Ziggy starts molting!

[Anansi]

Loving your updates!

I'm hoping he leaves that single new tail feather alone, too! As well as all the other new feathers he has coming in.

You're doing such a great job with him, both in terms of the more frequent baths and the shredding material provided. I'm so glad that your efforts are yielding fruit.

As for the toe tap, you might be noticing a mild case. It happens. Jolly got the ever-so-mildest case of wing-flipping maybe two weeks ago. I hadn't introduced anything new to his diet, but I had put together a combination of fruits that I never had before. So I immediately changed the proportions and just like that the issue went away. There must've been something similar in those fruits that wouldn't normally have been a problem, but the 3 together at once likely proved a bit much. (Teaches me to try putting together some chop while a little lower on veggies than usual. Smh.)

Of course, not all cases of wing-flipping or toe-tapping are as easily solved, but it just goes to show how easily something like that can happen. You know?

So it's possible a whole kiwi might've proved a bit too much of a good thing for Ziggy. (Or it could be something else entirely. But it's worth checking out.)

Btw, broccoli and boiled egg shells are great sources of calcium as well.

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[littleredhen77]

thank you for your encouragement and kind words did you watch the video i posted so you can see what im talking about? if its anything, it looks very mild to me but ive never seen a 'bad' case so im unsure. i will be sure to give him less kiwi and see if that helps.

he has broccoli in his chop, raw and finely ground in the food processor so he cant help but eat some. i also give him a tiny maybe kidney bean sized bit of plain scrambled egg maybe once a week now since i noticed his first molt. no shells though. would it be ok to just add a tiny bit of crushed egg shell on his chop a couple times a week? i feed a raw egg to my dogs several times a week and i could easily save out a bit of shell for him. id assume i should wash it first?

again, thank you for your reply!

 

[Anansi]

You're welcome! And I just watched the video. Definitely inconclusive. If he does have toe-tap or wing-flip, it's VERY minor.

And yes, his beak grinding is definitely an expression of comfort and relaxation.

You could definitely mix some some crushed egg shell into his chop a few times a week. But I'd boil the shell first to avoid any sickness.



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[littleredhen77]

alright i will do that! ill save out a couple eggs worth of shells and boil them clean, grind them up and once theyre dry ill just put them in a little jar so i can have a bit ready to give him. ill start slow with it, of course! and use it sparingly as not to create other issues. thats a great tip, especially since hes so uninterested in cuttle bones! the eggs i have are laid by my own hens so itll feel like its everyone helping everyone as well thank you for suggesting something i hadnt even heard of before, this forum is the best thing on the whole internet i swear

 

[Uglow]

heres a video i just took, in it you can see him do the toe thing 3 times, while he sits with me before bed, he seems content, cooing and grinding/clicking his beak which, correct me if im wrong, but thats a "content" behavior?

https://youtu.be/TeRm2NB3rx4

he's such a cutie. I love that sound he's making. sounds like you're doing a great job with with everything. So in your experience is the molt off and on when it does start? Uglow shed several head and neck feathers and then a couple of half down/half colored feathers (maybe from his back) but then he stopped.
Anyway, all the best with the rest of his molt.

 

[littleredhen77]

Ziggy is going to be 26 years old this summer, ((i am counting his birthday as the day i got him as i dont know his actual hatch date)) but since this is the first molt hes been through since i got him, i dont know much. but from whats happened recently, it does seem that he molts in "waves" he molted out 6-10 feathers at first, small ones like neck sized ones, and once those all grew in he started his second "wave" of the next size bigger feathers..further down his back and wing-pits. with each of these waves, hes also lost 2-4 large flight feathers ((they were only quills because he chewed off the feather itself leaving the quill in his wing)) but all the feather molting seems to happen over a week or a bit less before he stops losing them and focuses on growing. when you give Uglow a shower, you should be able to see where his pin feathers are growing in and watch their development. when Ziggy shakes off after a shower, his feathers on his neck stay sticking up for awhile before he dries and it made seeing those tiny pins easy. it sounds to me like your bird is molting as well and if its the same as with Ziggy, he should start loosing slightly larger feathers in another couple weeks

not sure if all birds are like this, or if its an individual thing, as my cockatiel Jake molts almost constantly but only a couple at a time instead of big waves, but in my chicken experience, they molt ALOTTT of feathers at once then grow them all back in at once.

 

[Uglow]

Ziggy is going to be 26 years old this summer, ((i am counting his birthday as the day i got him as i dont know his actual hatch date)) but since this is the first molt hes been through since i got him, i dont know much. but from whats happened recently, it does seem that he molts in "waves" he molted out 6-10 feathers at first, small ones like neck sized ones, and once those all grew in he started his second "wave" of the next size bigger feathers..further down his back and wing-pits. with each of these waves, hes also lost 2-4 large flight feathers ((they were only quills because he chewed off the feather itself leaving the quill in his wing)) but all the feather molting seems to happen over a week or a bit less before he stops losing them and focuses on growing. when you give Uglow a shower, you should be able to see where his pin feathers are growing in and watch their development. when Ziggy shakes off after a shower, his feathers on his neck stay sticking up for awhile before he dries and it made seeing those tiny pins easy. it sounds to me like your bird is molting as well and if its the same as with Ziggy, he should start loosing slightly larger feathers in another couple weeks

not sure if all birds are like this, or if its an individual thing, as my cockatiel Jake molts almost constantly but only a couple at a time instead of big waves, but in my chicken experience, they molt ALOTTT of feathers at once then grow them all back in at once.

