Severe feather loss

[rfn1]

My female star finch has lost a substantial amount of feathers from her belly, which looks red but not bleeding. There has been some moulting in the last 6 weeks, but this looks much more severe. I don't notice her feathers in the new nest she and her mate has been preparing, but I put in nesting material (which I hadn't replaced since the last cage cleaning 3-4 days ago). She is perky and eating, but she looks terrible. This came on in just a day or so, so I am really concerned. The only thing I changed recently was, ironically, giving them a pinch of Feather Fast. I don't want to move her to separate cage because of the trauma. Any ideas.

[fairestfinches]

Hi!

What did you add the Feather Fast to? Eggfood? Veggies? Or in the water?

Feather Fast is formulated to help a bird complete a molt quickly and with as little physical stress as possible. The other essential supplements your hen needs while molting is iodine and protein (like eggfood or Miracle Meal) 2 - 3 times each week.

When some of our goulds molt, they look like they're just starting to molt then, POOF!, lose almost all of their feathers at once -- look like plucked chickens at that point -- then feather up again in a couple of weeks.

You don't necessarily need to separate the hen from her mate, but I would take the nest away until she's finished molting. Breeding is stressful and so is molting. And, if she's molting, she most likely isn't going to breed for you. Leaving the nest in the cage could entice the male to breed with her.

Michele

[rfn1]

I added feather fast to seed, plus I'm also giving them pellet food that is supposed to have egg food. Also, I've been sprinkling in some egg food on the seed and presenting it moistened. I will continue to do that, plus feather fast. I will have to get iodine. She looks like a plucked chicken for sure, and I'm giving her antibiotics. Worried that her belly looks red and sore. Any additional comments would be welcome.

[Sally]

I have Star finches, and I've never experienced that kind of feather loss with their molt--it tends to be very gradual, I'll see feathers all over the place, and they'll look kind of ragged, but I've not seen them get as bare as you are describing. Also, you say she and her mate have been preparing a nest, sounds like they are in breeding mode, so kind of unusual to go into a molt unless she is reaching the end of her breeding cycle. Whatever is going on with her, I agree with Michele that the nest probably needs to come out--she needs to save her energy for making new feathers.

[rfn1]

I'm new to this, so I was startled by this drastic feather loss when I reported it here. Thanks for your helpful, practical responses. I am happy to report that in the several weeks I reported this feather loss, the young female stayed healthy and chipper. I treated with antibiotics (just in case), separated her, and added a bulb for heat. She never slowed down, but her skin looked terrible and caused me great worry. During the Christmas break (during which I had a bird-sitter for about a week), she started growing back her feathers, now recovering about 1/3rd of her belly, starting up on her chest and going down. She really looks much better, so this appears to have been a scary-looking problem that turned out to be just drastic, sudden, but normal, feather loss. I'm now giving them all drops for healthy skin and plumage, and I have antibiotics handy in case I have another scare like this. Thanks again for the several helpful posts!!

[Sally]

Glad to hear she is doing so much better. It will take her a while to grow all those feathers back, but sounds like she is recovering.