Feathers?

[mallowfly18]

Hi All! Our little 4 month old Linnie, Caspian, looks a little rough lately. He’s been loosing feathers daily and doesn’t look as smooth and shiny as he used to. He also has what appear to be feather shafts poking out all over his head. I’ve attached photos of his little face as well as a pic of my floor pre-dustbusted to show how many feathers he sheds in a day. Is this just a normal molt or is there something wrong with him? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[LinnieGirl]

He’s growing. yes those are little pin feathers showing. Looks normal to me. giving him a spray bath daily will help him feel a little better as the feathers grow out. Giving him scritches and helping to remove the dry shafts will be helpful as well.

 

[Eddie's Aviary]

I wrote a lovely lengthy reply and must have failed to hit reply last week. I was asking a couple of questions as molting is very unusual in this species at this age. Head pins - is someone giving "scritches"? Sometimes with human fingers we accidently knock out head feathers that need to be regrown. Has there been a big change in temperature between the breeder and your home? Is he closed leg banded with the year of hatch? I ask as sometimes an unscrupulous breeder (not saying that is the case here, just throwing it out there) may sell an older bird as a baby in order to facilitate its sale.

You should bump protein in the diet and as LinnieGirl suggested, lots of baths! Even when not molting, Linnies really look and feel their best with daily sprays. If I have a bird that seems to be not coming out of a molt quickly, I love this product HERE.

Those were a few of the points I wrote last week when I didn't hit the post button