Possible pin feathers

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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Yes pin feathers. Misting with a spray bottle ( that has never had anything but water in it) will gave him looking even more beautiful quickly. Offer a shallow dish for bathing and splash around in it with your hand , mist Quakers love baths!! Plus they need them! With the heat on your house my be to dry. If he let's you preen them off that's great too.
 
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Mjhandy

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Nov 11, 2018
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Thor the Quaker, Gandalf the Grey, and Bobbi the Goffin
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Yes pin feathers. Misting with a spray bottle ( that has never had anything but water in it) will gave him looking even more beautiful quickly. Offer a shallow dish for bathing and splash around in it with your hand , mist Quakers love baths!! Plus they need them! With the heat on your house my be to dry. If he let's you preen them off that's great too.

Thanks. We try to keep the humidity up with a humidifier, but I'll pick up a spray bottle too. He's starting to take to showers, but honestly, he seems more interested in the freckles my wife and I have :)
 

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
YUP-They start with a blood supply which will recede as they mature. The whiter ends will peel off and expose the feather a little at a time. Sometimes they are sensitive, other times, itchy. If you help preen them, make sure you don't break off part connected to blood and only help with the ones your bird can't reach (if bird is willing...this is optional).
 
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Mjhandy

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Nov 11, 2018
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Thor the Quaker, Gandalf the Grey, and Bobbi the Goffin
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YUP-They start with a blood supply which will recede as they mature. The whiter ends will peel off and expose the feather a little at a time. Sometimes they are sensitive, other times, itchy. If you help preen them, make sure you don't break off part connected to blood and only help with the ones your bird can't reach (if bird is willing...this is optional).

Thank You. This is why I asked, having read about blood feather and the problems they can cause. He's trying to clean all my wife's freckles, so he must be ok.
 

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
All feathers begin as blood-feathers. The problem happens when they break before the blood recedes out of the feather shaft. They usually take a few weeks to grow, so until the white goes all the way down to the skin, there will be a pinkish part on the feather which has blood in it. Any blood feather can break and cause issues, but wing and tail feathers tend to be the ones that cause the biggest issues..Not that the others should be ignored if broken... The white part (keratin) can flake off even if the feather's base still has blood in it, just so long as the sheath around the pink part remains intact.
 

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