small white feather

[BlueCounty]

Hi all,

 

When Gizmo is preening, about 3/4 very small feathers are coming out each day. Is this normal??<br><br>Post edited by: BlueCounty, at: 2008/11/24 00:49

[judygram]

I would say that is normal, they will lose more when they are molting but it is common for them to lose some. You don't see any bare spots do you?

[BlueCounty]

No, no bare spots, when he is preening, you just see the odd one falling to the floor. They are only very small, just wanted to make sure. He's 6 months old next week. How time flys!

[dblhelix]

Sounds very normal. The first downy molt is often around 6 mo's. Flights/tail feathers between 9-18 mo's. They all vary a bit regarding timing. The smallery down feathers will come out here and there all the time, but there is a marked increase during the downy molts and you will see light downy feathers all over the place! Totally normal so long as you do not see bare spots on the skin. Also you can generally tell if a feather came out normally if the shaft is intact.