Many pin feathers.... worried

[Goldenconure1]

Hey guys so I have got my baby still weaning at the shop.

He constantly is playing around by sort of chewing stuff with his beak. He is roughly 17 weeks or 18 weeks.

When you take him out he flaps his wings tons then stretches his leg. His behavior seems healthy and he usually is constantly eating.

My question is this.

He has many pin feathers.

I am unsure is such is a sign of beak and feather disease.

There was another in the clutch from the same breeder that has many many pin feathers too.

Anyway, I have taken some of the time to sort of scratch away the stealth in some of the pin feathers.

He has a bunch on top of his head, and then larger long ones on his body.

He is alone in the cage away from other birds so he does not get preened.

But this isn't just a few pins, it is many.

Is this down to his age or something? Is this a definite sign of psitaccine at all? Or do some birds just have tons of pin feathers?

 

[noodles123]

Get him tested...It isn't a guarantee, but at least you will know whether he is actively infected/spreading it at the time of the test.


Birds do get pin feathers and stress can cause a molt, but better safe than sorry!


Once you build his trust, you may have to help with preening (only on the head where he cannot reach).

 

[ChristaNL]

If you are that worried about diseases... just get the bird tested.

They do not need much blood-> the testvial looks big, but actually they need only one drop per test (there is a supersmall tube inside the larger testvial that will suck up the droplet), almost no bird has issues with losing a few drops if it is in good condition.


17/18 weeks .....what kind of bird do you (almost) have?


The scary diseases may show up by the bird growing mutilated feathers and/of lots of bloodfeathers instead of lots of normal looking pinfeathers.
So chances are it's just growing a nice set of usefull feathers and nothing is wrong...

 

[Goldenconure1]

If you are that worried about diseases... just get the bird tested.

They do not need much blood-> the testvial looks big, but actually they need only one drop per test (there is a supersmall tube inside the larger testvial that will suck up the droplet), almost no bird has issues with losing a few drops if it is in good condition.


17/18 weeks .....what kind of bird do you (almost) have?


The scary diseases may show up by the bird growing mutilated feathers and/of lots of bloodfeathers instead of lots of normal looking pinfeathers.
So chances are it's just growing a nice set of usefull feathers and nothing is wrong...

How can I tell the difference between tons of blood feathers and tons of regular pin feathers?

Also it is a golden conure. I will post pictures soon enough in a few days when I can get good photos

 

[Laurasea]

Please tell me you are not getting this baby from the same shop as before!! Why are they letting people play with unweaned babies?

 

[Goldenconure1]

Please tell me you are not getting this baby from the same shop as before!! Why are they letting people play with unweaned babies?

Hey Laura! No not at all this is a totally different breeder. And the breeder only allows for roughly 10 or so minutes of interaction with the unweaned, but will allow you to sort of sit and watch them as long as you like. I mostly sit and watch the little juvenile.

 

[noodles123]

From my understanding, most feathers start out as feathers containing blood, but some remain so (even in healthy birds). That having been said, in a developing feather, the blood should recede back into the sheath as it develops.

 

[Laurasea]

Goldenconure they are certainly beautiful and rare birds, it will be neat to hear about them from you. Is this the same breeder who supplies the petstore? As these are rare birds it makes me wonder? Babies look funny, but the breeder should be able to answer these questions, and by now you have seen more baby golden conures than any of us! So you should have a good idea how this baby looks compared to others. You have had to wait so long for this! It will be exciting when you finally get to bring home your baby!

 

[ChristaNL]

Why do you keep calling these rare birds? There a plenty of breeders and they are not hard to find.
(I just checked just one site here and apart from a not-to-be-trusted seller there are at least 5 birds available right now as well as breeding pair.)

Yes, they are CITES-1- birds, but so are many of our other parrots (the CAG, quite a few of the amazons, macaws etc.etc.).


... back to bloodfeathers - if you have a misshapen one it is not pointy but sort of bulby on the end (more a cigar-shape) and it will not get the nice hard tip that can peel off.
They stay more or less softeyish and tend to crack/ burst and give the illusion of a bloodbath.
(they never devellop into a fully functional feather)



BUT... like its been said here before again and again:
birds hide illnesses -> so get them tested all the way!
do not rely on visuals (and smell) only!

 

[Goldenconure1]

Why do you keep calling these rare birds? There a plenty of breeders and they are not hard to find.
(I just checked just one site here and apart from a not-to-be-trusted seller there are at least 5 birds available right now as well as breeding pair.)

Yes, they are CITES-1- birds, but so are many of our other parrots (the CAG, quite a few of the amazons, macaws etc.etc.).


