NEED YOUR HELP, What is on my conure?

[joephone]

I have this sun conure, about 3 months old. It's still active and I don't see any problem.

Today I found some weird thick feathers on his right jaw. All other feather around are small and normal. See the picture attached.

right neck

Could anyone tell me what happened?




Thanks,
Joephone

[Wolf]

They appear to be pin feathers, to me. Don't bend them, you can rub them in the direction that they are growing, but if you bend them the wrong direction they will cause the bird pain, so it may be best to leave them alone. The covering will come off soon enough and leave you with normal feathers.

[liz]

I pinch the feather without pulling on it to crack the wax and make it easier for the bird to get it off.

[Pajarita]

Yep, they are pin feathers. It's the way a new feather grows after they lose the 'old' one (ideally, this should happen once a year). And, yes, you can rub them or crack them open but the ones you showed on the picture are not ready for this and, if you touch them, you will hurt the bird. Feathers grow from a root called a 'follicle' (just like hair does) and inside a keratin sheath (the little hard tubes you see) and there are nerves and blood inside (they are also called 'blood feathers' - and this is why they would hurt if you open them now) until the feather is completely grown when the little capillaries that bring the blood to the tip dry up and wither. When this happens, the keratin sheath will change its appearance (it becomes dull, less translucent and kind of dry to the touch) and you will see the tip of the actual feather peeping out at the end - this is when you can help 'preen' the sheaths off. Bathing also helps a lot because the water softens the sheaths...

[galeriagila]

This thread brings back a memory!
32 years ago, when I first met the Rickeybird in a bird store in New Mexico, I had the same reaction as I first held him. He was about halfway through his big moult into his "big boy" feathers. I was horrified by the sharp little sticky-out things on his belly and the unhealthy-looking wax-papery bases of his wings and tail. The staff explained the situation.
Thanks for reminding me of that very sweet moment.

[Tro]

This brings back memories for me too! The first pin feathers I saw on my parrot were around his mouth and I thought he got splinters from his bird kabob or something .. I read about four books on parrot keeping to before I got my green cheek. Weird how they didn't have pictures of pin feathers in the books. I guess after being around parrots for so long the authors must have forgotten we don't know how a molt cycle actually happens or looks at first!

[Pajarita]

Yes, indeed, that is what happens: things become so very commonplace after years of seeing them that we even forget not everybody knows about them!