Downy feathers everywhere!

[lovemybird!]

Hello everyone! My Zuri is 6+ months old now. I have noticed quite a bit more downy feathers at the bottom of her cage and she loses some during wing flapping. I have done a search of this matter, and come up with very little. Does anyone know what could be causing such a difference in her losing them lately? She showers every couple days... Any ideas would be appreciated! BTW- I got an I love you yesterday- My heart melted.... Oh, and I feed her Harrisons, if food could be a factor..

[Tari]

Sometimes a sick bird well shed. Or yes she could be allergic to the food. Maybe try seeing if she well eat fresh fruit and veggies?

When was the last trip to the vet? Are they just falling out or is is possible she is pulling them out? Either way a trip to the vet to rule out illness would be my first step.

[lovemybird!]

She just had a check up, she loves fresh fruit and veggies, she also gets beak appetite once a day. Maybe the temperature change in our area?

[Tari]

Did the avain vet do blood work? How long ago was it?

No temperture change wont cause that.

[lovemybird!]

Yes an avian vet did a full blood workup less than a month ago.I googled some other unfo. that suggests that temp changes can cause some downy shedding. I am not saying this absolutely is it, but certainly might be, we dropped about 17 degrees in temp within the course of two weeks.My vet said she has had this occur in other patients due to temp changes... (changes in humidity etc:) The vet said that for her age it is totally normal also to just have some downy feather loss as new feathers grow i,n. She said having just had the workup, and no other symptoms of any kind that I should just watch for any changes in any other areas, and keep watch on her weight, eating habits etc: I called today to speak with her, as being a relatively new mom to Zuri- I worry... Its like having an infant all over again! Thank you for your input!

[Dave007]

Your vet was right on the mark.

[Guest briansmum]

brian is now 7 months and I too have noticed an increase in downy feathers about. i read this could be due to his age and he could be approaching his first molt. i had also heard that temprature change could cause it and we are just coming into autum so it is a little cooler. so that is what i put it down to.

 

tari i had never heard about the link between downy feathers and illness, his weight is fine, his poop is fine and he' his usual crazy bird self. but i'm worried now.

[lovemyGreys]

Same here my two boys are 8 months old & there is an increase in the amount of downy feathers they are loosing as they approach their first molt

[danmcq]

My Dayo is 4 1/2 Months old and Down/Baby fluff comes out through out each day. Just a down feather here and there through out the day.

 

It seems to be a nautal process.

 

Also, it is starting to cool down now in California to around 55 in the morning. So I'll watch for an increase in over the next few days.

[Tari]

If the temp change was 17 degree drop within minutes I would agree. But since it was over two weeks I would not think that is it.

It is also the wrong time of the year for a molt.

So you might want to find other possilbe answer for the lose of feathers.

[judygram]

I too see a few downy feathers from time to time, I don't worry about it.

 

Congrats on the spoken phrase, "I love you", I know that made you very happy, we all love hearing that.

[dblhelix]

Sounds to me like some normal down feather molting from what you are describing. Definitely good to keep watch on behavior and weight, but I would be surprised if something else is going on here.

 

I do not agree with Tari regarding this not being the right time for a molt. Birds will molt at different times depending on many factors and downy feathers usually go through a molt at a different time than flights etc. Age and environment are just a few factors that can influence the timing. Kip is currently undergoing her first major molt of primary and secondary flight feathers. She is a little over 14 months old and right on track/in the right age to have a significant molt. I also recall her shedding a higher number of downy feathers around 8 months for a few weeks...<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/09/17 02:14

[birdgranna]

I have many birds and they are all molting at this time of year. Here in the frozen north, out temp has changed drastically. A week ago hot and humid, today 9 celcius. Downy feathers eveywhere here! They always shed a lot of feathers in fall and spring. I wouldn't worry too much about it as your bird is healthy and molting is part of the life of your bird.

[danmcq]

All the various types of birds and Parrots I have owned over the years did not seem to follow a specific seasonal pattern.

 

Example: I had 23 Finches and they all moulted at different times. None seemed to be linked to a seasonal change.

 

From what I can determine, through searches for information regarding moulting. The factors controlling moulting are not well understood, but

are known to be complicated.

 

Combinations of age, season, day length, hormone levels and breeding activity are involved in regulation of the moulting process. The moulting cycle for most birds is one year.

 

Some birds have a twice yearly moult, while some large parrots have a two year moult cycle.

