Plucking or Molting

[Habbeshaw]

Perry my 15 month old male Cag started molting a lot and getting new blood and pin feathers growing in about three weeks ago, when I showered him yesterday I noticed when he was soaked his chest along his keel bone was getting thin,could this be the molt or pluck? I dont see any reason why he would start to pluck as he is very content and does many trick and I am even now home all day with him for last three months laid off my job. He said his first clear works three days ago! so I am so jazzed. Anyone experience this or advice, Brent :mad::confused:

[Dave007]

I answered the PM you sent concerning your problem. Look in your PM area to see it.

[Dave007]

I answered the PM you sent concerning your problem. Look in your PM area to see it.

 

 

I'll repeat it here in case you can't find it

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First off, it's too bad that your bird was badly clipped. That usually makes different feathers grow in at different times so it takes longer for the bird to get an even amount of feathers all over the body. You're not the first bird owner to have this problem nor will you be the last.

 

 

 

 

Now for the feathers==When a bird loses the the breast feathers ( usually all of them ) fall out over a short period ( about 3 to 4 wks or a little more). It's a messy time for the owner ( lots of cleaning up). That's basic molting that can happen 1 or 2 or 3 times a year. What isn't molting is when a bird loses it's flight and tail feathers. It can happen at any time during the year and It happens when the blood supply dries up in the feather and it's replaced by a new feather that has a fresh blood supply. It can happen at any time of the year consistantly.

 

With molting feathers, when the body is wet, feather areas look thinner and sometimes look baldish. When those areas dry up, those baldish areas can't be seen anymore but they'res birds that over preen themselves so those baldish areas can still be seen but eventually look ok. This usually happens with dry patches of dry skin. It's always a good idea to lightly mist the bird with water ( cool water) so these areas don't feel as itchy. The bird usually doesn't pull at them at much. It lessens.

 

New flight and tail feathers that have been damaged by a shitty clip will take longer to grow in properly and there's frequently some blood seen at the base of those feathers. This I what I was referring to above. There's nothing you can do. The visible blood will stop and the feather dies, eventually falls off and eventually replaced.

 

What a person does have to be concerned about is when a normal flight feather is snapped in the general midle of the normal flifht feather. That happens when a bird is in an undersized cage and the bird starts to flap naturally and one of those feathers gets stuck between the bars. The feather breaks in half and most of the time the bird needs a vet to remove the whole feather from the body. I'm familiar with the proces but I've been dealing with different parots for a long period of time. I never advise a person to try to pull the feather out.

 

Some birds act diferently when flight feathers are growing in differently. Irritation is occuring and just like us, we try to get rid of the annoying irritation. Many times, all of this is accuring from a shitty clip. That's why on this board we try to discourage clipping but it's always up to the person.

 

Personally, I don't think your bird has reached any critical time but you'll need to watch carefully any damaged areas and try to keep those areas moist.