Tail moulting

[tab_xo]

I cant believe it, Fargo is moulting his tail again...

It has only been at full length for a month and now he lost his super long one...

Does that mean they moult their tail every 6 months as well? I just thought it would be body moulting, then tail just once a year!

Last year Fargo was moulting september, through till about november, that was just body feathers and alot of pin feathers... Then november/december is when he lost his wing, tail feathers, all of them, he had this tiny tail which was about 20cm long?
It looked so silly


But even now, his tail didnt seem as thick and long as when i first got him, but i think thats because his body was alot smaller when he was 7 months, and now he is more musclier and bulkier so his tail doesnt seem as long!
Plus when i got him his tail was a mess! Just incredibly ratty, so now its smoothe it doesnt seem as full

Just measured his newest long lost tail feather to his old one, and they are the same length!

But anyways, so the past month he has been losing his feathers again, his whole body is covered in pin feathers, above his crop there are about 8 pin feathers, looks so uncomfortable!
The past week or 2 he has lost a few of the feathers on top of the wings, and today, out pops his longest tali feather!


So my question is, do they seriously moult their tails every 6 months? Thats insane!! He only has his long tail for a short time before they fall out again! :/

Heres a picture of Fargo his first day home, with his super duper ratty but long tail... then during his moult last year, he actually lost that feather which is the longest in the picture, so it was soooooo short


Or will this tail moult not be so extreme and make it that short? Because his tail was all barbed and messy last year, did it just get rid of them all because it was his first moult ever?

So this tail moult shouldnt be as bad?

 

[Mando]

Hi tab,

Mando has the Same molting issue, as he is the Same age as Fargo.
My breeder told me that the first molting is just loosing the baby feathers, then they suppose to molt once a year normally at spring time, but sometimes they can loos some feathers in between this can happen because of the heaters whe use in ouer house hold.
( sorry dont know the name in english for heater in house, hope you get the picture do)

 

[tab_xo]

Oh really, they are the same age? Thats cute haha

So this tail feather might just be a random one, and he might not actually lose all his tail feathers until spring time when he has his big yearly moult?

This moult he is going through now hasnt lost as many feathers as his last one did, it seems he has just got alot of pin feathers, which might just be getting him more feathers to keep him warm in winter! Because its just come into winter now!

But you are on the other side of the world, so it must be summer for you now?

I am just so surprised he has lost his big tail feather! Ahhh it had only just become long again!

 

[MikeyTN]

That's about the time when Willie start loosing his Tail feathers is during fall/winter season. Both Lola and Willie are molting now but not their tail feathers, just their body feathers so pin feathers all over. Yes we're in summer time now....

 

[tab_xo]

So Willie loses his tail each year? Just the once?

Now would be like 7 months since Fargo moulted his full tail! Which was his big baby moult!

So should i expect a full tail and wing moult now, or will it just happen at the end of the year again?

Theres always so much to learn! haha

 

[MikeyTN]

The wing and tail feathers gets split up during molt as they don't do them all at once, just a few at a time. As they need them for flight so it happens in a drawn out period of time. Willie just grew back his long tail feather recently. I've been seeing Lola replacing few flight feathers here and there. I don't intend on having her clipped since she was being clipped at the vet last time with Heather. I'm going to let her grow them back. My biggest regret is clipping Willie in the first place years ago, never will I ever do that again....

 

[tab_xo]

Really?? So why did Fargo lose every one of his tail feathers last year? That was extreme! haha
He lost his flight feathers over a fair time though! So he was always good with flying!

So he shouldnt lose them all in one go again


Why do you regret clipping Willie?

 

[MikeyTN]

When birds are young they're negligent in keeping up with their tail feathers and tend to break them and such...

When I clipped Willie he chewed them down to stubs to his skin. They would never molt out but I finally convinced a vet to help me do it to yank'em...It was about 7 years or so after he was clipped when I got the vet to help me yank'em. We yanked out quite a few but there's a few more left but that vet quit so now I need to convince another vet to help me. I can't do it alone, need someone to hold him down for me. I think there's like 5 left. He started out as a bird that never chews on his feathers until I clipped him and he shredded his wings....

 

[tab_xo]

Haha yes, Fargo broke 2 of his tail feathers before they moulted! But since then his feathers are perfect!

