skin or feather problems? Not sure...

[jacquie]

Hi all. For those who don't know I have adopted a four year old senegal. She has been with us for 1 month now. She chews on her flight feathers and under her wings, so I expect those to look rough. She has small white feathers on her head though along with the grey and green ones you'd expect on a Senegal's head. Is this normal, or could it be a result of malnutrition and stress or an illness? Has anyone seen this before? She rubs her head and beak on her branches/perches quite a bit too.

Thanks everyone.

Jacquie

[Shelby]

The little white feathers could be pin feathers. When a feather first starts to grow, there's a little "jacket" around it. In the wild, birds preen each other's heads (because they can reach their own) to remove the "jackets" on the feathers and allow them to finish growing. The head rubbing could be because she's trying to do that. Give her some chew toys and shredable toys that she can destroy instead of her own feathers.

[jacquie]

Thanks! I know the picture is pretty grainy, so it's hard to see. I don't think it is pin feathers. They are very small and fine. She may have a very thin covering of feathers on her head and these are the down feathers showing through. I try and give her a spritz with warm water and lots of head rubs every day. I've been sneaking some palm oil in to her warm food lately to see if her feather condition improves. She doesn't like the taste of the oil much right now, but will eat it if I put in her scrambled eggs.

As for keeping her beak busy, I've discovered she likes pine cones and scrunched up paper poked through her cage bars. She likes to pick them apart and pull them through the cage bars. She still won't play outside her cage, but I am very happy to see her settling enough to start playing inside at least.

Bye for now,

Jacquie

[Michael]

You sure it's not just some down showing through the plumage?

[jacquie]

Yes. These are likely down feathers showing through now that I've looked at them closely. She does get food on her head when she eats her warm mash. Perhaps all the feathers are just a bit matted together up on her head a lot. I'll just keep observing her now that she is on palm oil and hope that the feather picking on and under her wings gets better. From what I've read people seem to feel that palm oil can be very helpful with improving feather condition.

Thanks!

Jacquie