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Bronzed feathers

Alan J.

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I was under the impression that "bronzed feathers" - feathers with black markings, were old feathers , ready to be molted. Alex has quite a few as "skirt" feathers - those blue feathers around the legs. Then I noticed a new feather growing in, that has black markings on it. Is this normal?

Photo is of a molted bronzed feather.

Bronzed feather.jpg
 

Hankmacaw

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That feather does not appear to be a bronzed feather. Bronzing is caused by a bird rubbing the feather enough (usually by playing hard) to rub the surface off and then parts of the feather appear to be a brownish color.

Does Alex have only one of these black rimmed feathers or several? Has he been to a vet for a cbc and chem panel. Feathers will get black edges when there is a liver problem and a chem panel is the way to identify a liver issue.

Does Alex have a lot of fat or protein in his diet?
 

Alan J.

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Our local vets are not great with birds Mary Lynn, but I will have to make a plan. He gets lots of protein, possibly too much. eats a lot of raw cashew nuts daily.
 

Alan J.

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maybe too much of both fat and protein.
 

Alan J.

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Most of his skirt feathers look like that.
 

Hankmacaw

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Just for the heck of it why don't you get Alex some Milk Thistle and start him on it. This is what I give Jasper (she has liver damage from medications she had to take for Aspergillosis). It is very non-toxic and cannot hurt your bird.

See if you can't cut out Alex's cashews (very high in fat) and give him only Walnuts, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts (few). They have the good fats and absolutely no peanuts - really bad on several levels.

Make sure that all of the protein he gets is vegetable protein. Give him lots of vegetables - sweet potatoes, Swiss Chard, Kale, Pumpkin. Other than vegetables and very little fruit he should have free access to pellets. Watch to make sure that whatever pellet you give him doesn't have sugar in it and that it does have additional vitamins and minerals. Here are the ingrdients of Harrison's pellets, generally considered the best in the world.

"*Sunflower Kernels, *Hull-less Barley, *Soybeans, *Peas, *Peanut Kernels, *Lentils, *Corn, *Brown Rice, *Toasted Oat Groats, *Alfalfa, *Psyllium, Calcium Carbonate, Bentonite, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), *Sea Kelp, Salt, *Algae Meal, Vitamin/Mineral Supplement (Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, dl-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Carbonate and *Sunflower Oil)

*CERTIFIED ORGANIC INGREDIENT

Guaranteed Analysis: Crude protein (min.) 18%, crude fat (min.) 15%, crude fiber (max.) 6.5%, moisture (max.) 10%."
 

Hankmacaw

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Can you search the internet for an avian vet near you? You would put in a search command like this - "avian veterinarians near your town". You really need one for Alex a bad vet can do a lot of damage.
 

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Hang in there!
 

Alan J.

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Thanks Mary Lynn and ClueLess. I will check it all out.
 

Hankmacaw

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Macawnutz

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:rofl: I'm sorry

No... I'm not :rofl::rofl:

Very common to have the vent feathers worn with ummm, well o_O

Tiko and Volar's vent feathers look the same as they "rub" themselves often. :facepalm::hilarious:

Are you sure a new feather is growing in like that? I'm doubting it but get a picture. Rump photos please.:p
 

Hankmacaw

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@Macawnutz - that doesn't look like rubbing to me. The black goes all of the way through and looks like it's part of the feather.
 

Alan J.

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The photo is about a year and a half old Sarah. I will get current ones this week. The feathers I am speaking about are below the wing and in front of the yellow tummy / thigh feathers. Looking back over old photos tonight, they seem to have always looked that way, except the black has recently become much darker. The feathers look super, just with those jet black, shiny marks. Alex is also developing sprinkling of black between his shoulders. The new feather that is growing in with black markings is a tail feather and below other tail feathers, so difficult to photograph, as he is super sensitive when his tail feathers are growing in. I will send current photos soonest.
 

Alan J.

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I have stocked up this morning on various nuts Mary Lynn - Brazilian, macadamia, pecan, walnuts and almonds and will begin to try and wean him off the two favorites (and only nuts he will really eat - pistachio and cashew). Alex is also a pain regarding fruit and vegetables, but we began again this morning with mini sweet corn, peas, various peppers, banana and apricots - pretty much all I could get at the local shops.
 

Hankmacaw

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You should hold the Macadamia and Brazil nuts (very high in bad fats) back for special treats, if he likes them. He's no different than you and me. If he has high fat, high sugar food around that will be eaten first. Try some romaine lettuce on him, Hank and Jasper loved that, besides of all of the lettuces it has the most good stuff in it.

It takes time and persistence to change their diet.

Have you had any luck finding an avian vet? If you do go to a vet, ask them to do a CBC and Chem panel and swab on his cloaca and throat. He's about six now - isn't he and never been to a vet? If so it's time to stop any problems before they get bad.
 

Macawnutz

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@Macawnutz - that doesn't look like rubbing to me. The black goes all of the way through and looks like it's part of the feather.

It looks exactly like bronzing to me. These are the vent feathers, from Korbel so no bronzing.

20190108_140801.jpg 20190108_140557.jpg

Volar's have bronzing.
20190108_140656.jpg

The feathers that look as bad as Alan's I throw out but I will look tomorrow at work. I may have one as Volar is molting. :)
 

Macawnutz

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You can even see the bronzing in your old photo. ;) Very common area to bronze. 1. because many do "rub" there and 2. they are often greasy little feathers being so close to the preening gland.

DSC_0098.jpg
 

Alan J.

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Many thanks Sarah, very much appreciated. This puts me much more at ease. I had a friend take photos of Alex today, but they have not yet forwarded them, so I have to post later. Alex has "bronzing" around his shoulders as well, but after you mention "greasy" feathers, these shoulder feathers may be bronzing due to the natural oils on my fingers when I groom him. Thanks again Sarah. I will post the photos as soon as I receive them.
 
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