[Tari]

That is very odd. The 60 plus birds I tend to only molt in the early summer. /shrug

Sure they lose feathers all year round but the molt is only in the late sping early summer.<br><br>Post edited by: Tari, at: 2007/09/17 14:59

[dblhelix]

There could be something like pheromones circulating in flocks of birds that affect each other. If Tari sees most of her adult birds going through molt cycles at similar times there may well be some type of hormonal influence on the group...As Dan indicated, the factors involved with controlling the molt are complex and not currently well unerstood.

[Tari]

It may also have to do with them being outside. Maybe? Just a thought.

[danmcq]

As Mark suggested and in reading what few scientific articles I could find. Just about everything can affect when the Moult takes place.

 

Diet, Breeding (with Egg sitting), Temperature, Breed of Bird/Parrot, Daylight Length,Hormone Levels and only God knows what else. :-)

 

I may very well be Tari, that your breeders Parrots sharing the same weather/temp, food/vitamins, daylight hours etc. are more likely to Moult in similar patterns/times....???

 

Not even the Scientists/Avian Vets can seem to bring it down to a time frame of Breed=moults every x +or- y weeks.

 

So, who are we to say :silly:

 

That's what is so great about this forum though. We learn so much from each others experiences with their Parrots. It gives us a very good broad baseline to work from. When evaluating if ours are healthy and normal, to a certain degree. :-)

[dblhelix]

**side note** The generally accepted spelling of the word defined as:

"1. (of birds, insects, reptiles, etc.) to cast or shed the feathers, skin, or the like, that will be replaced by a new growth." is "molt".

 

Apparently there is British us of the word spelled "moult" with the same meaning! :woohoo: :silly:

[danmcq]

Interesting Mark, kind of like color and colour.

 

Thanks for posting that! :-)

 

I'm surprised one of our European/British members didn't tell us this.

 

Unless they just smile and say "Yeah they still don't spell or pronounce our Words correctly" :lol: :silly:

 

Back on Topic - So when doing a search on this topic, try using BOTH correct spellings. :-)

[zandische]

Just to add in my exp - Athena is almost 7 months and has been shedding 3-10 downy feathers a day since I brought her home. There are some days I only see a couple of downy feathers floating around, but lately it has increased quite a bit. She also lost 4 contour feathers from her belly/legs area (the ones that are tinged with the red coloring that goes away in adulthood.) She's healthy, no bald spots, maintaining weight, eating heartily (for only 384 grams, this bird eats like she's twice that size...) and performing her acrobatics like mad - and since she always has pinfeathers, I suspect she's just molting.

 

As for molting times, everything I've read suggests its a) in relation to the bird's age and b) generally within a specific timeframe - like every 8-12 months. Given that broad range, I'd expect Athena to be going through her first molt between late Oct and Feb, but of course the range might be larger or smaller depending on the bird. So a bird born in July/August might molt in early spring or summer. Anyway, that just seems to be the consensus in what I've picked up on my own research. Just like anything with birds though, there doesn't seem to be one "set way" for anything! They're all going to do their own thing regardless!

[lovemybird!]

Thanks for everything! My vet also said that greys usually molt in August/ September. And then sort of a mini molt in Jan/ Feb. I am going to stop worrying now, and just keep a close eye on her. I just worry about my baby!

[judygram]

Its ok to worry some but don't stress out over it, we all worry about our greys health.

[lovemybird!]

Thank you! I had twin girls 10 years ago, and I tended to stress about them also. You know, every little cough etc: As long as Zuri is acting normal in all other aspects I will let it go. However, the hypochondriac in me did order a avian scale as my vet suggested to keep track of her weight. She said usually that will be the first indication that something is wrong, even prior to symptoms. So when it arrives I will try to only weigh her every couple weeks- HA! Thank you Judygram for your caring post!(and to everyone that gave me such informative feedback) It is wonderful to have a community of caring bird owners to turn to!

[dblhelix]

Scales are a very good thing to have and use for birds. When taking weights try to do it at the same basic time each day. Morning, right after the big poop is a good time slot. The weight can fluctuate based on what they have been eating/drinking etc. The general rule of thumb is up to a 10% variation from day to day can be normal, more than that is a warning sign. I would try and weigh every few days for a few weeks to get an average, then you can weigh weekly etc to keep tabs.

 

As a general statement, try not to stress too much about things! The birds can sense your stress and feed off it! Relax, things will be fine. For the most part they are actually pretty hardy animals, though this may be contrary to what you have been led to believe...