How Long Does it Take For Feathers to Grow Back?

Hi all,

My rescue grass parakeet Mofu has been making great strides lately. This past week she has decided that she finally without a doubt wants my attention all day and whistles for me to come to her every time I leave the room. She eagerly chases me around for treats, both in her cage and when out on the floor. If I sit down with her and watch videos on my laptop instead of giving her treats she will climb up and down my legs and arms and stretch up to stare at my face as best as she can manage until I notice her. She's very cute and I'm glad her personality has really begun to shine from the extremely timid bird she originally was when I first got her.

We still have no likes towards baths, being petted, or flying, but maybe in due time.

For those unaware I got Mofu when she had head injuries from a previous aviary, which once healed left bald patches on her head. The wounds have since healed, but now she is continuing to lose feathers.

The vets said she was fine besides the head injuries, and I'd like to think that she's simply moulting, but she's losing about 2-4 feathers a day now and there are no pin feathers in sight.

I'm positive they're not being plucked out from boredom, but from what I can recall with my old African grey, he never moulted enough to be in patches. Even though Mofu is growing in spirit, she's losing many feathers. I was frightened a few days ago when a whole tail feather fell out. That one surprised me, I watched it drop off her when she was jumping onto a perch.

Currently her bald patches are on the ridge of her head (originally from head wounds, but the patches have expanded), on both sides of her wings, along the inside of her alula, and on the small of her back.

Because it's pretty symmetrical, I'm sure it is moulting. But I've never experienced a moult so in abundance as this. How long would it averagely take for pin feathers to start growing in? I want to be able to track it so to know if another vet visit is due.

She has pellets for growing fledglings/mothers/moulting birds available although she doesn't really eat it, as well as a cuttlefish she enjoys to nibble and oyster shell grit that she demolishes daily. Is there something else that could help promote feather growth I could give her? She's a picky eater but I'm willing to try.

Here's some pictures from today, apologies or the poor quality:

Hasn't she come a long way! Mofu is so cute!
If she doesn't really eat the pellets what is she eating?

Molt can take an extra 25- 50% calories. And more protein. Nutrition can have a huge impact on feathers and health.

A good duet has fresh vegetables and leafy lettuce greens, like romaine, Spinach, dandelion greens grown as food, bok choy, spring greens. These dark leafy greens are pscked with vitamins and nutrients. All tge yellow orange and red vegetables have much needed vitamin A, bell pepper, red chili peppers, squashes, cooked pumpkin, cooked sweet potatoes ( most parrots won't eat those raw) carrots try shaved or straws, Brussels sprouts, celery, radishes the tops to, peas, green beans, cooked legume, sprouts, boiled or scrambled egg, yogurt with no artificial sweetners. Right berries, like blackberry, cranberry, cherry, plums and strawberries , pomegranate.

And trying to get them outside, in a super secure cage including tge bottom tray, a half hour a couple times a week. Light shade is best , they absorb vitamin D through a gland in the eye, also their preen oil converts to usable vitamin d in the sun , and when they preen they ingest it . Parrots eating seed only
Diet font get vitamin D or vitamin A.

Laurasea said:

Hasn't she come a long way! Mofu is so cute!
If she doesn't really eat the pellets what is she eating?

Molt can take an extra 25- 50% calories. And more protein. Nutrition can have a huge impact on feathers and health.

A good duet has fresh vegetables and leafy lettuce greens, like romaine, Spinach, dandelion greens grown as food, bok choy, spring greens. These dark leafy greens are pscked with vitamins and nutrients. All tge yellow orange and red vegetables have much needed vitamin A, bell pepper, red chili peppers, squashes, cooked pumpkin, cooked sweet potatoes ( most parrots won't eat those raw) carrots try shaved or straws, Brussels sprouts, celery, radishes the tops to, peas, green beans, cooked legume, sprouts, boiled or scrambled egg, yogurt with no artificial sweetners. Right berries, like blackberry, cranberry, cherry, plums and strawberries , pomegranate.

And trying to get them outside, in a super secure cage including tge bottom tray, a half hour a couple times a week. Light shade is best , they absorb vitamin D through a gland in the eye, also their preen oil converts to usable vitamin d in the sun , and when they preen they ingest it . Parrots eating seed only
Diet font get vitamin D or vitamin A.

