I feel silly asking this...like I should already know the answer, but I dont. As most of you know Wrangler came to me as a plucker. He's proven he can leave his feathers alone and let them grow back, but if he gets an upset--out they come. Fortunately its usually just body feathers and down--not primaries/wings/tail, etc like before. Im encouraged because this means it's not yet a habit and can hopefully be controlled over time. I had to go to Georgia to visit my mother last week and had the choice of leaving him home with my husband (who often cant remember if he fed the dog) where he'd be pretty much on his own for the week--or taking him with me, which is expensive---and I know my mother wont want him in the house. I opted for taking him with me with the hope that he'd keep more feathers in--they're just growing back from our January vacation!
For the most part this worked--he did pull a few down feathers out but not a lot so i consider it a win. I noticed several of them had a seed like bulb on the end---is this the follicle or is it an ingrown/infected feather? Not all of them had the bulb, but it concerned me a bit. Also he has two distinct down coat colors--a dark grey which is his overall coloring and then he has a few random tufts of white (it's the white ones he pulls out). I know with our dog that when we see a lighter tuft of fur, it's fur that is ready to shed---is this the same with birds?
For the most part this worked--he did pull a few down feathers out but not a lot so i consider it a win. I noticed several of them had a seed like bulb on the end---is this the follicle or is it an ingrown/infected feather? Not all of them had the bulb, but it concerned me a bit. Also he has two distinct down coat colors--a dark grey which is his overall coloring and then he has a few random tufts of white (it's the white ones he pulls out). I know with our dog that when we see a lighter tuft of fur, it's fur that is ready to shed---is this the same with birds?