More yellow feathers with each moult

[Alliusis]

Hi all

My boy Joey is slowly gaining more and more yellow feathers on his head with each moult. At first it was just two tiny little yellow feathers above his eyes (two years ago when I got him - unknown age). Now he has yellow angry eyebrows, a yellow patch above his nares, and a large yellow spot on his head. He is my baby boy and I love him so much. I have heard that sometimes yellow feathers can indicate liver issues. I will be booking an appointment with the avian vet when I can. But has anyone else experienced this with their linnies?

He's been on Harrison's High Potency Super Fine for a year and a half now. When I got him he was on a seed diet, then I got them on Tropican pellets, and then switched them to Harrison's High Potency. He also sneaks the budgie's seed on occasion, and likes to eat Harrison's bird bread and any fruit and veggies I offer. Is being on High Potency for too long a problem?

I'll get a picture tomorrow of where he's at now, but this is a bit of the progress with time from March 2019 to Jan 2020 (last year):

 

[Just-passn-thru]

Hi all

My boy Joey is slowly gaining more and more yellow feathers on his head with each moult. At first it was just two tiny little yellow feathers above his eyes (two years ago when I got him - unknown age). Now he has yellow angry eyebrows, a yellow patch above his nares, and a large yellow spot on his head. He is my baby boy and I love him so much. I have heard that sometimes yellow feathers can indicate liver issues. I will be booking an appointment with the avian vet when I can. But has anyone else experienced this with their linnies?

He's been on Harrison's High Potency Super Fine for a year and a half now. When I got him he was on a seed diet, then I got them on Tropican pellets, and then switched them to Harrison's High Potency. He also sneaks the budgie's seed on occasion, and likes to eat Harrison's bird bread and any fruit and veggies I offer. Is being on High Potency for too long a problem?

I'll get a picture tomorrow of where he's at now, but this is a bit of the progress with time from March 2019 to Jan 2020 (last year):

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Nutrient dense diet." Congrats "on offering your Avian companion, one of the best formulated diets for Bird's, " HARRISON'S ".

Most likely his feathers are displaying the health of his overall system.

Depth and intensity of color saturation is an indicator of over - all wellness.

 

[camelotshadow]

You might want to try to look into researching Harrison's Daily Maintenance. Hi potency may be better during stress, hi activity, weaning or food changes or breeding where they need extra nutrition. Might not need it after 1 1/2 years but don't think extra protein would change feather colors

Read This
Too much protein is often fed to pet birds and this leads to problems in the liver and kidney.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/VM/VM06700.pdf

 

[camelotshadow]

Can't say for sure if too much protein can be harmful as some think it is & how much is too much but if your bird is an adult not breeding & eating well they might be good on Harrisons Lifetime maintenance. Anyway something to think about & you could do some research.

 

[Just-passn-thru]

Can't say for sure if too much protein can be harmful as some think it is & how much is too much but if your bird is an adult not breeding & eating well they might be good on Harrisons Lifetime maintenance. Anyway something to think about & you could do some research.

Kidney disease...
Presents in avian kindney disease, as darkening feathers not vibrate color saturation. Not necessarily to to indicate potential illness.
If Kidney disease is a diagnosis, depending on stages , diet should be formulated to the degree of prognosis , by an avian vet.

 

[Dona]

This might not be a poor health issue. Green Linnies get various yellow feathers as they age. Perhaps Joey is older.

 

[Dona]

Here's an article about color changes in Linnies. It might just be the normal aging process or like others above have said, maybe a liver issue.

books

 

[Alliusis]

Thanks everyone, this has been really informative! I really appreciate the quick answers. I will read through the links posted today. I will look at changing their diet to maintenance, it is true too much of a good thing is still too much.

The vet had a cancellation tomorrow so I will be taking him in. He's also had some respiratory issues and the rest of his feathering has been a bit off, I see more grey fuzzies than I did when I first got him. I'll let you know.

Here's his picture from today.

