Heavy molt..

[Greenwing]

Well today I was giving Lucy her bath.. And noticed she had quite a few sheathed blood feathers...I stopped counting at 154.... I have never seen any of my other parrots have this many blood feathers at one time...I also noticed that her old feathers are very brittle..is this normal??Also does the plucking stimulate the growth or is the molt just seasonal..

Any thoughts or opinions??

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

?Also does the plucking stimulate the growth or is the molt just seasonal..

What "plucking" are you referring to?
Is there any change in behavior, eating, poop, energy, mood, sleeping time?

We've been experiencing a wild and crazy molt with Pritti since around August. Vet said looks like a severe molt and wasn't concerned about it affecting his health. He has had so many blood/pin feathers at once. I noticed these changes:
very moody
lots and lots of preening
very open to showers and warm blow dries (usually not)
no too interested in playing.
more day sleep than usual
and a little more frisky, as in "R" rated, lol.

Be sure to feed him a wide variety of fresh foods in addition to his usual menu. If not bathing regularly, it might help to wet him or get him in a room with moist air, such as shutting door in bathroom while warm shower running.

If you have a photo, please post.

 

[noblemacaw]

My almost 8 month old RFM has been moulting a lot as well. Although the flight and tail have not started falling yet he has a LOT of pin feathers on head, nape, chest, legs, and back. Valentino is crabby and wants to be on me all the time. He is still talking quite a bit and playing loudly and he is eating a LOT. I have to feed him twice a day now.

Latest pic taken on Sunday. He is getting red front feathers.

 

[Greenwing]

Lucy was recently acquired... As a plucker.. Since I've had her (approx 2weeks) I have not seen her pluck.. She received a clean bill of health from the Vet( not avian specialist).. I bathe her everyday.. For about 20minutes.. she seems in good health other than the unusually heavy molt..

 

[weco]

Molting is natural/routine occurrence in a bird's life.....feathers serve as attractions during mating season, as insulation and they provide a bird its primary mobility.....wouldn't it be nice to just be able to dump 5 or 10 pounds of seed into your gas tank ? ? ?

Plucking a feather or two will normally stimulate those follicles to produce new feathers, but a bird that has develloped a plucking habit often damage individual feather follicles to the point they do not re-generate new feathers.....

 

[Jtbirds]

Greenwing the fact that she is a plucker or hopefully an ex plucker has a lot to do with this. Baby girl my big plucker is like that and has a ton of new feathers come in at one time as well, although she destroys them again. So I'd say your girl is just happy and groaning feathers back in through a normal molt.