Feathers dropping everywhere

[Flowers]

Hi

I have noticed every day that Zippy's feathers are coming out, she does preen herself a lot but she isn't plucking.  Is it the time of year or could there be a reason for her feathers to be coming out.  She has even lost a few tail feathers.  Should she be having a supplement she is nearly 7 months old.

Thank you for any help.

[mizloco]

Big molten by the sounds of it. Try giving her some egg food or even hard boiled egg. Will help with regrowth.

[Flowers]

Sept 23, 2014 17:50:54 GMT mizloco said:

Big molten by the sounds of it. Try giving her some egg food or even hard boiled egg. Will help with regrowth.

Thank you  I am wondering why does it happen? is it a certain time of year that they will moult?  I can give her hard boiled egg and try to get some egg food would EMP be the one? how does egg food or hard boiled egg help?

[mizloco]

Now that's too technical for me sorry but Hezz or one of the others will know.

[Hezz]

Eggs: full of protein. Feather re-growth requires a lot of energy from the bird. The highest source of protein you can give your bird besides a piece of cooked chicken itself is egg or eggfood. A week of vitamin supplement added to the water during this time is helpful as well.

Moulting: They moult many times during the year in a small way, but seem to have a large moult twice a year, the timing may vary depending on the change of season/weather. Also central heating can cause them to off load a "coat" as well. In a few days or a week, depending how long she has been moulting for, you will see heaps of pin feathers coming through, especially obvious on their heads, so don't panic:


Oh, and yes they can and will moult out every feather, just not all at the one time.

[Flowers]

Hi Hezz and Mizloco thank you for filling me in how often should I supply zippy with cooked chicken, egg or egg food for example should she have egg food readily available every day?  I am feeding her Haiths 50/50 bird seed with tonic seed that I mix in is this the same as a vit supplement?  If not what vit supplement would you recommend? Thank you for your help 

[Hezz]

The protein in whatever form you wish to feed it can be available all the time they are moulting. Meat of course will only want to be kept for an hour before being tossed, but eggfood in the dry state can be put into a small pot and left for them to help themselves, egg or moistened eggfood will need to be tossed after a few hours. You can also remove the membrane from the hard-boiled egg's shell, crush it up and put this in as well.

As to what brand of vitamin supplement, that I really can't answer. I use Vetafarm's Multivet, but I am not in UK. A vitamin supplement will usually be a powder or liquid that is added to the birds' water for the day.

[Flowers]

Wow thank you all so much for the wonderful advice for the past two days I have given Zippy a little piece of hard boiled egg and she absolutely loves it, she has also been able to go outside in her cage and get some sunshine and already I have noticed a huge improvement. So thank you a million for the super help

[Hezz]

That really is good news. Most love a chance to catch a few stray rays. Often a bath at the same time goes down a treat, also.