Help! White things all over my bird for years

[yuko]

Okay thanks guys! He’s around 5 years old but they really have been the same ones for a few years and they don’t go away as to which I’m very confused as well...

 

[SailBoat]

If it is the same Feathers that are maintaining their cover for extended periods of time. It is possible that the cover either never become dry and cracks or that the cover is so thick that unless you crush /crack the cover it will stay on. Clearly, this would be specific to a few Feathers (as not all) since the other Feathers have clearly loss their covers.

Will your Parrot allow you to make contact with those Feathers. If you can, determine if the cover is soft or hard. If soft, leave it as is. If hard (dry) try to crack it between your fingernails. If they are hard and do not crack, that like their being soft for months, define a problem. A problem than defines a trip to an Avian Vet.

What diet are you providing your Parrot on any given day?

 

[EllenD]

I was also going to highly suggest a trip to ONLY a Certified Avian Specialist Vet asap, as if you are certain that he's had exactly the same pin-feathers for years, and he's 5 years old, then something isn't quite right...usually feather issues are related to nutrition, so I too would like to know his normal, regular, daily diet...Something isn't quite right here with your bird, if what you are saying is true...Just to point out to you, most pin-feathers that bird's get, like take my Green Cheek for example, just to compare apples to apples, when he gets a pin feather, or covered in pin feathers due to a big molt, they are only there for a matter of a week or so, and he either preens the white sheaths off when they are ready, or they simply get so dry that they break-apart into dust on their own...

 

[yuko]

Also, can you just pet him and give him scratches on the head? Or does he not allow it? That will make them go away. My 2 conures never have so many pins that stick out so much that I can actually see them, I usually only feel them. I'm guessing this is because of all the scratches and cuddles.

im not the person that my birdhas bonded with so he only sometimes lets me scratch the top of his head.. but he is very comfortable with me so ill try and see how it goes

 

[yuko]

we used to feed him his bird seed and sometimes treats... when we watch movies he got unsalted popcorn and he enjoyed taking sips of our coffee. every morning he would sit with us on the couch and sit on the side of our mug while we watched the news and take small sips of our coffee. after a while we found coffee was poisonous so we dont really give him it anymore. (it was coffee with milk and sweetener) when ever he comes out and we have fruit or veggies out usually we would give him some but it was mostly his seedthat he ate. although when i joined this site i started giving him waaayyy more thing like red bell peppers, apple, fruit and veggies, and broccoli, strawberries, etc all the time because i realized that we needed to give him more of those things.. so now i try to give him fruit and veggies whenever i take them out which is pretty often. his diet is alot healthier and he doesn't drink coffee anymore so could this be it? i put these things(fruits and veggies( in his food bowl and he munches on them whenever he sits next to me while i browse the web or just play with him. (for example, like right now hes running around on my desk while im on the site.) also just in case, i'm looking for a vet right now.

 

[Squeekmouse]

In the wild, parrots rely on the other parrots of their flock to help them preen their heads and neck, that's the only area they can't reach for themselves. So whoever your little guy is bonded to (whoever he'll allow to pet and handle him) is the one he's counting on to help him preen.



Pin feathers can be sensitive so you need to be careful and gentle and stop if the bird shows signs that it hurts. It REALLY helps to have fingernails on this one of course. You want to gently scratch/scrape the pin feather sheath with your finger nail to help get them to come off. They tend to be more sensitive near the root and less so at the tips. Once the sheath is broken a little, it starts to come off easier on it's own. So even just a little scratching from you can help relieve him of those pin feather sheaths.



Here are a couple of articles with more info, advice, videos and pictures:


https://www.birdtricksstore.com/blogs/birdtricks-blog/all-about-pin-feathers


Trained Parrot Blog - How to Scratch Open Parrot Pin Feathers

 

[yuko]

okay, we got one off! the only thing is that my brother (the one who my bird is bonded to) picked him up and yuko fluffed up and tried to bite him! he was able to calm him after around 20 or so seconds and get one off but then he gave up and said he didnt want to do it and that it didnt matter.... however yuko lets my brother pick him up whenever he wants... but gets mad. Yuko doesnt really ever let me pick him up that much but when he does its very peaceful. i always care for yukos food and water and spend a ton of time with him while my brother never even looks at yuko except when forced like when my mom tells my brother to take him out or to clean his cage. with everything i do for yuko ( including petting him all the time, lol) is it possible for him to change his bond to me instead of my brother?

 

[SailBoat]

As Ellen stated, issues with feathers most commonly result from issues with diet. It is the first place one looks, if you will. It will be interesting to see whether the more complex diet will help. Note, it will takes several months for clear signs of change to occur resulting from the normal schedule Feathers are replaced. We add Pellets based on the most recent Blood Screening as we see the complete diet as an on-going balancing act. But, the fresh green products are always the base.

When looking at seed product, consider one that has a very wide spectrum of Seeds, Grains, and small nuts. We are currently using Scarlett, MardiGras, which is a large Parrot mix and as a result, would not be well suited for your Parrot. But, Scarlett also provides mixes for smaller Parrots. So, scout around their site and see what you can find. We also use Parrot Island in MN for special blends of very high quality products that they can blend for any special diet needs of your Parrot. We continue to adjust our DYH Amazon's diet based on what we are seeing in his Full Spectrum Blood Screenings we current get every 5 quarters (1.25 year). This schedule allows us to view his status in all four quarters of a five year period.

Please understand that we historically have worked with older Amazons that had come to us ill, so we get a bit crazed to assure the Health of our Amazons.

NOTE: Unless we are buying the special blended diet, we remove the SunFlower Seed and Peanuts, plus other odds and ends from pre-packaged products from Scarlett. Those items are donated to a local Rescue.

 

[yuko]

Oh yuko loves sunflower seeds he picks them all out to eat first