Help needed! parrot feather bronzing or wear and tear ?

[Gatz]

Hello All!

This is Lily, she's 5 and I had her since she was 10 weeks old.

Her diet consists of

Harrisons lifetime Fine pellets ( tried coarse, she doesn't like it)
fresh Carrots, Peppers, Broccoli, and cauliflower every day
she gets 3 Harrisons power threat per day as indicated on the package
every 2-3 days I will give her a small avicake from lafebers (one square)

what is bothering me is the discoloration of her feathers on her wings and it's slowly fading in her neck.

I use to give her vitamins to compensate for her discoloration but I stopped it as she slowly became a bit overweight and I've read a lot online that vitamins are not needed when feeding Harrison's bird food.

The only thing I might've done wrong is not following the indications about throwing the food out after 6 weeks of feeding. I was buying big bags of 5 pounds of food and its use to last 2 months then I switched to the small 1lbs bag and buy it whenever I need too.

Can her discoloration be due to me not following the label on the bag ? in the second picture, her beak is peeling a little too much for my taste.

I do apologize in advance if my writing




isn't too good, English is not my first language

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Your English is fine! And Lily is a very beautiful DYH Amazon! I'm sorry I can not help you about her coloration but we have quite a few members that are very knowledgeable and I am sure someone is going to see your thread and respond. Just be patient And I welcome you and Lily to the forum!




Jim

 

[SailBoat]

Not sure what part of this huge World you are from, but it looks like your DYH Amazon is getting ready to molt a fair number of body and wing edge feathers. Have you changed to another cage in the last year or so? Or, she maybe leaning or rubbing along the bars as this type of action will also cause feather wear.

Amazons, especially the larger ones, can get a darker or Bronzing look to their Body feathers as the feather ages. This is normally caused by the Feather loosing its ability to hold together and as a result the light reflection from the surface of the feather shifts and one sees it as a change in color.

Your provided diet should not require additional vitamins.

Consider keeping the Harrisons in cool /cold storage will assure its freshness for longer time periods.

NOTE: Your Amazon is nearing the age s/he will begin to transition to an Adult. This will likely result in periods of major mood shifts and behavioral changes. This is a chemical process that s/he has no real control over. Your understanding that this is a natural change and with time (several years) your Amazon will settle back down. Now is the time to assure that your interaction skills and understanding of its Body Language are strong and in place on your side.


FYI: Great Photos!

We are also Owned by a DYH Amazon!

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome to the forum, lots of great threads on Amazon Parrott here, plus other Parrots I learn from everyone all the time. So I hope you stick around. I believe when weather permits getting natural sunlight exposure outside, in a safe travel cage or harness and staying by your birds side. I have seen the luster in my birds feathers improve with sunlight. Sounds like a great diet. I feed hot chili peppers , and leafy greens as well, and some occasionally seeds and nuts as well if you are aren't already. Beautiful bird!

 

[EllenD]

Welcome to the community!

First of all, no, the feather changes have nothing to do with anything that you did, like keeping the pellets for a long time...As Sailboat mentioned, it works very well when you buy them in large quantities to simply bag them and put them in the freezer. But this had nothing to do with her feather changes.

And no, she doesn't need any type of "vitamin" supplements unless deemed necessary by a Certified Avian Vet ONLY after they have done blood-work and diagnosed her with a nutritional deficiency of some kind, which is unlikely with the diet she's on. If she's eating a good pellet and fresh veggies, then she would simply excrete most of the extra vitamins you gave her anyway in her urates, with some of them being stored in her fat, which can actually become a bad thing because it can cause vitamin toxicity with the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). So she definitely doesn't need any extra vitamin supplements...Giving a daily Avian Probiotic supplement, such as Qwiko Avian Probiotic powder sprinkled on her pellets once a day, that's a good idea, as it keeps her GI Tract healthy and aids in protecting her from Fungal/Yeast infections. But that's the only supplement she would benefit from at this point. She looks very healthy, happy, and alert. You've done a good job raising her.

