Molting season is upon us...

[saxguy64]

Perks of living with a lifelong plucker, when they're actually just molting, those feathers at the bottom of the cage send you into a panic. "He's been doing so well, what happened!?"

Fortunately, Avery enjoys a regular session of scritches and a little help loosening the sheath on those new head feathers he can't reach. This morning he demanded a particularly long session, and lordy, a gentle head rub started them jumping off everywhere. I grabbed a quick picture about 5 minutes in...

(Yes, I'm wearing a sweatshirt in the middle of the summer. His nails are sharp and he likes to hold on tight. It saves my arms a lot of scratches and he feels more secure with material he can really grip.)

He seemed pleased with the scritches, and made me feel a little better knowing that most of what I'm finding are just regular molt, and in fact, he has been doing pretty well. He's been a lot better about spray baths, so he's getting them more often. I think that's helpful for him. Chest feathers come and go, and he's left quite a few of them intact lately, and his neck that was completely bare all winter and into spring is fully covered. Good boy, Avery!

Fingers crossed that progress continues

 

[texsize]

Looks a lot like my Bella.

I haven’t seen too many feathers from her, just a few flight feathers.

The Twins have been loosing a lot.
They don’t even sound right when flying.
So many feathers at the bottom of the cage and no way to tell which bird lost what.

 

[LaManuka]

Avery is looking awesome, he's such a handsome boy and so very lucky to be with you. Speaking of feathers, I was just thinking the other day that I've hardly seen any on the floor from my flock for ages now. Duuuuhhhh cos it's winter here, so I'm on standby for an avalanche of them in the next few weeks!!

 

[onamom]

Ona has been molting like crazy. She’s been a little more grumpy too. I also had a moment of panic at noticing some thin spots on her but am also keeping my fingers crossed it’s just the molt!

 

[saxguy64]

With ekkies propensity for plucking, I'm always on the watch with Tucker. He's always over preened his shoulders a little, but during molting season he shows up with what I've labeled birdie male pattern baldness. It's just when he's really sparsely feathered around his neck, but I have to tease him about it. If I'm stuck with it, he needs to get a little crap about it when it happens too. How unfair, his always grow back!