... back to bloodfeathers - if you have a misshapen one it is not pointy but sort of bulby on the end (more a cigar-shape) and it will not get the nice hard tip that can peel off.
They stay more or less softeyish and tend to crack/ burst and give the illusion of a bloodbath.
(they never devellop into a fully functional feather)



BUT... like its been said here before again and again:
birds hide illnesses -> so get them tested all the way!
do not rely on visuals (and smell) only!

Thank you for the input. I will be making a video today plus many pictures today of the feathers and all.

 

[EllenD]

This isn't the same Golden Conure baby as the one at the pet shop, but he is still 18 weeks old and not even close to being weaned? I'm totally confused...Christa is right, they are not at all "rare" birds, but a Golden Conure should be completely weaned in his early teen weeks..Look at it this way, much larger birds like an Eclectus wean around 13-14 weeks, and even an African Gray weans before this age...I just don't know how you managed to find two Golden Conure babies would be exactly the same ages, 17-18 weeks old, and both having neurological issues and not even being able to eat seed yet...That's just a horrible coincidence...

Either way, this second Golden Conure seems to have the exact same problems as the first one from that pet shop...Can you post some photos of him? You need to get this one to a Certified Avian Vet as well, based on the weaning issue alone, but the feather issue may just be another sign/symptom of a very serious issue...I mean, you just said that this baby couldn't even eat seeds yet, and he's 18 weeks old...Something is very wrong...

 

[Goldenconure1]

This isn't the same Golden Conure baby as the one at the pet shop, but he is still 18 weeks old and not even close to being weaned? I'm totally confused...Christa is right, they are not at all "rare" birds, but a Golden Conure should be completely weaned in his early teen weeks..Look at it this way, much larger birds like an Eclectus wean around 13-14 weeks, and even an African Gray weans before this age...I just don't know how you managed to find two Golden Conure babies would be exactly the same ages, 17-18 weeks old, and both having neurological issues and not even being able to eat seed yet...That's just a horrible coincidence...

Either way, this second Golden Conure seems to have the exact same problems as the first one from that pet shop...Can you post some photos of him? You need to get this one to a Certified Avian Vet as well, based on the weaning issue alone, but the feather issue may just be another sign/symptom of a very serious issue...I mean, you just said that this baby couldn't even eat seeds yet, and he's 18 weeks old...Something is very wrong...

He can eat seed but the problem is he isn't very good at it. Also he generally is trying to eat most of the time with his head in the dish. It is unfortunate. I am now going through a different breeder of course with this operate golden. I will be sure to post some pictures today.


It is a different breeder though. Mind you he has a whole other clutch of golden roughly the same age and their behavior is even better. (They are better at eating and simply have much nicer and more uniform looking feathers.)

This breeder also has many green cheeks, a few points, and a few Grey's and they look really really good. I was just wondering about this other golden.

I am overall more happy with this breeder so far mainly because she seems to pay more attention to the birds. She thinks they are simply pin feathers and that he is just a late bloomer (the one I'm looking at). He is very sweet. However, I have practice at this. Meaning. At the other shop I had to cut my financial loss with the first golden. If I have to cut it off with This new golden, and choose another from the other healthier looking clutch, I will.

But if it is just pin feathers, heck if love to keep him

 

[ChristaNL]

Can I be just a bit nosy about how the breeder keeps them?
(if inappropiate, just say "no" plze, it is also a perfectly good answer )

I read and got confirmed today that this is one of those species where not only the parents will feed the young, but they usually get assistance from a few other birds.
(godparents? aunts & uncles? older siblings?)
So I was curious if you breeder keeps them in pairs or in groups.

(rumour has it that the groupfed birds do better and in later life show less issues with featherpicking etc. -- but that is just my tiny piece of Europe speaking/gossiping, we do things quite different some of the time, so ... I'd love to know how you guys do it overthere)

and speaking of curious:
Any idea how long it will be before he can come home with you?




==


oh I just *have* to add this-
no idea whose bird this is, one of my friends send me the link: https://imgur.com/gallery/ahNzbcB
.

 

[Goldenconure1]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/161312085@N03/

Unfortunately all we can see mostly here is some patchiness, roughness to the feathers, and some pins. However, if you pull back his feathers you can see many man pin feathers.
Some that are quite long are on his back and quite thick

 

[Laurasea]

Thanks for the pictures! What a cutie! Looks like normal baby growing in the featheres to me.

