Sally, my little African Grey girl, is just over two years old. She was our first bird, and like many first timers, we made mistakes. Fortunately, we also did some things right. Although Sally suffered from our lack of knowledge, she's grown into a very confident bird.

At around twelve weeks Sally flapped her wings furiously, and flew… right into the wall. Every time she took off, she crashed and my husband and I were terrified she might smash her skull and kill herself.

The next day we took her to a well-respected avian veterinarian in Dallas. We explained the situation and were advised to trim her wing feathers. The veterinarian did not ask whether she could fly properly before proceeding to clip five or six primary wing feathers closely so that they did not extend beyond the covering layer of feathers. She was then given a test-flight, and due to her muscle development, managed to coast to the floor reasonably well.

Sally's claws were also trimmed at that time (mistake number three), and she began to fall from her perch. The muscular development of her wings deteriorated, due to lack of use, so when she fell she would crash to the floor like a brick, landing flat on her chest. It was horrible. Finally the inevitable happened, and she spilt her chest open along the keel bone.

Fortunately, Sally is a tough little cookie. She never messed with her wound. She preened the feathers around it carefully and her chest healed remarkably well. Today there is no evidence of scar tissue.

Since these unenlighted days, I have realized that we should have allowed her to learn to fly properly, and this is what I wanted to do once her feathers had molted back in again. But every time a new feather grew in on the right wing, it would get bent, twisted and eventually break causing Sally great pain.

Her left wing has managed to grow the primaries in, partly because I clipped the new feathers to keep them short as they grew out, but twenty months after being trimmed, no primary feathers have grown in on the right wing. 

Obviously, her uneven wings make it almost impossible to control her descent even though she flaps as best she can.

When I see her flap her wings with the damaged one close to her body, and I see her wince as another feather breaks or twists it hurts me almost as much as her.

Something needed to be done to correct this situation, because I feared physiological and behavior problems might ultimately result if it continued. So, I spoke to my new avian veterinarian about operating to remove the broken feathers, so that they would all grow through at the same time, so supporting each other.

My little Sally is a tough little spud, but I wondered how much longer she could tolerate this pain. This is why I took such drastic action.

So, Thursday afternoon we took our little trouper to the veterinarian. We were really worried about the anesthetic on her tiny bird-body, especially as we lost a dog on the operating table previously. But our new doctor assured us she would be ok.

The operation took only ten minutes. I couldn’t bear watching her take the gas, but I did observe the operation. Six primary feathers, which had broken, were removed. Two new feathers were growing through, they were about one and two inches long. Near to the two new ones was another broken feather, which we chose to leave, we felt it would offer some support to the growing feathers adjacent.

Now we just wait and hope that the feathers grow through without breaking. My instructions are to trim back the open part of the new feathers when they emerge from the coverts, as I had done previously. Also, when I see those emerging feathers, I will move swinging toys from her cage, so that she is less likely to bang her feathers when playing rough.

I have good veterinary and behavioral advice, and I've got lots of new knowledge under my belt. I feel hopeful that Sally will be able to grow new feathers and eventually learn to fly.

This is how Sally's wing looked
 just before her surgery

Ahh... Bless her

Sally is given oxygen to wake up

The new feathers easily growing in together about a month later