|
|
Post by siobhan on May 17, 2016 15:57:31 GMT -5
Ringo has the WORST molts (she's my starling, for those who don't know). She starts looking raggedy around the first of the year. She loses a bunch of feathers and has all these bald spots. The remaining feathers look like somebody combed them with an egg beater. She continues to look like this and worse for weeks on end. Finally a sprout will appear here and there. Then a few more. By June or so, she's looking like a proper starling again. During the growing-in period, she's testy and short-tempered but also clingy and wants extra attention, which she pays me back for with the squawking and the pecking. She has never yet gone into season, which in starlings is visible by the yellow beak, though she just turned 4. Starling folk tell me I'm not feeding her right, but for a starling who isn't fed "right," she certainly has bright eyes and plenty of energy. Her weight is just fine. I really think the problem is that she's a wild bird living indoors and this has been such a wet and cold spring that she hasn't even had her usual sunning herself in the window opportunities, which doesn't help. We're still using the furnace overnight!
|
|
|
|
Post by Jan and Shah on May 17, 2016 18:11:28 GMT -5
I wouldn't worry Siobhan, as long as she is healthy and a good weight, it is fine. Some birds do have bad moults - whether they are wild or tame. Ringo is a very lucky starling to be living with you.
|
|
|
|
Ugly molt
May 17, 2016 18:12:05 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by wsteinhoff on May 17, 2016 18:12:05 GMT -5
Why do they think you aren't feeding her right? What's her diet? They aren't really seed eaters. Starlings require a diet high in protein, specifically animal proteins and insects and they also eat fruits. I assume you know about StarlingTalk but if not they have a dog/cat food with poultry feed mix that they recommend gets fed every day. The poultry feed and dog food are both high in protein. We get problems with hundreds upon hundreds of starlings flocking to our chicken coop in the winter for the chicken feed. If you do give Ringo enough protein then how about vitamin A or D3? Does she get fruits/veggies and sunlight or a full-spectrum UV lamp? It is possible that it's just something with her. I watch what my birds get and still Casey keeps getting white feathers where normal house sparrows don't get them.
|
|
|
|
Post by siobhan on May 17, 2016 21:20:12 GMT -5
She eats Blue Buffalo cat food and meal worms for treats. She sunbathes in the window and catches any insect that gets into her room. I've tried giving her the chicken mash that Starling Talk suggests and have tried all their suggestions for getting her to eat it and she won't touch it. One of their suggestions, which I refuse to do, was to starve her into eating it. I lost faith in them at that point and went back to the directions my friends who run a wildlife rehab gave me. They're a federally licensed center and know their stuff.
|
|
|
|
Ugly molt
May 18, 2016 11:30:36 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by wsteinhoff on May 18, 2016 11:30:36 GMT -5
Wow they said to starve her into eating it? That's just not right, I'm glad you didn't listen to them then. Casey will eat the chicken mash mix - he'd rather have seeds - but he will eat it if I give it to him. I found that for sparrows and statlings it's easier to mix the chicken/dog food mash with water so it's like baby food. Then when they are at weaning age replace the baby food with that and once they are eating the mash that way let them start weaning with that and gradually decrease the amount of water in it until they eat the dry mix. I know Ringo isn't a baby anymore but will she eat food from your hands? Maybe a method such as this will work (that is if you haven't already done it). I don't know what the diet your rehabber friend gave you is but the ST mix does seem beneficial and certainly not harmful if you can find some way to get her to like it. Have you tried consulting with a veterinarian on her feather problem?
|
|
|
|
Post by siobhan on May 18, 2016 11:55:59 GMT -5
I've tried it all except the starving. They said give her the mix and don't give her anything else and eventually she'll have to eat it. I lasted a day and a half and she did not eat one tiny bite, and birds have to eat every couple of hours. So I pitched it and gave her cat food and she gobbled it up. I'd never seen her eat that much at one sitting before. That was that. The rehab center said not to worry about the feathers as long as she isn't plucking -- and she's not -- and her energy and weight are good. She doesn't have mites because I checked that, too. I haven't taken her to a vet because while my rehabber friends aren't vets, they have extensive training in treating illness and injury in wild birds and they've looked at her and said she's fine. The executive director said the feather situation is "cosmetic" and as long as the feathers come back, even if they do so slowly, it's nothing to worry about. She's indoors so she isn't cold or at risk from a predator.
|
|
|
|
Ugly molt
May 19, 2016 6:03:11 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by wsteinhoff on May 19, 2016 6:03:11 GMT -5
Well if the experts say it's not a problem then I guess she should be fine. If it's been 4 years like this if it were serious something would've come up by now.
|
|
