Cherry Headed conure

[Temilis]

I have an almost 5 month old Cherry Headed conure named Kiwi. She recently has recently lost a tail feather and grown these little grey feathers. I am wondering if maybe this is early stages of molting or should I look into taking her to a vet? Thank you in advance.

 

[chris-md]

Hello!

Those are the down feathers that are below the regular feathers. They become exposed as the feathers thin out. I’m willing to bet that, while 5 months may be on the young side, that kiwi is starting to molt. Are you able to post a clear photo of the whole tail feather you found (particularly the base). It would help eliminate the possibility of this being plucking vs molting.

Do you have a

 

[Temilis]

Thank you for the reply. I also was cleaning the area around her cage today and found a pile of feathers on the floor. Kiwi does not have and bald spots so I am not sure where they all came from. here's photo of the tail feather I found.

 

[Temilis]

Its not uploading the photo sorry what would I be looking for if its a plucking issue?

 

[chris-md]

You’re looking for an intact base of the feather. Think of it in terms of old fashioned writing quills.

If kiwi is molting, you could write with the dropped feather. The hard white Pointy base is intact.

If kiwi is plucking, the base is gone or very damaged. You wouldn’t be able to write with it. Do a google search for “parrot molting vs. Plucking” and you’ll find comparison pictures of molted vs plucked/barbered feathers.

 

[Temilis]

The feather tip is very quill like.

 

[chris-md]

Congrats, your baby is molting for the first time. When you first see it and don’t know what’s happening, the suddenness and volume of it all can be shocking. When my Ekkie molts in September, it can fill a plastic grocery store bag within a week.

Read up on diet a little bit. A tiny bump in protein content of the food you provide during this time will help the molting process along.

 

[18WheelsOfSteel]

Don't be terribly surprised at increased agitation and other changes in "normal" behavior during the molting process, pin feathers are uncomfortable for birds and sometimes they get distant/bitey until this uncomfortable period passes.

 

[texsize]

Also keep in mind that young birds (less than a year old) can be real hard on there tail feathers.