Pin Feathers

[S.levy]

Hello,


my greencheeked conure Youppi, is molting, and has a decent ammount of pin feathers around her beak/face. i dont see any other ones on her body, shes pretty good with preening herself frequently. other than bathing, is there anything else i can do to help youppi with her feathers? she itches them alot, and i dont like how it bothers her.


thanks,

[Michael]

Yes, you can break them open for her by rubbing them between your fingers in a rolling motion and you'll see the protective tube flake off. However, it is really important that the pin feathers are mature and ready to go. This is usually when they are long and sticking out so they are pretty obvious and the sheath is beginning to break on its own. This is the point when they get itchy and really appreciate you breaking them open like that for them. However, if you do it prematurely, it will hurt them and most likely will bite.

[zazanomore]

Yes, you can break them open for her by rubbing them between your fingers in a rolling motion and you'll see the protective tube flake off. However, it is really important that the pin feathers are mature and ready to go. This is usually when they are long and sticking out so they are pretty obvious and the sheath is beginning to break on its own. This is the point when they get itchy and really appreciate you breaking them open like that for them. However, if you do it prematurely, it will hurt them and most likely will bite.

Einstein LOVES when I do this to him. It can be a great bonding experience.

[S.levy]

my fingers are kinda too big for some of them, any other suggestions?

[Michael]

You can just kind of stroke/scratch the whole head area and it will scratch off the sheeths as well. If you see flaky stuff falling off, you got it. Remember not to do this till the feathers are matured though.