excessive molting/slight weight loss: why?

[AnnaMission]

Our green nugget of love is as perky and boisterous as can be - but she has got an awful lot of pin feathers on her head, and she seems to be molting excessively. Her weight is also a bit of a concern - she seems to be skinnier than usual.

We haven't changed her diet any - she is *the* pickiest eater ever though, and I'm starting to think both issues I've brought up are due to a nutritional deficiency. I've spent a lot of time looking through these forums - and they ROCK, BTW - but I'm still at a loss as to how to help her, get her to eat more (and better)...

Any help, expertise, or slaps upside the head are welcome. This is my first post, so bear with my naivete.

Thank you so much!

[GRANNYAT50]

How old is your nugget? As for the weight you cannot judge by looking at your bird you really need to weigh them. My two range from 28 to 30 grams. They fluctuate. I went and bought a digital kitchen scale and use that. I do what my vet did and I put an ice cream bucket on the scale and turn it on and since it was off when i put the bucket on it reads 0 then I pop my bird in the bucket at weigh them that way. Good luck and welcome to the forum

[GRANNYAT50]

Also just keep offering different foods and treats and seeds and pellets and you will do alright. At about 4 months mine molted and then again at like a year. They are molting right now

[enborgle]

I will second the suggestion that you try to get a weight on their bird - small fluctuations are normal but this will tell you if your bird is underweight. Lacklustre feather quality and lengthy molts can be nothing or they can be indicative of something much more serious than a simple nutrition deficiency, but getting an accurate weight is a good start to help you decide whether veterinary attention is warranted.

[AnnaMission]

She's 2 1/2. Thanks for the suggestions on the scale! I'll definitely get one.
She just looks so...mangy...rough around the edges, know what I mean?
I'll take her to the vet soon just to get her scoped out - I just didn't know if there was something I could do immediately.

[Bodie]

Excellant suggestion about the scale. Very important. You might try birdie bread. I make Harrisons and Bodie likes it. Bodie has a lot of pin feathers also on his head and is going thru a molt now so lots of showers/ misting is a must. I give Bodie his spa bath 6 days a weeks with the weekends making them a total soak down. It helps to make the keratin casing around the new feathers easier to come off and makes them more comfortable.

Hope this helps.:)

[michiganlet]

I help remove the pin feathers on Jesse's head. I very gently pinch them between a thumb nail and index finger nail. Then I kind of scratch his head.
They need help getting rid of the head pin feathers.

[Jinx n Noodle]

I would just second everybodies suggestions from above. Otherwise, mine do look "mangy" sometimes too with a heavy molt. In fact, Jinx (9 years old) is looking pretty bad right now too:)