Feather texture

Alembic772 · Sep 5, 2020

Hello fellow ekkie family members. Since I have gotten Paprika, I have noticed a big difference in the feel of her feathers and Basil’s feathers. Her feathers are very soft to the touch, almost what I would call airy. Basil, however, are much tighter feeling. Not coarse, just really tight to his body. They feel soft by themselves, but all together he is not fluffy like she is.

I’ve also noticed my breeders male is very “shaggy” looking, like his feathers are similar to someone who has wavy hair.

Any thoughts ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

chris-md · Sep 5, 2020

Well yeah, there’d be a difference. I have never touched a female, so can’t speak personally about gender differences (I doubt there are any), but Age certainly plays a big part here. Paprika’s just a baby, brand new feathers. Compared to your boy who, it sounds like, might be due for a molt.

And if he’s not yet due for a molt, depending on what his feathers look like - I’m having a hard time imagining by your description - you can chaulk it up to some combination of diet (feathers are one of the the first indicators that something’s wrong in the diet) and/or genetics.

Alembic772 · Sep 5, 2020

Basil is going through his molt now. Taking forever, and I am trying with him to adjust diet. He’s eating a lot of fresh food, and almonds and walnuts as snacks/treats. I guess I will see what happens when he finishes the molt.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alembic772 · Sep 9, 2020

Two things I have noticed about Paprika. Her tail feathers on the outside of the tail are not formed very well. Maybe from being a baby and then still coming out of the sheathing ?

Also she is losing a lot of these wispy long white “down” feathers as she preens. I am guessing this is something from her being a baby. Basil doesn’t have these but I think I remember him having them when he was a baby too.

She is a voracious eater! Tries anything I give her. She probably will be going to one syringe feeding a day soon.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Feather texture

Alembic772

New member

chris-md

Well-known member

Alembic772

New member

Alembic772

New member

Raging Hormones!!

Ekkie Issues

Most Reactions

Similar threads

Latest posts