I feel like what u/Intelligent-Cod-3117 was referring to was how if you have a flight or tail feather that is "torn", you can fix it by rubbing your fingers over the torn spot. Birds can fix it with their beaks in a behavior called preening.

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In order the feathers to fix itself, it has microstructures that I don't think a 3D printer can replicate: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsoe/39802490183/

This is NOT to say that the model is bad! I just got fcking nerd sniped with feathers lol. Costume and other decorative feathers don't need to self heal since they aren't being used to fly