Oh wow poor Willie!!
Who would of thought that would of happened though
Hopefully his wings will grow back nicely when you get the rest out!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Of ALL days you bring up Fargo's tail the day after Ripley had his longest one broken in half by Niko. :54: I snipped the broken half off because it was definitely just dangling and flopping from side to side. They weren't fighting, just egging each other on.

Ripley currently resembles a pin cushion, NO kidding, that's how many new feathers he's getting everywhere. My poor boy must be SO itchy.

Ok, back to the tail issues....I don't think Fargo will lose each and every tail feather again this time, at least not all of them at once.

 

[tab_xo]

Really!!!!!! hahahaha Well done Niko, i am sure Ripley must be impressed :09:

Moulting is the worst, why cant they just stick with their feathers for a while haha

Ok!! I am glad, almost had a heart attack, he was sitting above me, i was on the couch, next thing this feather lands next to me haha i just though 'ohh not again' :31:

 

[JerseyWendy]

Really!!!!!! hahahaha Well done Niko, i am sure Ripley must be impressed :09:

I'm willing to bet it was payback/revenge time because Ripley cracked quite a few of Niko's tail feathers in the past. :54:

 

[tab_xo]

Omg! hahaha :') Get your boys under control Wendy!!! :09:

You are going to have snapped tail feathers everywhere

 

[JerseyWendy]

Omg! hahaha :') Get your boys under control Wendy!!! :09:

You are going to have snapped tail feathers everywhere

Wanna come and help me control them? Of course you'll have to bring Fargo. He will show my boys how they're supposed to be behaving.

 

[tab_xo]

HAHA definitely!!! Or they might make Fargo join there little gang, and then there would be no stopping them! :54:

Oh Wendy, i just went outside, put my shoe on, and there was a tiny mouse in it, i almost had a heart attack, then i was shaking my shoe, and the little thing just would not come out!!!!!!! It was holding onto my shoe for its life! hahaha
Meanwhile there are 2 cats that sit on the verandah all day and night, but oh no, its not their job to make sure mice go into tabs shoe :22:

 

[JerseyWendy]

.....

Oh Wendy, i just went outside, put my shoe on, and there was a tiny mouse in it, i almost had a heart attack, then i was shaking my shoe, and the little thing just would not come out!!!!!!! It was holding onto my shoe for its life! hahaha
Meanwhile there are 2 cats that sit on the verandah all day and night, but oh no, its not their job to make sure mice go into tabs shoe :22:

I'm crying here, that's how hard I'm laughing!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! I can just picture your face as you put your foot in the shoe and felt something move. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

What did the cats do once you got that little sucker out? Let me guess: They didn't even realize there was something on the veranda that didn't belong. Should have just given your shoe to Bilbo, he would have taken care of that little rodent. :54:

 

[tab_xo]

Hahahaha i was more worried that i squished the poor little thing with my huge foot

Oh the cats didnt care, they saw it, didnt bother chasing it, one of them is a vegetarian, so she must of turned the other cat a vegetarian as well hahahaha

LOL!! Bilbo would of eaten it up in a second, killer dog

 

[BACON]

Another crazy day in the life of Tab...... We await the next instalment

 

[BACON]

Just thinking about it Tab, if you said it's now coming into your winter he maybe moulting out his breeding plumage ready for next year.
I dunno if it works the same with younger birds but usually after the breeding season bird feathers can look a little ratty, so there moult out over the winter months ready for the spring??? But like I say, don't know if this works in males?/young birds?/ domestic pets??? Just a thought.

 

[tab_xo]

Hahaha yeah, it was a really calm relaxing day for once, not a single thing happened, but that mouse was like ahhh lets give tab her excitement for the day >:] lol
:54:
Oh really? That sounds like a possibility though! Although you would think in winter they would try and keep all their feathers to keep warm
Maybe he just wants his feathers to look really good for me! hahaha

I wish he would just stick with one time of the year, i think hes finished losing his body feathers now, but hes just a pin cushion with them all growing in!

Last time he moulted his tail, there was already new tail feathers coming through, but now hes lost this one it doesnt appear to be a new feather coming through yet! Hopefully it grows in soon, i love watching it get longer, even though it takes foreverrrr !