Ok Molting and plucking and pin feathers
Buddy loves for me to help with the ones he cant reach but when hes alone he pluks I guess, I see him running his beak through his feathers but I thought that was normal. What is molting??? Is this normal behavior???? Am I asking too much at one time?????

Molting happens twice a year (i think) and thats when you see the pin feathers. When you see him running his beak through his feathers, it's not necessarily plucking. He could be just preening this feathers which is cleaning them and pulling out the white fluffy feathers underneath. Plucking is when you see a lot of green feathers on the bottom of the cage and your bird will have a bald spot where he is plucking.

Preening is fine and he should be doing that! But watch out for bald spots if he's plucking because he may need medical attention...

Kris answered that pretty well.

OK- if your birdie looks like the one on the forum header-bar thingie- good! Preening is a good thing. If your bird looks like the attached- not good. (As an aside- ever time I look at this picture I am shocked how bad she looks )

I think this is the best article about molting
http://qp-society.com/qpserc/molting.html

Birds will also run their beaks thru their feathers as a part of 'preening' which they do daily. Preening is a bird's way to "spruce" itself up. They clean and tidy up their feathers by taking oil from the oil gland and meticulously groom their feathers.

Yeah it can be pretty scary when you're not sure. I was a bit nervous too when I first started seeing a bit more feathers on the bottom of his cage. I know that my Louie is just molting. He has tons and tons of pins and loves it when I help him on his head and neck where he can't reach. We have no bald spots or raggety looking spots and that's what I would be looking for.



Alusdra: - Wow, what a difference in Gabe (I assume that attached pic. is Gabe before you got her?) May I ask, what was the reason she was plucking before...if the reason was ever found.

Yeah- that's her like 3 days after I got her. No reason was ever found though the previous owner said (direct quote here) "likes lots of attention (helps with the plucking)"

Personally I think it was a combination of mild neglect (being nice to previous owners as she is so well-mannered they must have spent a lot of time with her at some point) and not enough moisture. I notice that she has really dry skin and since having her I play with her every day and she takes a nice hot (not actually in the water, but she gets all steamy) shower with me and then a real decent soak every week or so. She has these little hard curled up things under her feathers that have since been loosening up- they were really old pins!

Birds preen on a daily basis as has been stated previously, They are cleaning the feathers and re-arranging them and as they drag them through their beaks it actually realigns the feathers themselves...each little part of the feather have little barb like areas on them and by running it through their beaks it acts kind of like how a zipper works and puts them all back smooth again. It helps them regulate body temps etc. And also helps them with flying when they are allowed...

As also was stated previously, Birds molt twice a year Early to mid spring and late summer to mid fall (this can vary depending on your climate)

Each bird might molt differently Some of my birds let loose of their feathers where there might only be one or two a day, others will have dozens all at one time but there still isn't a bald place.

As Alusdra stated humidity can play a part as well...just like in humans dry skin is itchy, when it itches you scratch and in a birds situation they may pluck the feather to get to the itchy place.

Regular baths and misting will help keep their plummage in good condition. Some birds require more bathing than others. I usually give all my guys a Good soaking shower at least once a week sometimes twice...I'll mist them a couple times a week and several of them insist on bathing in their water dish daily...So it just depends on the bird. A bath everyday won't hurt them as long as you make sure they are given the bath early in the morning so they are sure to be completely dry before they retire for the evening, and they are kept out of drafty area's.

Molting occurs when a new feather is ready to come in, and its sort of like when kids lose their baby teeth...soon after the new tooth appears. Usually with in just a day or two a new feather (pin feather) will be coming in to take the place of the old worn out feather.

Hope we've all helped answer your questions.

Buddy is doing just fine then, normal peening We've had him for awhile and have only retrieved few feathers from the bottom of the cage. Since my fid is still full flight bathing is up to him, but I do like the idea of misting I'm going to try that......Thanks for all the great info