Severe moults, long beak & strange growth

[sweetpea]

Hello all. We are having a pretty bad moult season here. You can read up about it in this blog post:

Three near-flightless birds

Since I posted that, Lennie has lost more flight feathers to the extent that even if he could get off the ground, he'd only be able to fly in circles.


To add to that, Dalai decided to grow his beak...


...which the vet trimmed down today. She also investigated a strange thing beside his beak that I had noticed a few weeks ago. At first I thought it was a stuck seed, then I wondered if it was a strange feather. The vet confirmed it was fleshy & attached to him, similar to a skin tag. She whipped it off.  Hopefully it won't grow back.




Apart from that, we're all fine!

[Hezz]

These boys are certainly keeping you on your toes. Hoping their health is not compromised too badly in any other way. xx

[tweetiepiesmom]

Poor babies! Hope they do better. I have a question - what's the difference between "seasonal moult" and the regualar moult? I thought Tweetie Pie might be getting ready to go through a regular moult (maybe 4 month old moult) because I'm seeing many light down-like feathers and he has lost 3 wing feathers. I'not seeing any pin feathers though.

[Hezz]

Nov 18, 2019 20:13:14 GMT tweetiepiesmom said:

Poor babies! Hope they do better. I have a question - what's the difference between "seasonal moult" and the regualar moult? I thought Tweetie Pie might be getting ready to go through a regular moult (maybe 4 month old moult) because I'm seeing many light down-like feathers and he has lost 3 wing feathers. I'not seeing any pin feathers though.

When you start to see any carpet of feathers, that is a moult. The new feathers have to grow through and start to become visible before you can see them as pin feathers. New feathers can't begin to grow until the old feather has dropped.

Birds will generally moult at regular times but that can vary due to the particular microclimate that they, personal, live in, as in individuals' houses. Some people keep their houses hotter, some houses are naturally cooler. Marked changes in temp can often bring on a moult.

[Marianne Marlow]

Jerry had one of those growths at the side of his beak, but it wasn't there long and it just fell off by itself.

[samwiseg]

I just swear mine are always in moult as there is always a never ending supply of feathers everywhere

So you have had a bit of a time of it again sweetpea? Poor little Dalai, fingers crossed from me too that he's alright - have a missed something in a previous post as I thought long beaks usually came about due to a liver problem?

[sweetpea]

Nov 20, 2019 9:38:01 GMT Marianne Marlow said:

Jerry had one of those growths at the side of his beak, but it wasn't there long and it just fell off by itself.

That's good to know.

[sweetpea]

Nov 20, 2019 9:40:28 GMT samwiseg said:

I just swear mine are always in moult as there is always a never ending supply of feathers everywhere

So you have had a bit of a time of it again sweetpea? Poor little Dalai, fingers crossed from me too that he's alright - have a missed something in a previous post as I thought long beaks usually came about due to a liver problem?

I know what you mean about the never-ending moult!

No, you haven't missed anything. The vet did mention a possible liver problem but he's not overweight & he's been on milk thistle since he got here (because of Bezukhov). He also has one toenail that seems to grow longer & faster than the others!

The vet suggested that, at intervals, I file the end of Dalai's beak with an emery board (looking forward to that... not!)

[Hezz]

Nov 20, 2019 11:00:51 GMT sweetpea said:

The vet did mention a possible liver problem but he's not overweight & he's been on milk thistle since he got here (because of Bezukhov). He also has one toenail that seems to grow longer & faster than the others!

The vet suggested that, at intervals, I file the end of Dalai's beak with an emery board (looking forward to that... not!)

This sounds very much like Misty, (although he is overweight) ... elongated beak and one long claw. I think his beak is nowhere near as bad as it was a few years ago, due to the MT and the claw doesn't bother him, so it doesn't bother me. Occasionally the tip becomes a bit crumbly, usually when his sinuses play up and I have to "steam clean" him.

I did try filing his beak in the early days, but actually it was easier and less traumatic for him (he is a nervous Nelly) if I simply took the very tip off with nail clippers. Much quickly.

[sweetpea]

Nov 20, 2019 19:40:17 GMT Hezz said:

Nov 20, 2019 11:00:51 GMT sweetpea said:

The vet did mention a possible liver problem but he's not overweight & he's been on milk thistle since he got here (because of Bezukhov). He also has one toenail that seems to grow longer & faster than the others!

The vet suggested that, at intervals, I file the end of Dalai's beak with an emery board (looking forward to that... not!)

This sounds very much like Misty, (although he is overweight) ... elongated beak and one long claw. I think his beak is nowhere near as bad as it was a few years ago, due to the MT and the claw doesn't bother him, so it doesn't bother me. Occasionally the tip becomes a bit crumbly, usually when his sinuses play up and I have to "steam clean" him.

I did try filing his beak in the early days, but actually it was easier and less traumatic for him (he is a nervous Nelly) if I simply took the very tip off with nail clippers. Much quickly.

The vet said "Please try to get Dalai to chew an emery board to encourage the vessel in the beak to regress". My understanding (which may be wrong!) is that because his beak grew long, the (blood) vessel also grew, so filing it will encourage the vessel to go back to its original length, hopefully reducing chances of the beak growing too long again?

[Hezz]

That makes sense. Maybe I should have persevered.