 

[Laurasea]

Can I be just a bit nosy about how the breeder keeps them?
(if inappropiate, just say "no" plze, it is also a perfectly good answer )

I read and got confirmed today that this is one of those species where not only the parents will feed the young, but they usually get assistance from a few other birds.
(godparents? aunts & uncles? older siblings?)
So I was curious if you breeder keeps them in pairs or in groups.

(rumour has it that the groupfed birds do better and in later life show less issues with featherpicking etc. -- but that is just my tiny piece of Europe speaking/gossiping, we do things quite different some of the time, so ... I'd love to know how you guys do it overthere)

and speaking of curious:
Any idea how long it will be before he can come home with you?




==


oh I just *have* to add this-
no idea whose bird this is, one of my friends send me the link: https://imgur.com/gallery/ahNzbcB
.

ChristaNL I agree that keeping the babies in groups is better in my humble opinion, they learn from each, and as babies they would never be alone

 

[Laurasea]

This isn't the same Golden Conure baby as the one at the pet shop, but he is still 18 weeks old and not even close to being weaned? I'm totally confused...Christa is right, they are not at all "rare" birds, but a Golden Conure should be completely weaned in his early teen weeks..Look at it this way, much larger birds like an Eclectus wean around 13-14 weeks, and even an African Gray weans before this age...I just don't know how you managed to find two Golden Conure babies would be exactly the same ages, 17-18 weeks old, and both having neurological issues and not even being able to eat seed yet...That's just a horrible coincidence...

Either way, this second Golden Conure seems to have the exact same problems as the first one from that pet shop...Can you post some photos of him? You need to get this one to a Certified Avian Vet as well, based on the weaning issue alone, but the feather issue may just be another sign/symptom of a very serious issue...I mean, you just said that this baby couldn't even eat seeds yet, and he's 18 weeks old...Something is very wrong...

He can eat seed but the problem is he isn't very good at it. Also he generally is trying to eat most of the time with his head in the dish. It is unfortunate. I am now going through a different breeder of course with this operate golden. I will be sure to post some pictures today.


It is a different breeder though. Mind you he has a whole other clutch of golden roughly the same age and their behavior is even better. (They are better at eating and simply have much nicer and more uniform looking feathers.)

This breeder also has many green cheeks, a few points, and a few Grey's and they look really really good. I was just wondering about this other golden.

I am overall more happy with this breeder so far mainly because she seems to pay more attention to the birds. She thinks they are simply pin feathers and that he is just a late bloomer (the one I'm looking at). He is very sweet. However, I have practice at this. Meaning. At the other shop I had to cut my financial loss with the first golden. If I have to cut it off with This new golden, and choose another from the other healthier looking clutch, I will.

But if it is just pin feathers, heck if love to keep him

Did you pick this baby? Or did the breeder say this is the one you can have? The breeder should not charge you a fee to change to a different one of their chicks.

 

[Goldenconure1]

Well the first golden conure I was gonna get that went bad was clearly unwell. Unfortunately I had out on nonrefundable deposit. EllenD told me to cut my losses so I did. This new breeder though, indeed has other goldens to choose from.

 

[noodles123]

I see pinfeathers on the head, maybe wing and pin/blood feathers in the tail (Don't know much about baby Conures, so I can't tell you what is normal). I do know that in most (if not all birds) the fatter/bigger feathers always take longer for the blood to recede...and some stay (especially the larger flight feathers). It looks like he may have preened some right to he edge (removing the sheath), so if it is pink or in a place he can reach, do not help with preening. On the head, the white tips to those feathers could MAYBE be rolled off or pinched lightly, as long as you leave space between the white and the pink---birds get sensitive too during feather production, so do so at your own risk (it really depends on your current bond)--try not to pull or rotate the shaft of the feather. My bird loves it, but she will squawk and jerk her head if I hurt her by mistake...I also have known her for longer though and she is not a baby or a Conure lol.
EDIT---Don't try to preen if you don't already have a bond with this bird...I re-read some posts and if you haven't adopted him and you do end up adopting him...then DO NOT RUSH that sort of contact.

 

[ChristaNL]

ChristaNL I agree that keeping the babies in groups is better in my humble opinion, they learn from each, and as babies they would never be alone

LOL, that too ( I love the way parrots learn from each other), but in this case I meant the adult-birds.
They have this mutiple grown birds take care of the young in one nest thing going - not just mum and dad feed them, others do too.

Back to the pictures: I have never met a baby-gold in person so I have no real clue what I am talking about but this looks to me like a bird that is very busy growing a lot of feathers.

The one where you can look in the eye I just read "sigh...humans, not sure if I want to be annoyed or really pissed of, so I'll think about it for a bit longer"