 

[camelotshadow]

All I said was that some experts in bird nutrition think that too much protein can have negative affects on birds especially on liver & kidneys.
It seems to put more stress on organs to excrete the unused breakdown of the extra protein.
My intention was to suggest that the birds diet be evaluated as perhaps the high protein diet was or was not needed.
I cited a few articles as examples. They are in no way an complete search. I suggested that the diet could be researched for future reference as it could effect a birds health but did not give it as a reason for the extra yellow in feathers. I am not a vet or nutritionist as most of us are not but I thought I'd pass along the information to help us research & make more informed decisions. A bird with compromised liver etc may have to his liver work harder to excrete the extra protein which may not be necessary. So a healthy bird might not be compromised by too much protein. While 20% protein is not that high for a healthy birds organs to handle who knows what stress it could put on a bird that has some health issues.

Harrisons does seem to suggest using Hi Potency for least 6 months & gives some examples of the situations in which the need for extra protein is useful. They suggest it for birds recovering from liver or kidney disease. (Which seems to contradict as its been suggested thattoo much protein can be hard on the liver & kidneys)

HIGH POTENCY FINE-Harrison's Bird Foods

Cockatiel, Quaker, Lovebird, Conure, Lory, Dove, Pigeon, Myhah, small pellet,

store.harrisonsbirdfoods.com

Hi Protein & liver & kidney disease is discussed in this thread.

Harrison's High Potency for Liver??

I am obsessed with checking out new foods :lol: I have more pellet kinds here right now than your average pet store. Even then, I was looking at Harrison's, which I haven't tried in a while because Jingo hated it so much when I first brought him home. But I saw this in the description of the...

forums.avianavenue.com

Post #59 response from Harrisons


Dear Shawna,
Thank you for writing to us with your question about High Potency.

It is the fat/protein ratio to consider between the two diets.
High Potency Coarse is 3 times as high in fat (or twice as high in HP Fine) as Adult Lifetime, but only 3% higher in protein.
Sick birds need extra energy. So via such a ratio a bird actually eats less protein per gram of fat on High Potency and the bird will eat less, by weight, thus less protein than AL
Obese, fatty liver, elevated cholesterol and birds with atherosclerosis are sick birds and are not able to metabolize/store fat but instead use muscle for energy. Thus it is a common presentation for a thin bird to still have areas of stored fat (liver, peritoneum).
HP is also slightly higher in vitamins and precursors, fiber and minerals. HP will turn a sick bird around quicker.

As liver disease is considered invariably a result of improper nutrition Dr. Harrison's traditional approach to liver patients involves the recommendation to use High Potency - but feed smaller amounts and be very strict in regard to any other foods that are being fed. In addition to HP only offer leafy greens (seed, tablefood etc. home-made diet concoctions should be removed). This is a long established measure to primarily treat the nutritional deficiency used by Dr. Harrison with years of excellent result – the liver subsequently improves.

The protein content is perfect for a variety of needs, not limited to diet change, bird healing, molting, growing or recovering from an illness. More importantly, we have decades of outstanding results in feeding High Potency and no protein issues when fed as directed (ie limited supplementation).
However if the bird is currently is experiencing full organ failure your veterinarian will make specific diet recommendations.

These are decisions your veterinarian can help you with.
Please let us know if you have any other questions..

All the best,
Jean





Research & make adjustments for your particular bird. Probably nothing wrong in giving a healthy bird HHP but I am not a vet & since I found some advice that too much protein can have some negative affects I thought it should be decided whether a bird needs the extra protein & if its OK as a lifetime formula when Harrisons has a lifetime Maintenance blend too.

Good you are seeing the vet. please discuss diet with them & get there opinion on whether 20% protein in Hi Potency is OK as a longtime diet for your bird & the feather color change.

 

[camelotshadow]

Note does seem to suggest a generally yellowing of feathers could indicate liver disease. This tries to explain how birds feather colors develop so is a good read.

