Feather condition

[Pibly]

My blue mutation male's has some spots on him where the feathers
just will not grow in right. They appear thin and raggedy looking.
He has a bald spot right in the middle of his chest which is just ever so slightly covered over by these lint-like feathers. He had this problem once before, back in April. I took him to the avian vet who couldn't say what it was for sure but gave him a shot of doxycilin. It took a good weeks for any change to appear but he regained his normal feathers back.

Now its happening again though--he's been like this since November.

His droppings, eating and behavior are all normal.
Thinnking it may be some sort of allergy?

Has anyone else experienced this with their mutations? :confused:

Any suggestions?
----Thanks

[Kumiko]

I don't know about mutations, but Kiwi has a bit of greyish raggedy feathers on his chest. I don't know if this would help, but some besides this.... beyond the greyish raggedy spots, there is that white-linty feathers just underneath it that are sometimes quite noticeble.

I have assumed it is stress-bars. Kiwi had it his whole life, but went away during the spring and summer months, but then again started reappearing at the fall as a black color... but now it is easing turning into a grey color and going back to its green. It can't be nutrition becuase I feed Kiwi all sorts of stuff. Sun... problaly. I do take him out in a cage in the Spring and Summer time to catch some rays. Enviroment... HECK NO! It can't be that! lol

....I don't know if this is like your problem though.:confused:

[Wilder]

I don't know about mutations, but Kiwi has a bit of greyish raggedy feathers on his chest.

I have assumed it is stress-bars. Kiwi had it his whole life, but went away

That sounds more like over-grooming or "barbering" than stress bars. From what I know of stress bars, they are dark/black bars on the feather and occur while the feather itself is developing, so if they appear it will only be on new feathers. When whatever is causing the bird stress (neglect, diet, etc.) is addressed, then the next molt should show non-barred feathers.

As for the bird with the bald spot... is he possibly plucking? What sort of diet/cage does he have? Had anything changed in his normal routine before the spot appeared?

[Pado]

If you could post a picture it could help - Its difficulty to say as there are so many different scenarios. Sometimes when my birds are molting I will be able to see a spot of the down sticking out (the gray feathers under the green) but it never lasts long - the green feathers eventually come in and cover it. The first time I saw this I was freaked they might be plucking but it wasn't the case.

If it is barbering ( Leaving the lower portion of a feather behind by breaking the feather’s shaft, often close to the skin, resulting in a stubbed look) I've heard turning on a humidifier could help.

[SweetPeasMom]

if he is plucking, try more humididy, more toys during the day when he might be bored, more things to shred or look through for treats.

[Mustang99]

I'm having the same issue with Kiwi. She has slight stress bars across her chest and black stress bars on her back. These have appeared over the past month and the vet believes that most of the bars are due to her recent crop infections and new feathers should come in fine. She also recommended a UV light for the cage due to the gloomy weather and the fact that even when it is sunny, the UV is filtered out through the window. So I ordered a FeatherBrite for her and she's had it about 3 weeks. time will tell the effect. She does seem to be more active and eating better.