Pin feathers

[melisroy]

Typing with one hand bc my other one is being occupied as a perch....

My question is, Bip has a lot of pin feathers on his head right now, and I constantly pick at them which he (mostly) loves, but I can't seem to get down to the base of the feather so I only pick half of most of them. Will they eventually get rubbed clean or will he look bedraggled until I can pick every last one?

[EvertonsMama]

Boy we have been going through this with Everton for almost a month now! Before his molt Evie was scared of our fingers but once he started getting lots of pin feathers he quickly realized help grooming wasn't such a bad thing. I have spent weeks rubbing off his pin feathers and noticed only the top half was coming off too. I think they must be growing out on their own or he gets the rest of it himself. He is finally starting to look like our beautiful green boy again, smooth and sleek.

[Rosekeet]

I think once you get the most of it off, the rest will just fall off. Darcy sure looked ragged for a while when he was going through his molt! He'd let me scratch the pin feathers, but I don't really think he liked it that much. He liked having them gone, but not the process.

[LovelySydney]

Oliver had some on top of his head & the clever little bugger would go under one of his rope perches and furiously rub his head on it! Did the trick, though! = )

[chapala]

The part closest to the base stays tender the longest as the blood recedes from the feather. First the tips of the new feathers can be preened to take the coating off, but the base still will be tender. Usually the bird will let you finish them up a week or two later when they're no longer sensitive.

[MsBeanCtr]

Kirby reminds me of the actor in hell-raiser.....he looks like a pin cushion. I've been worried about only getting a section of the pin feather cleared off. I was going to try a soft toothbrush to 'comb' his feathers but he wasn't going to have any part of that.

Thanks very much for the info chapala....I didn't realize that the base of the feather would be so sensitive. I'll leave them alone for a while!

[EvertonsMama]

Thats so funy MsBeanCtr I was calling Evie PinHead too for a while because he reminded me of that same character! He was really rough looking for a while.

[MsBeanCtr]

Thats so funy MsBeanCtr I was calling Evie PinHead too for a while because he reminded me of that same character! He was really rough looking for a while.

:D

Kirby looks so terrible right now. I happened to run across a picture of him taken a few weeks ago.....he was all nice and smooth. He looks like a street urchin right now.

[ParrotletsRock]

Mine is looking better since I introduced him to the budgie...lol.