Feather Staining?

[daydreams356]

Hey guys. I just have a quick question about my bird's feathers. I cannot find information on it anywhere else. As you all know, I own a 9 month-ish old gray Indian Ringneck. He is fed a great diet of various greens and veggies morning and night and also eats natural, non colored roudybush pellets throughout the day. Lately his head and neck feathers are turning quite a bright shade of yellow. I am curious if maybe he stepped in poo and scratched his head? It has been this way for a few weeks. He has gone through 5 or 6 baths since then and it is as yellow as ever. I am not sure how gray would be stained to bright yellow, but I want to see if this is a possibility before I start looking into vitamin deficiencies or other health issues. He seems to -maybe- be starting to go into his first molt as I've seen a bit more down feathers laying around and his head looks a bit more scruffy in a molty kinda way (you know what I mean hehe) But nothing noticably different to anyone other then me. Personality wise he is as normal, energetic, and sweet as ever.

Here is a photo. Sorry about the lack of quality, it was taken on my iphone as my camera is out of commission until I find a charger.

 

[KimKimWilliamson]

Could your guy be a pied Indian Ringneck?

(Just learnt about his mutation here, the other day from another poster)

 

[atvchick95]

I doubt he's pied the markings would of been there from the time he feathered out

Does he have a Yellow Mineral Block????????? those will stain and will take a lot of baths to lighten it up but usually only molting gets rid of it

Right now because of one I have a Yellow Face Violet Spangle budgie - Granted it makes him look SHARP and now I want one for real lol

or any yellow dyed toys - The dye on toys will come off when wet!(its supposed to) Same Albino budgie as above was an Orange Faced Albino for a long time from rubbing her beak/face on a piece of wood that was dyed orange after she took a bath and was still wet.

I've also had my Albino budgie turn Pure yellow (that was harder to see) along with Pure PINK from mineral blocks

 

[Birdasaurus]

I was wondering about a mineral block too.... I have a red-headed budgie now from a block. No matter how much he bathes it never washes off!

 

[daydreams356]

He has literally nothing yellow except a single block on a toy that he has never touched.... he has shown a hate of chewing orange and yellow. All of the pieces are food dyed from he same place so i would assume that colors he frequents like red and blue would end up on him as well? And his mineral block is white. I'm so lost on what it could be. I assume staining.... but I can't find anything yellow!!!! That fact that it is -so- bright over gray feathering confuses me.

 

[jmfleish]

I would guess that it's part of his mutation. The simple fact that he's grey means that he's a mutation since IRNs are almost exclusively green in their natural habitat. His background must have something in it that's bringing out the yellow in his feathers. Either that, or it's diet but it sounds like you've got him on a good diet. I would see if you can trace his lineage.

 

[Karen]

Lately his head and neck feathers are turning quite a bright shade of yellow.

Are they turning colors or have they molted and come back in yellow?

Health, nutrition, medications and damaged feather follicles can cause temporary changes in feather color.

I have a bird on Thyroid meds and her newly formed feathers have taken on a lot of yellow pigment.

 

[daydreams356]

Sorry I took so long to reply. These do not seem like new feathers which is why I went with staining of some kind. Its strange. I am trying to see if maybe he is getting into something that I have not noticed. Since the yellow feathers are so sparse is hard to see if the yellow goes all the way through to the follicle or if it is just the part showing. He put himself to bed already, but that is my job tomorrow! I'm curious!

 

[Red Jasper]

Hi,

I have an Eclectus who has several feathers turn yellow and over time, more of them have come in yellow. Yellow appears in feathers due to changes in diet, an overabundance of a certain nutrient in a diet, a deprivation of a certain nutrient in diet, medication or a decrease in melanin.

Here is some information about melanin and its role in hair, skin and feathers: What is Melanin?

I've seen many birds with yellow feathers here and there and I've even seen an extreme case that caused an Eclectus boy to turn almost completely yellow. Here is a photo:

You can see that melanin deficiency is evident here because not only are Jimmy's feathers yellow, but his feet have lost their dark pigment as well.

Once melanin becomes deficient, I am not sure what the solution is to restore it or what long-term side effects might be due to the deficiency.

I don't know if this is the cause for your bird's yellowing feathers but I wanted to share this in case others were interested.

 

[daydreams356]

Still havent figured it out, and since it is recent (although his feathering is looking better and more healthy due to diet) I am going to keep looking into other things. HOWEVER, I just remembered something his breeder said to me, which I passed off as a lie earlier. I don't remember the exact combination (mother/father/etc) since it was months ago but when I asked him what his parents were he said one of this parents was something-turquoise. The reason I passed that off as a lie is when I got home I used the genetic calculator, I found out the only thing he could be was turquoise-grey.... and since he didn't have any greenish feathering I passed it off. I haven't been in contact with his breeder for months so I don't have confirmation of this. but I find it strange. Here is a photo I found of a turquoise-grey. Honestly, the feathering is the exact same color... but I still don't know if it would be possible for the color to show up at like 6 months versus when he was younger.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p47/rick_s0910/DSCF0297.jpg