty days.
The clinics also find that captivity birds have a tendency to behave disorders that is not normal to find in nature like, self-mutilation, incessant screaming, and over-aggression. The book Current Therapy in Avian Medicine and Surgery says that birds with flying restrictions can end up in stress and behaviors problems, as mention by the clinics. Flying is the most natural behavior of a bird, and if you take it from him, mental problems can occur.
The Veterinary Clinics of North America says that birds with the inability to perform their natural behavior as a way to dissipate levels of stimulation are more likely to acquire obsessive-compulsive disorders or stereotypic behaviors. It leads to self-mutilation and feather picking.
Training your parakeet is the best thing you can do for your lovely bird. It takes many repetitions with specifics exercises, and more importantly, it takes consistent training. For example training, your parakeet to recall can be a differential in determined situations.
Jamieleigh from Bird Tricks says that it is not about if your bird will or not escape, but what you should be careful about is when the parakeet will escape. She is a bird trainer with a lot of experience with birds as pets. A few months ago, her budgie escape through the door that was slightly open, she got scared at the moment, but with the help of food and the recall training, she was able to bring her budgie back.
You can train your parakeet yourself with the right professional direction. If you are willing to put some effort and offer a good quality of mental and physical life to your bird, don't clip the wings and find a good training course for your parakeet. I searched and found one that can help you to achieve the objective. Jamieleigh and her husband Dave developed a few training courses, and here you can learn more about it and choose the one that better fits your needs.
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