molting question

[Kevin]

Hi, I am new to this forum, but have done an excessive amount of reading on it for some time now. I have a question that I have not been able to find an answer to. I have a 13 month old cag who is pulling out his down feathers. They are coming out in abundance. When a cag molts do they pull the feathers out or are they suppose to fall out naturally. He has lost some larger feathers, but they come out when we are playing and are not pulled out. Also, do they replace the downy feathers or are they just baby feathers that are not replaced? Thank you so much for reading this and for your expertise. I have learned so much from all of you and enjoy reading all the excellent articles and advice. I have bought aloe vera juice and have sprayed him down with that to help him with dry skin. I live in western N.Y. and the winters here are harsh and even though the house doesn't seem dry, it's not as moist as it is in the summer months.

[Char]

Greys constantly lose those down feathers. They will appear to be pulling them out as they loosen when they are preening. Whisper is losing a lot right now due to molting and the dryness in the house. Sometimes it looks like an explosion around her cage there are so many of those little down feathers. Don't worry unless you start to see bald patches.

[JillyBeanz]

In full agreement - I can vacuum around the house so it is spick and span and oh, Harvey decides to have a little preening session! There are little downy feathers all over the place! This doesn't just happen in the moult though - it's constant!

 

Aloe juice is great to help with those little itches - as you've already purchased - and would thank you loads if he could

[Luvparrots]

Having a humidifier also help with the dry skin of your grey, Kevin. I have one in my bird's room and I believe it helps a lot. There are threads here in the forum talking about use of humidifiers for our greys.

[Kevin]

Thank you all for all your advice. I fully believe that he is just going through a molt now. I am still curious about the downy feathers that lay underneath. Are they replaced or are they the original baby feathers and not replaced?

[Summerc25]

They are replaced. My baby is 5 yrs old and he has new ones coming in all the time and like Char said it will look like an explosion of little down feathers around his cage.