As Sailboat mentioned, it's likely that she's going to be going through a very large molt coming-up soon. I wouldn't be surprised if that starts very soon...And as far as the "broken" feathers, it may very well be that she's banging them off of her cage bars, or they may also be itching her and she may be over-preening them, as they are getting ready to molt. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but if you have any doubt you can always take her to a Certified Avian Vet (only) who has much experience and would be able to ensure that she's healthy...All of my birds have a Wellness-Exam with my CAV once a year that consists of a full physical and visual exam, full Blood-Work, and a Fecal Exam. This helps stay ahead of any major illnesses, infections, dietary issues/deficiencies, liver and kidney health, etc.

 

[Gatz]

Not sure what part of this huge World you are from, but it looks like your DYH Amazon is getting ready to molt a fair number of body and wing edge feathers. Have you changed to another cage in the last year or so? Or, she maybe leaning or rubbing along the bars as this type of action will also cause feather wear.

Amazons, especially the larger ones, can get a darker or Bronzing look to their Body feathers as the feather ages. This is normally caused by the Feather loosing its ability to hold together and as a result the light reflection from the surface of the feather shifts and one sees it as a change in color.

Your provided diet should not require additional vitamins.

Consider keeping the Harrisons in cool /cold storage will assure its freshness for longer time periods.

NOTE: Your Amazon is nearing the age s/he will begin to transition to an Adult. This will likely result in periods of major mood shifts and behavioral changes. This is a chemical process that s/he has no real control over. Your understanding that this is a natural change and with time (several years) your Amazon will settle back down. Now is the time to assure that your interaction skills and understanding of its Body Language are strong and in place on your side.


FYI: Great Photos!

We are also Owned by a DYH Amazon!

thank you for taking the time to answer! I'm from Quebec, Canada. She's already in her hormonal behavior it started 2-3 months ago as she started rubbing herself on me, I'm waiting for her to be done (without touching her and acknowledging her behavior I'm putting her in her "room". I'm also putting her to bed earlier than usual to avoid her mood swings. thank you for your input I appreciate it!

 

[Gatz]

Welcome to the community!

First of all, no, the feather changes have nothing to do with anything that you did, like keeping the pellets for a long time...As Sailboat mentioned, it works very well when you buy them in large quantities to simply bag them and put them in the freezer. But this had nothing to do with her feather changes.

And no, she doesn't need any type of "vitamin" supplements unless deemed necessary by a Certified Avian Vet ONLY after they have done blood-work and diagnosed her with a nutritional deficiency of some kind, which is unlikely with the diet she's on. If she's eating a good pellet and fresh veggies, then she would simply excrete most of the extra vitamins you gave her anyway in her urates, with some of them being stored in her fat, which can actually become a bad thing because it can cause vitamin toxicity with the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). So she definitely doesn't need any extra vitamin supplements...Giving a daily Avian Probiotic supplement, such as Qwiko Avian Probiotic powder sprinkled on her pellets once a day, that's a good idea, as it keeps her GI Tract healthy and aids in protecting her from Fungal/Yeast infections. But that's the only supplement she would benefit from at this point. She looks very healthy, happy, and alert. You've done a good job raising her.

As Sailboat mentioned, it's likely that she's going to be going through a very large molt coming-up soon. I wouldn't be surprised if that starts very soon...And as far as the "broken" feathers, it may very well be that she's banging them off of her cage bars, or they may also be itching her and she may be over-preening them, as they are getting ready to molt. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but if you have any doubt you can always take her to a Certified Avian Vet (only) who has much experience and would be able to ensure that she's healthy...All of my birds have a Wellness-Exam with my CAV once a year that consists of a full physical and visual exam, full Blood-Work, and a Fecal Exam. This helps stay ahead of any major illnesses, infections, dietary issues/deficiencies, liver and kidney health, etc.

thank you EllenD

 

[Anita1250]

I agree. My 35 yr. old BFA plays hard, and so usually has a some feathers ruffled on the ends. Also, I have noticed that they get like that when he needs a bath. Once we bathe him, they go back to looking good. Until he lays on his back to play with a bell!