Senegal Parrot feathers growing in the wrong colors

[FlufferBean]

I have a 14 year old Senegal parrot named Maggie. posting.php?mode=post&f=8# She has been going through a very long, big molt since June. It is now mid-Septmeber and I do not see an end to it.

Now that her feathers are coming in, some are actually a different color (for the first time)! Light orange under the beak (instead of gray) and splashes of yellow on top of her head and around the back of her neck (where the feathers should be gray or green, respectively).

She goes on and off of calcium supplementation (drops in the water) and is off of the supplementation now. Considering starting it again but think she avoids water when there are vitamins in it...

She is eating ZuPreem and LeFaebers Nutriberries (and fresh foods like pea pods, carrots, warm organic (gluten free) oatmeal. etc.). I have tried and failed with Harrison's. She is outside in indirect sun nearly every day and has a UV light that we use anytime b/w 10-4.

I have read that color changes with feathers could indicate a vitamin deficiency but the vet says that the deficiencies listed in the article I found cannot be tested on a parrot in a normal vet setting. I am an American living in Hong Kong that relies on a very good exotics vet clinic but I am pretty frustrated right now....perhaps it is the pollution in HK??.....posting.php?mode=smilies&f=8#
any advice???

[Grey_Moon]

I've actually read that this can be caused by the preservatives/colourants in the pellets/too many pellets. Certain birds react poorly to the overdose of some nutrients and relative lack of others as well as the lack of live enzymes and nutrients.

Has there been any major changes in the water quality/health status/food type intake within the last 12 months? Because that'd be where I'd start looking.

Its only within the last six months for example where I changed my grey's diet radically that she's gone through a heavy molt and is now growing these beautiful grey-blue feathers. On pellets she was sort of grey-brown.

If you're concerned about her lacking certain nutrients your best bet is to add whole natural foods containing those vitamins/minerals and see if there's a change. This will avoid overdose and malabsorption issues common with synthetics.

I would stop the synthetic calcium personally as many other nutrients (vitamin K and D are notable ones) are needed for its proper absorption and storage (in the bones vs the arteries and organs) which is best attained in natural food. It is also going to be the most bioavailable form and is less subject to overdose.
To boot it rapidly multiplies bacteria in the water and also becomes inactive in water as it begins to break down, so again I'd no longer offer it.

Unfortunately the only way we can take a layperson's guess to the nutritional status of the bird is to look at the condiition of the skin, feathers, nails and beak. If you see an improvement in her feathering/beak etc then you know the change was a good one.