Click to expand...

Hello thank you for your response.
I’m very proud of her progress, she’s really quite the noisy girl nowadays.

Regarding her feed, sadly she is a very difficult eater. Even though I only use sunflowers as treats, I think it still likely makes up most of her diet still. Currently I prepare every morning 3 brands of pellet food for her to try; Tropican Tropimix, Hagen Tropican, and Top’s Parrot Food. The Tropimix is the smallest of the pellets, Hagen’s has coloured pellets, and Top’s more resembles goat pellets - easy to crumble. On top of this I add a small sprinkle of her original cockatiel seed mix that is slightly dampened in wheat germ oil. I put the pellets in the blender before serving so the pieces are smaller and so that they stick better to the oiled up seeds, in hopes that when she digs the seeds out that she wants that she accidentally eats bits of the pellet stuck to it. She is very difficult to convince haha. She usually abandons trying and just whistles loud until I let her out, and then won’t stop pestering me for sunflower seeds.

She is also offered fresh greens every day but to no avail. They are shredded in the blender also and littered with some seeds on top. Again the same prospect as before is all we can manage getting her to eat - the damp flakes of veg stick to the seeds that she picks off the top and that’s about all her intake to veg at the moment too. I’ve tried hand offering her pieces too but the moment she touches it she realises it’s Not A Treat to her and immediately spits it out. Oh the woes of convincing a bird to eat!

Also, unfortunately, outdoors is not an option for now. I live in a flat with no garden access, and I think she’d die from a heart attack if I tried to wrestle her into a harness for an outdoor walk. Also it’s freezing here at the moment, the joys of UK weather. She does have access to a UV light however, though not direct - her cage is beside my tortoise table so there is that.

Try offering the leafy lettuces whole, and hang them up, or stick through the bars.

Also offer them and thumb size chunks of veg on plate or sturdy shallow large dish on the bottom of the cage, and don't mix anything with them .

When you feed the seeds by hand alternate and offer little pieces of veg by hand. This works so well for me. At first they will just beak tip touch the new veggies. But later will try them from the dish. I think it helps them recognize them as food.

Also our petstores offer molt food, and seed stick treats that some will say have added vitamins yiu could offer those during this molt.

Look at her trust of you , so adorable

Laurasea said:

Try offering the leafy lettuces whole, and hang them up, or stick through the bars.

Also offer them and thumb size chunks of veg on plate or sturdy shallow large dish on the bottom of the cage, and don't mix anything with them .

When you feed the seeds by hand alternate and offer little pieces of veg by hand. This works so well for me. At first they will just beak tip touch the new veggies. But later will try them from the dish. I think it helps them recognize them as food.

Also our petstores offer molt food, and seed stick treats that some will say have added vitamins yiu could offer those during this molt.

Look at her trust of you , so adorable

Click to expand...

Thank youa gain for your advice. I originally had hung some greens up in the first week but she was so scared of it she wouldn't approach that side of the cage it was on. Since her confidence has grown since then I should give it another try. I often try to hand her a piece of veg, fruit, and pellets by hand but she knows they're not sunflower or millet by sight alone and simply waddles away to the other end of the perch in rejection. I have had a few tries now of cutting the veg and fruit offerings into different pieces, not mixed, but she has yet to have any interest in them. The reason I went to blending them is because she has slight more chance of "accidentally" ingesting a tiny piece stuck next to the seeds on top that she does eat. Still, we'll continue regardless.

You are doing great. It can take a while to get them to try new stuff. Keep trying, lots if different presentations.

Sometimes I will try stuff that us very desirable to most birds even if not is nutritious. Just to get them used to try new things. Fresh raw human corn on the cob , slices some off and leaves some on is liked by everybody. A slice if apple, scrambled egg, then later you can scramble with veg.

I don't know if a grass parakeet would eat puree veggies over rice or pasta, but bigger parrots do lol,
And you could make burd muffins , with ground pellets, seeds added , abd some fine chop carrots, cooked sweet potatoes added to batter and maybe chips of peppers