Bird Health And Feather Color Changes

Pet Central looks at bird health within the context of feather color changes and when you should see a vet.

be.chewy.com

.

 

[camelotshadow]

FEATHER CHANGES IN PARROTS AND COCKATOOS |

www.melbournebirdvet.com

Yellowing of a bird in this article seems to indicate possible liver issues so do ask the vet.
Your bird just has a few yellow patches which could be normal for your bird but since you are concerned its a good thing you have it checked out.

 

[Alliusis]

This is great, thank you all for the resources and education. I'm aware of the dangers of too much fat and not enough nutrition in the diet (my budgies are still seed junkies) but I didn't know the possible dangers of too much protein. I give them the Harrison's Bird Bread and added one more egg into the batter than listed on the packaging. This is just more protein into their diet that they might not need, or could be hard on the liver. I will mention his diet over the past few years to the avian vet and I'm thinking we may do a blood test if she deems it appropriate.

There's always more to learn about parrots and nutrition and proper care, it's fascinating.

 

[Alliusis]

Update: He went to the vet today. The vet said his lungs all sound clear, but she also noticed when he was put back down, his breathing rate was faster than normal (I had observed the same thing and was one of the reasons I brought him in). This could indicate something pressing on the air sacs/lungs in his body. This, combined with the fact he has yellow feathers coming in, makes her suspect a possible enlarged liver or some other abdominal mass. We did a blood test today and they said the results should be done in one-two days. We also got enough blood for a DNA test at the same time.

Depending on the results of the blood test, she also said an xray would also be recommended. We'll see what the results are and if an xray would help, we'll give Joey a week of rest before sending him in. I asked about anesthetics, and they said they generally do xrays without any anesthetics (which is good - a whole nother story, but my other linnie was declining and I was discussing an xray with a different vet, but a friend's parrotlet had just died after coming out of an xray on anesthetics and I chose not to because I got scared. It turns out she had an abdominal mass but we were too late to do anything and she passed away, I feel horrible and it haunts me), but they will sometimes use what's essentially a birdie valium to calm them down for the xray (but they're still conscious).

I asked her about the high potency diet, and she said it shouldn't make a big difference - but if he's an older bird it could be too much for his body to process. I bought a bag of Harrison's Maintenance.

Dona, thank you for sharing that linnie book, it was very fun to read about the behaviours I've noticed in my own little flock. Camelotshadow, thank you very much for sharing lots of resources, it's good to read about what it could possibly be so I can discuss with the vet.

 

[Alliusis]

Update: His blood tests came back, and the vet said they looked great - no infection, no liver or kidney issues. I'm so relieved! We are going to wait for the results of the DNA test to come back, and then we'll move to an xray to see if there is an internal mass that's causing his faster respiratory rate. The yellow feathers could therefore be age, just like Dona mentioned.

 

[camelotshadow]

Glad the bloodtests came back normal & the vet is trying to make sure they are OK & find out whats wrong.

Yellow could be diet too as but he;d have to be eating alot of yellow food like yellow corn or so I read. Good thing you know the liver is OK so you can rule that out.

Hope its something simple

 

[Dona]

So happy to hear that the blood work is good. I hope the breathing issue turns out well too.

I've said before that my Gigi acts a bit like a feisty Amazon. In 15 years or so I'm looking forward to her being a very old lady with yellow feathers and looking like a teeny double yellow head Amazon.

 

[Alliusis]

Thank you both. He mostly eats his pellets and his greens so I don't think there's enough yellow in his diet to cause it, I hope it's just natural. The only other thing I can think of is I give him "nose kisses" on his head, I wonder if the oils from my nose could be affecting his skin or feather follicles.

And I love that Dona - DYH Amazons are my favorite large parrot, he can be my little DYH!

 

[Alliusis]

Just a quick update, DNA confirms he's male! We're scheduling an xray soon to check things out. I'm hoping to have him with me for many more years so I hope I can find out if there's anything wrong with him or not