Budgie Molt

[Lady Jane]

Usually Murphy has very bad molts and ends up with a bloody head top. Not this time around. Mickey, my poor little one, is having such a severe Spring time molt this year. She is in the growing new feathers stage with pinnies on head top, around her neck and chest area. She was in the cage earlier and I heard a very loud scream that I never heard from either bird before. She scratched the pinnies on top of her head and was bleeding. I tended to her wound and tried to comfort her. I just put a fresh bowl of Herb Salad in the cage for them to forage through. They both love that stuff. It also smalls good. Since the weather is a bit warmer they are also getting nice, warm spritz baths.

Have any of you noticed a more severe molt this year?

 

[Zara]

Awww poor Mickey!! At least they got a nice salad to enjoy

I notice two massive pin feathers sticking out of Aldoras head the other day, poor girl. She´s having a rough time. She and Jaime have the divider in their cage atm so Jaime can´t preen her properly. They do their best through the bars, poor birdies.
She spent ¨nap-time¨ for the last week wings spread, with her butt up to the divider for Jaime

 

[Lady Jane]

My two are not bonded so no grooming of eachother or feeding eachother. But they stick together like brother and sister but they are not related.

 

[Zara]

But they play together right?

I love the little sounds budgies make, it´s just the sweetest. And Murphy and Mickey are just adorable!

 

[Ripshod]

Have any of you noticed a more severe molt this year?

Oh yeah. It all kicked off a couple of weeks ago. Every morning I was vacuuming dozens of feathers. It has all slowed down now, plenty of pinnies coming in. It's actually started snowing flights and Jack has lost one of his main tail feathers. Yet even with the lost flights they all still fly just fine.

 

[Lady Jane]

Molting describes when a bird replaces some (partial molt) or all (full molt) of its feathers. Birds will also molt if they have lost feathers that need to be replaced immediately. Molting can be so physically demanding that many species of birds cannot fly during this time. Some birds, such as geese, ducks and swans, will molt in seclusion to avoid predators.

It takes extra energy to grow feathers and the right building blocks to grow them. Feathers are more than 90 percent protein, primarily keratins. A bird’s feathers contain 25 percent of the total protein found within its entire body. The main ingredients in growing feathers are amino acids (protein) and lipids (fats). Birds will eat more of their daily diet and/or seek out foods high in protein and fat to satisfy both the extra energy requirements and the needed building blocks.


A diet low in proteins and fats may cause feathers to be improperly colored or form defectively such as being frayed or curved. If their colors are duller, birds may have trouble attracting a mate. If they feathers are defective, it could seriously hinder their flying or insulation abilities.

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

Feathers EVERYWHERE!!!! Although this is Bubbles' first molt so I don't have a basis of comparison. He is also super itchy... and crabby....

 

[Jazzy*]

holly is starting to molt lots of grooming going on and down feathers are all over the ground. have not seen any other feather fall out yet, I can tell she is less active then she has been.

 

[Lady Jane]

Mickey is doing more perch sitting too. Spring molt is really tough on our little ones. Then comes the hormone surges.

 

[Ripshod]

Then comes the hormone surges.

More hormones? NOOOOOOOOO!
Poor, poor Jack

 

[PoukieBear]

One of my hens is having a rough molt right now too, and she also had a bloody pin feather break on the top of her head. Poor girl looks like a total mess right now.

 

[Budgiebonkers]

None of mine are molting yet but when they do they loose all their feathers overnight lol

 

[Davi]

Molting is no fun :-( Remember that some water sprays every now and then can be very soothing! I use a spray bottle and my birds love it most of the time, but especially if they're molting.

 

[JaneLane]

My Cockatiel always seems to have bad molts, she's broken two feathers already, one of them she popped open while dancing on her ceiling and it bled pretty badly, she was horrified and spent around three minutes screaming, we managed to stop the bleeding as well and she was perfectly fine. Maybe its low humidity levels causing them a hard time?

 

[Lady Jane]

The only thing that seems to clean the feathers from blood is soap and water - specifically Dawn detergent. Just a little bit gently. You really cannot wash a pinnie head much.

 

[Lady Jane]

You know your are a bird owner when a stranger picks molted bird feather out of you hair!

 

[Jazzy*]

lol I have never had that happen before. but I have gone into work with a bird fluffy down feather on my clothing.

 

[Lady Jane]

You an see Mickey's little boo boo spot on her head where she had some bleeding from a pin feather. My two are having some afternoon millet.

 

[Fergus Mom]

Awww poor Mickey! They sure are loving their afternoon millet. I thought for a minute there that Murphy was going to give Mickey another spot on her little head when he couldn't get a bite of that millet... ha ha. Lady Jane, do you notice any difference in millet that you buy - as in - difference between the color, brown or white? It seems I have some that mine are not partial to lately, and it seems darker than the other millet sprays I have purchased in the past.

 

[Lady Jane]

I bought a 5 pound box of California Golden millet which I am told is much better than the pet store variety. It was such a large amount. I stored it in a huge old Tupperware container and after a year it is still good. I don't feed them much because they end up in a tiff over it no matter how much I give them. Same thing at the food dishes, Mickey seems to control all the food. It gets a little tough for her when Murphy is going back and forth between the two food dishes. I will sometimes hold a green leaf to Murphy to eat from my hand and he looks at Mickey as if to ask permission. She is so dominant he just does not have a chance.