Loosing feathers

Me again.

This time about feathers.

Lately Stephen has been losing feathers. Some of the downy ones and some of the larger flight feathers. I don't know where he's at in his molt cycle but he's got a few pin feathers still showing so I'd guess not at the start of one.

I hope I'm just over-worrying about it but I figured I'd ask. He's been through a lot in the past 6 weeks being driven from Denver to Boise (13 hour drive spread over 2 days), living in one house for a bit and then moving to my house.

His cage didn't come with him so he's got a new cage, diet changed and a whole new family. He's got new and old toys in his current cage perches of different sizes and he's currently eating Kaytee Exact (or something similar, not sure off the top of my head) with fresh fruits/veggies twice a day. He's out of his cage when I'm home and spends a lot of time on my shoulder or his play stand.

We're starting some light training to help keep him engaged and he plays with his ping-pong balls a LOT.

So I guess my question is, should I be concerned at this point or is this to be expected with this much upheaval in his life?

If you see pin feathers he is molting. My little guy is going threw his first molt. It is taking him months to finish. My parakeets are also starting to molt again. They seem to molt really fast. My male parakeet rubs off his head feathers when he molts it looks so bad. I freaked out when I saw he was going bald. Then in a month or so he was full of the most beautiful feathers and looking happy and round.

JBassset said:

Me again.

This time about feathers.

Lately Stephen has been losing feathers. Some of the downy ones and some of the larger flight feathers. I don't know where he's at in his molt cycle but he's got a few pin feathers still showing so I'd guess not at the start of one.

I hope I'm just over-worrying about it but I figured I'd ask. He's been through a lot in the past 6 weeks being driven from Denver to Boise (13 hour drive spread over 2 days), living in one house for a bit and then moving to my house.

His cage didn't come with him so he's got a new cage, diet changed and a whole new family. He's got new and old toys in his current cage perches of different sizes and he's currently eating Kaytee Exact (or something similar, not sure off the top of my head) with fresh fruits/veggies twice a day. He's out of his cage when I'm home and spends a lot of time on my shoulder or his play stand.

We're starting some light training to help keep him engaged and he plays with his ping-pong balls a LOT.

So I guess my question is, should I be concerned at this point or is this to be expected with this much upheaval in his life?

Click to expand...

You partially answered your own question... the little guy has been thru a lot. And birds do get upset and stress, they can have anxiety just like people. Temporary plucking of some feathers can be comparable to someone being nervous and biting their nails.

Can you post pics of him? Are there spots where you can see feathers are missing? Or is it random and feathers seem even? And did you wake up to a pile of feathers or is an ongoing over the last few days you find feathers here and there?

I would suggest changing his diet a bit. Kaytee is not the best of choices. If you can try pellets like Roudybush California, Caitec baked oven bites, TOPs... Harrisons is another great choice, but we've ever had much luck with all the birds eating them. Offer selections of dry mixes along with pellets like Goldenfeast (just remove any peanuts if you purchase a mix with nuts, love Goldenfeast, but one thing they still do is add peanuts to some of their larger mixes). Tho I doubt diet is a real factor with this, it might just be all the change.

But on the topic of diet, did you change his diet from what he was on? Its a long shot, but keep in mind that birds can have allergies too. We have a green cheek in our home that cannot have anything with peppers (black pepper or whole peppers). If he eats any mixes or pellets with pepper he almost immediately reacts and plucks his chest. He's seen two different vets just to be sure there is absolutely no medical issue, and he can be fine for the longest time. We finally knew it was absolutely the pepper when we tried Harrisons with pepper (which we were told many birds like more) and almost in front of our eyes he started plucking his feathers.

Anyway, went off babbling! If you can share some pics and just keep updating!

jenphilly said:

You partially answered your own question... the little guy has been thru a lot. And birds do get upset and stress, they can have anxiety just like people. Temporary plucking of some feathers can be comparable to someone being nervous and biting their nails.

Click to expand...

I figured it had something to do with it. I mean it's a LOT of his world that changed and that's gotta be hard.

jenphilly said:

Can you post pics of him? Are there spots where you can see feathers are missing? Or is it random and feathers seem even? And did you wake up to a pile of feathers or is an ongoing over the last few days you find feathers here and there?

Click to expand...

It's very sporadic. I don't see any missing feathers on him. I just keep finding a feather here or there in the house. No huge piles anywhere. None of the pictures I have show anything really.

jenphilly said:

I would suggest changing his diet a bit. Kaytee is not the best of choices. If you can try pellets like Roudybush California, Caitec baked oven bites, TOPs... Harrisons is another great choice, but we've ever had much luck with all the birds eating them. Offer selections of dry mixes along with pellets like Goldenfeast (just remove any peanuts if you purchase a mix with nuts, love Goldenfeast, but one thing they still do is add peanuts to some of their larger mixes). Tho I doubt diet is a real factor with this, it might just be all the change.

