GW Molting Question

[kendrafitz]

First off, I apologize for being absent lately. As often happens, life has just gotten away from me lately. I am hoping to have more free time soon.

Rosie has been molting constantly since I met her (16 months ago). Her head always has pin feathers. Her wings, tail and body also molt constantly. Not profusely, mind you, but constantly. She is working on her second set of tail feathers and I think we may be starting on a new set of wing feathers. She lost about 2 - 3 wing feathers this week I think. Right now she is very cranky b/c her entire neck, back and head are covered with SHARP pins.

She showers just about daily. We preen her daily, usually several times a day. She is usually not bothered by it unless it is a bunch coming in at the same time, like now.

So I just wanted to see if anyone else that has a GW has an opinion? I don't know if she is just going to be a slow, all the time molting girl or if this is not normal? Since Rosie is my first bird, I am a bit in the dark about this. I just don't know if this is something that I should be concerned about.

Thanks!!

 

[Blancaej]

I feel like Savannah molts all year, too. I think heavier though during certain times of year like spring and fall. Right now she has a load of pinnies and seems to be molting a lot. So I think what you are going through is pretty normal. I didn't know about the almonds either. Good to know! Thanks Macawfancy! Luckily for me, Savannah loves almonds, too!​

 

[kendrafitz]

Thanks! Makes me feel a bit better. Everything I read seems to say the same thing: one molt per year. I'm glad to hear Savannah molts all year as well. Rosie is absolutely MISERABLE the last few days with sharp large feathers coming in. Poor baby!

 

[Blancaej]

I know what you mean and they seem to do a heavy molt 2 times a year. I like the idea of aloe & water. Hopefully it will end soon. At least the heavy molt anyway.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Ripley has some pinnies, but not overly many. He's sporting a brand new tail since I got him, and all his flights grew out, but he's only molted semi heavily for me once so far.

 

[WeimerHeimer]

My GW went through a pretty heavy molt this spring/summer, but has seems to be back to "normal" no for the most part. I did see a wing feather fall out last night though.

A couple of things you might think about ... some may agree or disagree with me on this though:

Q: How old is your GW?
Comment: All birds molt, but I honestly believe the younger birds go through heavier molts than the older birds do. Many things contribute to this beyond just aging (hormonal, diet, stress, etc...)

Comment: You mentioned that you bathe the bird daily. Bathing your birds does help the molting process and it helps encourgae preening after a bath, but I personally would consider backing off to not bathing every day. Too much bathe is not good as it starts to strip away the skins nature oils. This can cause a whole different problem for the bird. I think twice a week is more than ample bathing times.

Q: What is the birds diet?
Comment: I'm a big proponent of a varied diet (a mix of 50% pellet, 25% seed/nut, and 25% fresh foods). Fresh food being offered as pastas, veggies, fruits, chicken, scrambled eggs, etc...)

This is just my opinions, but there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Good luck!

 

[Alwese]

I have 3 macaws and they all molt some and at different times really, but my Scarlet; Clifford seems to have the worst time of it. He redefines the word 'Cranky' when it is tailfeather molting time. I surmise this must hurt them a good deal. Usually he looses one tailfeather at a time, but this year things were a little different. The day before memorial Day he lost two in the same day and then another one on July 5th. It seems normally he will loose one every 7 months. He was 'short stuff' for a while, but they now have all grown back in to full length. He has a bumper crop of pins around his neck area in late summer and enjoys me fuzzing them up a little as long as I don't pull. Maybe it's the red birds that have a slightly harder time with molting as Doogie my Catalina and Kayko my B&G don't seem to lose anywhere near as many feathers and don't seem to have as many neck pins.

 

[Birdman666]

Yep! Same here. No sooner do I get those head feathers open, then more of them pop up...

 

[Chesphoto]

I have only had Skittles for 4 months, but it seems like she has been constantly molting since I have had her. Tail feathers, around her face and a ton on her neck, small ones on her wings and medium ones on her back.

Two weeks ago she must have brushed her forehead on something and lost a big strip on the top of head. They have all grown in.

All the new feathers seem to have deeper tones than the older feathers. Many of the older feathers had an orange tint and the newer feathers have a stronger red tint. Not sure if they change in time...

 

[kendrafitz]

Thanks for responding everyone!

Weimerheimer: Rosie is 18 months old. She eats the Ultimate Blend food from either Bird Paradise or My Safe Bird Store, which is a mix of pellets, nuts, dried fruits and veggies and I think some pumpkin seeds. I give her an apple (her favorite) and some other fresh fruits/veggies that she throws on the floor daily. She also likes pasta. I try with chop and eggs, oatmeal & chicken, but she generally throws that on the floor too.

When she showers, she only really soaks herself once a week. By this I mean tail wagging, wing flapping and hanging upside down. Which results in her dripping. The other times she just sits on her stand and sings or sleeps. She doesn't gets soaked, just likes the feeling of the water running over her and being with me. Does that make a difference in the skin worries? I can try to cut it down, but she gets so upset when I don't bring her in with me, that I just give in. Don't like causing undo stress.

 

[kendrafitz]

Alwese, that is an interesting thought about red birds. She certainly never stops getting feathers in. Right now she is getting in about 3 big tail feathers and bunch of smaller ones. That is just her tail. She is an itchy mess.

 

[kendrafitz]

It does seem as soon as I think she is FINALLY done and will get a break, a whole new crop of feathers come in. This month it has been at least 50 all at the same time. All over her body. I am not sure if it is her big girl feathers coming in as well as molting, if there is such a thing? Her stomach definitely has more feathers now...