Emmi is misrable :(

[KimberlyAnn]

We went to the vet on Friday to get her nails trimmed, double check that Emmi's leg is all better (It is) and to get another five million questions answered. One of them is feathers. Emmi has been dropping them here and there during play etc. Our vet just confirmed that she is going through her 6 month molt! :/

Emmi is so uncomfortable. All she wanted to do tonight was get her head scratched and I'm not sure why she even bothered to ask us. No matter how we did it, we were doing it WRONG! lol

But poor thing, I would scratch her head and she would groan and moan then SCREECH SCREECH SCREECH Bite! Not a hard bite, but just enough to say, "Stop!"

Besides helping her scratch her head and giving her lots baths...is there anything that we can do to help her feel more comfortable? How long will this take? The vet said this will be her longest and most dramatic molt. Sounds fun!

[marie83]

I like to feed slightly higher protien at this time, sprouted seeds and pulses are amazing for this imo as they are packed full of healthy amino acids and vitamins which will help with the moult. I feed these at least twice a week anyway but increase to 5 times a week at moulting time. Other people like to add small pieces of boiled egg or even eggfood etc.

Also don't bank on this moult being the longest and heaviest. Ollie went through a horrendous moult last year which felt like it went on forever. I was starting to worry as none of my other birds had ever gone through one anywhere near that bad but apparently it can happen and is normal.

Btw, you are so right, we can never do head scratches in exactly the right way according to green cheeks:P

[KimberlyAnn]

Ok, I will up the protien. What seeds are best to sprout? I have a bunch of loose millet, should I start there?

[KimberlyAnn]

I started my millet sprouts. I'm using apple cider vinegar to rinse the seeds since I had that on hand and heard you can use that instead of the GSE? She ate a bunch of egg whites and shell! Hopefully she will eat the yolk tonight too. The last few times she would not touch the egg I gave her.

[marie83]

I tend to use tidymix soak mix, its actually mainly beans & pulses but it sprouts really well.
I've not had much luck sprouting millet type seeds but it should be possible, I put my lack of success down to poor quality mixes. Sunflowers usually sprout pretty well for me though.
Dont go too overboard with adding extra protien to the diet

[KimberlyAnn]

Ok, maybe a bit of egg every other day? Before she was only getting protien from her pellets. And I think I have some lentals at home. I will try to sprout those tomorrow. I rear that she should get the sprouts the second I see the little white sprout poking out, is that right?

[Pajarita]

I don't know why the vet said that about the juvenile molt because all they molt is contours so it could never be as bad as a regular molt... As to increasing the protein, yes, but not just any protein, you need to increase methionine and lysine, mostly, so feed lentils (cooked thoroughly) and sesame seed (very tiny so it's best added to the bird's soft food). You can also sprout lentils...

[KimberlyAnn]

Yes, I am sprouting lentals tomorrow!

We will see about the molt. It will be easy or dramatic. I just hope it's over soon.

[KimberlyAnn]

Well my millet is already sprouting and I didn't have lentals on hand like I thought I did so I went for the Quinoa instead...it's already sprouting after a few hours lol Looks like Emmi and I will have a sprout salad. I love Quinoa sprouts!