But on the topic of diet, did you change his diet from what he was on? Its a long shot, but keep in mind that birds can have allergies too. We have a green cheek in our home that cannot have anything with peppers (black pepper or whole peppers). If he eats any mixes or pellets with pepper he almost immediately reacts and plucks his chest. He's seen two different vets just to be sure there is absolutely no medical issue, and he can be fine for the longest time. We finally knew it was absolutely the pepper when we tried Harrisons with pepper (which we were told many birds like more) and almost in front of our eyes he started plucking his feathers.

Anyway, went off babbling! If you can share some pics and just keep updating!

Click to expand...

I did change his diet mostly because nobody could remember what the stuff he was eating was called and he had nothing really left when he got here. Turns out it may have been Roudybush but nobody can say. I went with Kaytee because that's what Petco had. There's a dedicated Parrot store in the valley, I'll go there on Saturday (it's a drive) and pick up something better.

My goal here is to figure out what's going on and head off any problems before they become huge. You know, make little mistakes now and fix them before he suffers.

This is a picture I posted a day or two ago. It shows him as he looks today. (Cuz I can't tell where the feathers are coming from.)

Thanks for all the advice and help!

JBassset said:

jenphilly said:

You partially answered your own question... the little guy has been thru a lot. And birds do get upset and stress, they can have anxiety just like people. Temporary plucking of some feathers can be comparable to someone being nervous and biting their nails.

Click to expand...

I figured it had something to do with it. I mean it's a LOT of his world that changed and that's gotta be hard.

jenphilly said:

Can you post pics of him? Are there spots where you can see feathers are missing? Or is it random and feathers seem even? And did you wake up to a pile of feathers or is an ongoing over the last few days you find feathers here and there?

Click to expand...

It's very sporadic. I don't see any missing feathers on him. I just keep finding a feather here or there in the house. No huge piles anywhere. None of the pictures I have show anything really.

jenphilly said:

I would suggest changing his diet a bit. Kaytee is not the best of choices. If you can try pellets like Roudybush California, Caitec baked oven bites, TOPs... Harrisons is another great choice, but we've ever had much luck with all the birds eating them. Offer selections of dry mixes along with pellets like Goldenfeast (just remove any peanuts if you purchase a mix with nuts, love Goldenfeast, but one thing they still do is add peanuts to some of their larger mixes). Tho I doubt diet is a real factor with this, it might just be all the change.

But on the topic of diet, did you change his diet from what he was on? Its a long shot, but keep in mind that birds can have allergies too. We have a green cheek in our home that cannot have anything with peppers (black pepper or whole peppers). If he eats any mixes or pellets with pepper he almost immediately reacts and plucks his chest. He's seen two different vets just to be sure there is absolutely no medical issue, and he can be fine for the longest time. We finally knew it was absolutely the pepper when we tried Harrisons with pepper (which we were told many birds like more) and almost in front of our eyes he started plucking his feathers.

Anyway, went off babbling! If you can share some pics and just keep updating!

Click to expand...

I did change his diet mostly because nobody could remember what the stuff he was eating was called and he had nothing really left when he got here. Turns out it may have been Roudybush but nobody can say. I went with Kaytee because that's what Petco had. There's a dedicated Parrot store in the valley, I'll go there on Saturday (it's a drive) and pick up something better.

My goal here is to figure out what's going on and head off any problems before they become huge. You know, make little mistakes now and fix them before he suffers.

This is a picture I posted a day or two ago. It shows him as he looks today. (Cuz I can't tell where the feathers are coming from.)

Thanks for all the advice and help!

Click to expand...

He's a cutie!! From the look of how smooth his feathers are, its doubtful he has a plucking issue and if you are not finding a pile of feathers. Chances are you are dealing with a molt! So lots of bath / misting will help too.

Awesome for picking up better foods for him. There are few online stores too that you can order from with reasonable shipping or free shipping after a certain $. Great resource if you cannot find some of the better pellets or mixes locally.

Good luck!! He really is a cutie, I am a major fan of the green cheeks, always joke they are the birds that converted me to a bird person

Thanks!

He's got tons of personality.

Like I said, I think he's just finished a molt but I'm not sure. I'd rather ask a bunch of questions now and get ahead of an issue than come here and say "Ok, I shoulda asked sooner, NOW what?"

The parrot store here is great! Lots of food options (including Roudybush and Harrisons in bulk). It's just on the other side of town so it's about a 30 minute drive if traffic is light and I've got a meeting today that runs past their closing time.

But I'll be on that end of town Saturday for band practice so I can swing down and visit them.

In that photos I see Pin Feathers on his head. My little guy started his molt from his head down. Seems like his Wing feathers are the last to come in.

He is really pretty.