a few questions about our new TAG

[Pookamama]

1. How many feathers do they lose a day?
2. how do I tell if she's molting? She has a lot of stiff feather shafts on her head and she's scratching her head a ton and wanting lots of scritches. Anything I can do to help her?
3. She ate a baby carrot and pooped orange. I am thinking this is normal? Her poop is normal now.
4. She likes her cere rubbed, is that normal?
she is still doing great, she's letting Kyle ( the hubs) give her scritches now

 

[4theBirds]

How old is Pepper? Greys usually have a significant molt every 9-12 mos. They will lose some down feathers throughout the year (the nice fluffy dusty ones that seem to get everywhere).
2) Initially, you may feel some hard bumps or little splinter like projections. These are the initial shafts. On the head they are tender when they first pop through the skin. Later as they lengthen, they have a thin sheath, which will break up into a powder leaving the feather. Pepper will like to have you gently take this feather and softly roll it back and forth, breaking up the sheath. If you're too rough, she'll let you know it by either pulling away and squawking, or giving you a good swipe with her beak. The body feathers, she will gently preen when they are ready. These new blood feathers have live nerves and blood vessels and can hurt.
3. Very normal...if you feed colored foods the same thing happens.
4. It depends. If there is discharge coming from the nostrils, then you may have a respiratory problem. Otherwise, just like your nose itches, her cere can itch. Bindy our 20 wk old CAG likes her cere rubbed, but you get a good nip from Babu, our 14 wk old TAG, if you try to touch his cere.
Sounds like you're on the right track.

 

[wolf0994]

Thats some great information! Thanks