Thanks so much for the response. Yeah, I noticed some green pin feathers around his beak and a few around his neck. This is all very new to me and I just didn't want to assume anything. Thanks again. I hope your boy is doing well.

 

[littleredhen77]

ziggys molt continues! hes had 3 waves now and has stopped dropping feathers for a week or so in between, but then i notice another couple feathers on the ground, and a couple more..until its a regular flow again for another week or so. this week, he started his 4th wave! ive saved them all so i can keep count and examine them, hes lost over 100 feathers now! its hard to find all the pins and i know i havent seen near as many pins as he should be growing in but i assume they are there, tiny, hiding under his remaining ones. hes developing 'gray' spots on the back of his neck and a little around his 'brow' area. nothing like a bald spot, but thin enough so the gray color further down on the feathers is showing through. he officially has 3 tail feathers now! one is grown completely out and the sheath removed, another half way out and the third is a little behind that. his little tail is so cute and it actually looks quite long without his wings overlapping them. he keeps snipping off his flight feathers about half way down. :/ hes got 3 flight feathers on one wing he has left alone but the other wing looks like a terrible clip job and its just, stumpy looking. he looks lop sided. i guess the good thing is once he chews the feather off at that point, and its the same point on every feather, he leaves them alone. he doesnt chew them further up or pull them out after that. im wondering if hes going through a hard molt..is it normal to loose this many feathers? does anyone else keep count? the fact that his head looks a little scruffy makes me think he may be in a hard molt but ive never seen him molt before so im unsure.

he is still pulling a few pins out here and there, but compared to the number of feathers ive saved, hes only pulled a handful out and id say 90% of them must still be there growing in.

hes not grumpy or anything, he still eats well, in fact hes put on a little weight this past month, ive seen him hit 380g to 383g most nights before bed, when he used to be 368-375 ish. i dont usually weigh him in the morning and i also dont time it perfectly, its usually between 2 and 4 hours after his dinner so i think that explains the fluctuation.


anyways, theres an update for anyone who was wondering, i really hope he stops molting soon and fills back in! i guess i just need to be patient!

 

[Uglow]

ziggys molt continues! hes had 3 waves now and has stopped dropping feathers for a week or so in between, but then i notice another couple feathers on the ground, and a couple more..until its a regular flow again for another week or so. this week, he started his 4th wave! ive saved them all so i can keep count and examine them, hes lost over 100 feathers now! its hard to find all the pins and i know i havent seen near as many pins as he should be growing in but i assume they are there, tiny, hiding under his remaining ones. hes developing 'gray' spots on the back of his neck and a little around his 'brow' area. nothing like a bald spot, but thin enough so the gray color further down on the feathers is showing through. he officially has 3 tail feathers now! one is grown completely out and the sheath removed, another half way out and the third is a little behind that. his little tail is so cute and it actually looks quite long without his wings overlapping them. he keeps snipping off his flight feathers about half way down. :/ hes got 3 flight feathers on one wing he has left alone but the other wing looks like a terrible clip job and its just, stumpy looking. he looks lop sided. i guess the good thing is once he chews the feather off at that point, and its the same point on every feather, he leaves them alone. he doesnt chew them further up or pull them out after that. im wondering if hes going through a hard molt..is it normal to loose this many feathers? does anyone else keep count? the fact that his head looks a little scruffy makes me think he may be in a hard molt but ive never seen him molt before so im unsure.

he is still pulling a few pins out here and there, but compared to the number of feathers ive saved, hes only pulled a handful out and id say 90% of them must still be there growing in.

hes not grumpy or anything, he still eats well, in fact hes put on a little weight this past month, ive seen him hit 380g to 383g most nights before bed, when he used to be 368-375 ish. i dont usually weigh him in the morning and i also dont time it perfectly, its usually between 2 and 4 hours after his dinner so i think that explains the fluctuation.


anyways, theres an update for anyone who was wondering, i really hope he stops molting soon and fills back in! i guess i just need to be patient!

Thanks for the update. Regarding the pin feathers. They can be really hard to see. I though my boy wasn't growing any in and then one day boom, pin feathers everywhere. My vet also showed me a ton of them when he was examining him too. They're probably there even if you're not seeing them.

As for counting. Yeah, I've done my best to save all the feathers I find. Uglow's lost about 72 feathers so far. all green, small or medium sized. no flight feathers yet. lost his first red feather yesterday...little guy.

Glad it isn't bothering him. I've noticed Uglow's eating more lately too. The advice I got from my vet is bathe him daily and up his protein a bit.