Birdie "PMS" - Parrot Molting Syndrome

by Marilu Anderson
Bird Nutrition and Behavior Consultant
Phone: (503) 771-BIRD

It's a fact of life - all our bird friends go through "P.M.S." several times a year! I am talking about "Parrot Molting Syndrome" for lack of a better term! It means emotional and physical changes, which can result in behavioral disturbances. When my 4-year-old Blue and Gold Macaw, Amber, goes into a molt you would swear she was "P.M.S.ing!" All of a sudden she's moody and irritable and cranky. Why? It takes a tremendous toll on the body to replace every single feather! New pin feathers coming in are itchy, if rubbed the wrong way, can be painful. Nutritionally, the body needs more nutrients during this time, especially fatty acids and minerals, particularly calcium. So, it's a time of transition, which can be eased with your help.

Let's look at the dynamics of molting and feather production. Roughly 10% - 20% of body weight is feather. The creation of which requires certain nutrients. The majority of birds in our homes suffer from some degree of malnutrition - it's still the leading cause of death in companion birds - and you may not even be aware of it! The essential amino acids lysine and methionine are especially important, as are choline and riboflavin. Long periods between molts, failure to produce new feathers, and feather weaknesses and abnormalities can all be indicative of nutritional deficiencies. Some birds seem to be in a state of continual molt, while others go through an obvious molt once or twice a year. Most birds grow heavier plumage during the cold winter than they do in summer. Softbills exposed to too many hours of artificial light will go into an extra or prolonged molt. Covering the cage at night may be helpful. Parrots generally molt year round rather than seasonally, although you'll notice it more in late summer.

Heavy molts DO affect personality! You may see a decrease in playing or talking, in addition to the grouchiness. Your bird may seek out more of your attention, hoping you'll help preen the incoming pin feathers. More frequent bathing is also helpful during molting. Expect to see a lot more dander and "floaties" in the air, in addition to lots of fallen feathers.

Almost 90% of a feather is composed of protein, so molting is the time to increase protein foods in the diet. Shredded chicken, hard cooked egg whites, tofu, cottage cheese and yogurt are good additions, along with legumes, whole grains, and nuts. The fatty acids in the grains and nuts are also needed for healthy skin and feathers. I usually supplement extra flax seed oil during molts. Be sure quality pellets are available daily as well as lots of veggies, like broccoli, carrots, yams, pumpkin, corn, and swiss chard.

If wing clipping during a molt, be aware of blood feathers on the wings. Clipping a feather with a live blood supply can cause persistent bleeding, requiring the feather to be pulled in order to stop the bleeding. If you bird's wings are clipped mid-molt, be aware that a touch-up trim later may be necessary to keep your bird from being too flighted.

Just remember that molting is a natural phase all birds go through, in order to replace old worn out feathers with shiny new ones! Expect some irritability and crankiness during this time - it's normal. Help out by preening pin feathers, giving frequent baths and boosting their nutrition.

Birdie PMS - Parrot Molting Syndrome

We're just finishing up the late summer molting here. It was especially hard on Kita as it was her first molt in over 2.5 years. I have been giving some extra protein, giving extra showers and they have decided they want an earlier bedtime. Even with doing all I can to help they're both very Crumpy!

What are some of the things you do to help your birds through a molt?

Well every day I shower, Jean goes into the shower with me.

Every time I eat (I have been doing my best to change my diet) he gets usually some pasta with a lil cheese on it for calcium.

About once a week he got a hard boiled egg.

He also got my Humidifier out because I have extremely bad nose bleeds in my sleep during the winter so it's normally put away for half the year, he got it out early and it was put near his cage to make the sheathes on the new pins come off easier.

He got lots and lots of scritches where permitted so I could try and get them off him without him putting himself out too much.

But then he's a He...I think. I just realised I was never submitted a notirized form from his previous owners saying he was male, just an adoption paper saying he was.

good article karen, thanks for posting!

Marilu Anderson "The Bird Lady" is an acquaintance of mine and lives here in Portland, OR. Avian Goddess I highly recommend her for behavioral work, nutrition and bird boarding. She is a great lady!

How neat!! Deb, do you know if she does phone consults?

OK well the article is nicely written but honestly I think the author is deferring to people who are seen with unnatural conditions since as Karen pointed out once on another thread, our birds are really not kept in optimum conditions if you compare to outside birds. I think she's being diplomatic when she says you see parrots molting all year long or multiple times but for me, it's not normal and a goal to keep it to when it's supposed to be whenever we can.

There IS ONE season for molting and that's now in the Northern Hemisphere (ending now). <ducking for cover, now lol>

Because you cannot scientifically breed and molt in the same season since both require 100 percent of body functions and it's not possible to lay eggs, feed and fledge a clutch while you molt which requires all that same protein. The species would die out.

So like clockwork they molt in fall, rest in winter, breed in spring, fledge babies in summer and start the molt again.

All kinds of things cause a "soft molt". Protracted over months or one continuous molt after the other but mostly too much protein. And wacky photoperiods. And yes soft bills are more predisposed especially canaries if you mess up their photoperiods you have a terrible time.

So during a true molt I raise the protein a little, give baths, raise the humidity and wait. Nobody ever molts out of season and same with most of my friends who follow the same theories as me.

That doesnt include birds recouperating from malnutrition, bad husbandry or other health problems. I think it's to be expected they molt wacky when their bodies are for the first time getting good food and good photoperiods etc.

Karen, I'm completely sure that Kady and Kita will continue to have better years as they go forward until they're on a "normal" schedule it's just gonna take time imo. Poor Kita how stressful to have her first big molt in who knows how many years. And good for her that she's been playing with her little ball all along.

And following the natural daylight schedule even if it's not "perfect" (what is?) will help all year long, too.

I cant believe how quickly Piper and Toby are roosting earlier and earlier every week but it just occured to me it's October already pretty much....I'm running around like a nut from 4 till 6 and they're up on the chandelier tonight at like, 5:30! (their "pre roosting spot, waiting for me to change the cage paper lol). They'd be perfectly happy to go to the sleeping room by 6.

They molt much later in the year than the Budgies but it seems in the wild they breed later too, like July so they must be on a different internal clock...

Here's an older link when we were discussing it in the spring.....

Down feathers all over

I got that impression from the article also.

Kita had what I would call a soft molt in Feb or maybe it was March. She lost quite a few feathers on her head. But looking back, and armed with a bit more information now I can attribute it to too much protein in her diet for that time of year.

I say it's been at least 2.5 years, but it's more than likely been longer. When Kady and Kita left their home to go live with the breeder, the breeders vet came to the home in Dec. '04 to get a blood sample for sexing and for some reason clipped their feathers. When I got Kita a year and a half later she still had those same clipped feathers. She just molted the last clipped feather 2 weeks ago!! Hallelujah!

I wish she would molt more, her body feathers are almost gone. It's hard to describe what I mean but her blue body feathers are almost stripped of pigment and the barbs (or is that barbules) are VERY sparse.

But I'm just grateful her body is finally strong enough to sustain a molt.

LOL, I hear that! It's the same here, trying to get everything done to get them to bed at the earlier time they've been wanting.