African grey molting... little white fluffy feathers?

Question

My grey Storm is 14 months old...

He is always preening himself and when he flaps his wings these little white fluffy feathers go everywhere (lots of them)... how can I help stop this? My other grey doesn't seem to be like this....

Answer 1

It's his first molt and it's normal.  The white feathers are just down just make sure you can't start to see skin.  He's will learn better preening habits as he ages but molts will always be a little different so he's probably irritated give him a little space.

Answer 2

Well, you can't stop it, he is just getting rid of his downy feathers, (the ones that keep him warm) and making way for new feathers. As long as he is not plucking them he is perfectly healthy.

Answer 3

These are his downy feathers and are there to keep him warm. He will be growing new ones for winter and the old ones will be coming out to make room for them

Answer 4

Your bird is going into winter moult!

You can not stop this as it is a normal happening in a birds life cycle.

These soft downy feathers will all come back in.

To help it through this heavy moult make sure it has a supply of Cuttle-bone and a Mineral block,also that it has a good supply daily of fresh greens(in small portions)

Spinach,Kale ,Broccoli,Sweet Corn Cob, Carrot,fruit,if you live in U.K. Dandelion leaves and if you can get the seeding heads before they burst they are are excellent tonics during this period.

All these contain Minerals and Vitamins which are essential to the Moulting process.

Is your other bird older?

Preening is an essential part of a birds daily routine to maintain good feathering, give it a Light spray of Warm water in the morning and another late afternoon if it is not cold they should be dry before they settle down for the night.

Answer 5

Storm - that's so cute! It sounds like he's just moulting. As long as he's not pulling his feathers out and is getting a balanced diet he'll be fine he's just getting rid of baby fluff still.  

Answer 6

He might have a disease called beak and feather.  He might have the feather part of this.  If so, you want to get your other birds out of the same room as soon as possible, and then get him to a vet, also ASAP.