Help needed

[TeresaG]

Hi All,

My African grey is a Timneh and I've had him for his whole life, he's 10 years old now. He has been fully flighted and never been clipped. I feed him the recommended balanced parrot food for Greys and never seed diet. he gets fresh veggies, fruits, and some nuts mostly almonds, walnuts, and pistachios. He has been in the picture of health. Recently about a month ago he began a hard molt- like the biggest feather molt ever. Now he can't fly like normal. It seems like he can't get enough altitude. He went through a week where he seemed reluctant to try at all. He will try now to fly, but can't maintain lift and ends up having to land early. Any thoughts? He seems to be missing a few long flight wig feathers still, maybe this is just enough that he can't get lift? I've added a bit of coconut oil to his food on occasion because a fellow parrot owner suggested it, but he doesn't seem to like it much.

What can I do to help him grow feathers faster beyond what I'm already doing? My nearest avian vet is over 4 hour drive one way.... He appears in great spirits, talking normally, eating normally, pooping normally, his only change is the feather molting and the flying issue. He's interacting with us normally also.

I find it distressing that all the sudden when he was a beyond perfect flier before, now he can't fly very well.

 

[TeresaG]

I forgot to add, he's normally out a lot. He's in a cage because I have a dog while we are at work, but the rest of the time he normally flies around the house following us of we change rooms. So he's used to flying a lot and getting good exercise prior to this

 

[Max83]

I hope it will be a matter of time and the feathers will grow out fast . Don't know what you could do to help him...maybe he lost some feathers landing too hard into something (apart the big molt I mean)?

 

[sunnysmom]

@BirdGuy21 ? @WeasleyLover ?

 

[NirAntae]

Keep a close eye on him and make sure he's not damaging the incoming feathers due to itchiness.

During one of my grey's molts when she was especially itchy, my vet recommended mixing aloe juice with distilled water (I don't remember the exact ratio, you can probably find a recommendation with a google search) and spritzing it on post-bath (or instead of a bath if they are anti-bathers) to help sooth the itch.

Otherwise I imagine it's likely just due to the molt and will probably resolve itself in time.

If it doesn't get better soon, or you start seeing skin or feather damage, a vet trip might be in order to make sure something 'icky' didn't trigger the super-molt.

ETA: Might want to try and boost his calcium intake, too. Replacing that many feathers all at once has got to be depleting it, and Greys are susceptible to calcium deficiency to begin with.

 

[TeresaG]

Keep a close eye on him and make sure he's not damaging the incoming feathers due to itchiness.

During one of my grey's molts when she was especially itchy, my vet recommended mixing aloe juice with distilled water (I don't remember the exact ratio, you can probably find a recommendation with a google search) and spritzing it on post-bath (or instead of a bath if they are anti-bathers) to help sooth the itch.

Otherwise I imagine it's likely just due to the molt and will probably resolve itself in time.

If it doesn't get better soon, or you start seeing skin or feather damage, a vet trip might be in order to make sure something 'icky' didn't trigger the super-molt.

ETA: Might want to try and boost his calcium intake, too. Replacing that many feathers all at once has got to be depleting it, and Greys are susceptible to calcium deficiency to begin with.

Thank you for those thoughts. We'll try the aloe juice mixture. I'm definitely in agreement on the calcium issue so we'll keep on his diet. He broke a feather last night and then chewed through it below where it comes out so there was no bleeding. If this doesn't turn around soon I'll see first if I can FaceTime an avian vet and then if not we'll have to pack him up for the long trip and hope he can tolerate it. Our local vets are good for dogs and cats and farm animals, they rarely see birds....

 

[NirAntae]

If he's having problems with breaking/chewing feathers, make sure you have styptic powder like Kwik-stop on hand just in case. If he breaks a blood feather, you may have to pull it. (You may know these things already, but better to cover the bases!)

Also remember that spinach, kale, and chards, though high in calcium, have oxalates that reduce calcium uptake, so best to avoid them right now.

 

[TeresaG]

we've got the Styptic but haven't needed it yet. He just chewed the one no others, rest have all fallen voluntarily.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Have you tried sprouts with him? Sprouted garbanzo, lentil, and mung are a good source of plant based protein. Same with sprouted quinoa. Is he plucking/barbering his feathers as they grow in?