Rough feathers

[cthulhus_minion]

My girlfriend has an IRN and she is about 8 months old and her feathers aren't smooth, is this because she is still pretty young?

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[Amandastander]

There can be a variety of reasons for feathers being rough. Mostly cage size can play a role, is the cage large enough for her to turn around in without any part of her body touching the bars, how is the setup? For eg are hanging toys obstructing her movement and she has to push past them? Its best to put hanging toys more to the side of the cage rather than the centre and too low in ratio to the perches. May I ask what diet she is eating as well! Sometimes a shortage of vitamins, minerals or just shortage of oils to the diet may result in dry, tgerefore rough feathers. Hope I've helped!

 

[cthulhus_minion]

She is eating standard parrot feed with nuts and other stuff in it. She plays in between two different toys alot, so maybe that's why. We looked the other day and it looked like shr is having smoother feathers coming in so she may be brushing them. And yes she can turn around without messing rubbing if she is close to the center. She climbs up and down and around her cage all day. She has free roam on her cage the whole time we are home

Have you not heard? The bird is the word!

 

[Amandastander]

Then she may be a rough girl by nature lol! Birds gets oils from an oil gland by the vent with wich they then groom their feathers and gloss them. You could try adding a few drops of cod liver oil, the one formulated for avian care, to her feed mix 2 times a week but add it the night before so it has ample time to soak into her seeds before eating them. You can also spoil her with a variety of fresh raw or halfboiled veggies for eg butternut, corn, and some fruits like apple, pears etc. Be aware of apple pips though they're poisonous to IRN, as well as avocadopear its a huge no no. If you're pressed for time and can't prepare you can always keep a pack of frozen veggie mix and just take out a few daily and let them get to room temp before serving. All birds needs fresh fruit or veg daily. As an occasional treat you may give nuts and seeds as they are fattening and bad for her overall health and heart. I know we love giving them what they want but too much is not good. Mines personal favourites are peanuts! Lol. Hope I've helped, oh lastly please do not defrost her veg in microwave as they can have hotspots which can damge her tongue, beak inside. Not to mention she won't trust your food again for a very long time

 

[cthulhus_minion]

Thanks for the info!

Have you not heard? The bird is the word!

 

[MeganMango]

If her parrot food is mostly seeds and nuts she may be getting too much fat and not enough protein and vitamins. Seeds are not ideal, and nuts should be a treat. We would need a better idea of whats in her food to properly advise. If your bird has never seen a vet the best thing you could do is try to find an avian vet and get a blood panel done. My bird was low in a number of vitamins and minerals from an all seed diet and the vet was able to tell me which food to add/remove to better his nutrition. Veggies are a good addition, my bird eat 40% veggies (peppers, carrot (cooked and uncooked), sweet potato (cooked and uncooked), sugar snap peas, squash, pumpkin, broccoli, Kale... etc) 20% fruit (blue berries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, pomegranate, and sometimes small amounts of apple, pear, banana, grapes etc.) and the rest of their diet is Harrison's pellets for parrots. Some pelleted parrot foods are better than others, and everyone has their own preference. Twice a week mine get a bit of mash (beans, chickpeas (their favorite) lentis, brown rice, millet, quinoa, peas, corn, carrots... there are lots of recipes available). Seeds and nuts are treats, used for training etc. I dont want to lecture about nutrition, but its really important. The local rescue where I volunteer has a variety of birds with severe hear conditions due to fatty unbalanced diets.