# Moulting



## AlicjanPip (Jun 19, 2013)

Just wondering what kind of experiences people have when their pigeons are going through the moult/molt?

In terms of...

Appetite?
Breathing (any breathing troubles}?
Energy and General Behaviour?

Big thanks, I appreciate your thoughts


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## Abdulbaki (Jul 31, 2013)

Quote from birding.about.com :
_""Moulting is The process of shedding worn feathers as new feathers are grown in to replace them. All birds molt, but each species has a different molting cycle. Some birds molt only once per year, while other species may molt several times a year, most often to exchange showy breeding plumage for more camouflaged non-breeding plumage, or as young birds outgrow their down and mature into their adult plumage. Some birds also molt continuously throughout the year, gradually replacing all their feathers over a longer period of time. A typical molting pattern is symmetrical on both sides of a bird's body""_. END
IME : it is not Advised to let your pigeons breed during this period b/c they become weak stressed and exposed to illness so it is better to separate them ...
for appetite I never noticed any change ... breathing too but if a pigeon is moulting and infected this natural period could worsen the Situation.. it is very Important to let them bath twice!
Hope I helped somehow
Regards,


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Molting put stress on pigeon's body. If a bird is healthy he won't show any change in specifically except for looking ugly and thin. My birds eat more feed and grit. They utilise calcium,protein and fat reserves to fight off stress induced by moulting on body. So they loose some weight. Ample rest,less handling and bathing twice during heavy moult is required.
Pigeons with ill health may show symptoms of respiratory or trichomoniasis. Actually all other illnesses if a pigeon has can manifest themselves as pigeons body goes under stress.


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## AlicjanPip (Jun 19, 2013)

Hi Abdulbaki & Brocky Bieber  thank you for replying!
Yeah, I didn't think moulting affects a pigeon that terribly aside from making them more nervy and scruffy looking.

Which is why my Pipi has been making us continuously worry. He doesn't seem to be loosing feathers as of today, but his whole body is covered in new 'needles'. And just like his post-sickness-half-moult in June, he has been exhibiting respiratory signs again.

Slight open beaked breathing, slightly heavier breathing. No discharge however, nor sneeziing or discoloured throat. Sometimes there is a raspy sort of 'quack'...this happens mostly when nervous, or after he gets hyped up.

As of 4 days, his appetite has changed. He has stopped eating peas (which he usually loves - except for one short phase last year where he went off them too for a few days), and is preferring to eat wheat, safflower, milo, hemp seeds and bread balls instead. Appetite not as ferocious as before the moult began.

He's very nervy.

We're worried why this breathing thing always comes and goes. His mate is into laying eggs now, gah, more stress.

By the way, what colour poops are 'normal' healthy poops in your opinion?

Pip continuously seems to have khaki white capped ones - the khaki ranges from pea green to brown khaki, but is almost never a real nutty brown like we seem to hear is what it should be.

:/


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

When I hear pigeon making raspy sound,I would think of some sort of respiratory or fungi/yeast infection. But ur pigeons is not showing other signs of repiratory,so his lungs may be infected by fungi or yeast. Air sac mites can also clicking sound. But u've already treated for those. May be its the weakness that causing open beak breathing but raspy sound shouldn't be there. How loud is it?...

Where is he kept? Is the loft open or close?


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## Abdulbaki (Jul 31, 2013)

Keep him somewhere open and fresh could be infectious catarrh but it's just my opinion ... If possible take him to a vet don't let him breed in this period; molting + breeding stress = a sick / weak bird!
my normal / healthy pigeon's poop looks khaki or olive green with some white whitin it if his droopings aren't solide then something is wrong .. usually watery poops indicates diarrhea caused by so many factors ; internal parasites, Trich , salmonella , cocci , worms... etc etc


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

be sure to quote before pasting information taken from another source. one can get in trouble if not.


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## Abdulbaki (Jul 31, 2013)

spirit wings said:


> be sure to quote before pasting information taken from another source. one can get in trouble if not.


Yes Spirit wings I'm sorry I didn't find the way to do it  my bad


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## Rod Hultquist (Aug 23, 2009)

Pigeons generally don't experience any problems going through their molt. This a natural phenomenon that occurs annually. This is a resting time, in other words no racing or breeding. As long as the pigeons have good food(some fanciers like to add some small seeds to feed mix like flax, hemp or canola) Additionally, I like to add some iodine (about 5 drops to a litre) to the water once a week to support the thyroid gland.


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## AlicjanPip (Jun 19, 2013)

Rod Hultquist said:


> Pigeons generally don't experience any problems going through their molt. This a natural phenomenon that occurs annually. This is a resting time, in other words no racing or breeding. As long as the pigeons have good food(some fanciers like to add some small seeds to feed mix like flax, hemp or canola) Additionally, I like to add some iodine (about 5 drops to a litre) to the water once a week to support the thyroid gland.


Hello Rod, thank you for answering 
My pigeon is on wheat, milo, safflower, and hemp as of the last 4 days. He has peas too, but for some reason, seems to show no interest in them whatever. He's also been eating some breadballs.

Do hemp seeds dicolour poop, make it dark green and cause it to be of really solid, sticky, tight consistency?

What kind of iodine do you use? I live in Sydney, Australia.

Big thanks!


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## AlicjanPip (Jun 19, 2013)

brocky bieber said:


> When I hear pigeon making raspy sound,I would think of some sort of respiratory or fungi/yeast infection. But ur pigeons is not showing other signs of repiratory,so his lungs may be infected by fungi or yeast. Air sac mites can also clicking sound. But u've already treated for those. May be its the weakness that causing open beak breathing but raspy sound shouldn't be there. How loud is it?...
> 
> Where is he kept? Is the loft open or close?



Hi Brocky, 2 weeks ago, Pip's dropping did show low levels of yeast, yet negative to fungi. No blood work was done however.
Can dander or feathers get stuck in windpipes? Or, can a bird be truly that unfit, that he snort rasps after excitement? He's been putting on weight since his major sickness in June, but he doesn't get much exercise...seems to prefer sleeping on me instead. He never really learnt how to fly properly.
Him and his mate live in a semi closed of enclosure...2 walls are wire, 2 are wood, with wooden roof. Not big, but cosy. I open the roof to let extra sunlight in.
The noise can be described as a disgruntled 'hrumpf hrumpf'...like a snorty rasp, mostly heard after exertion, panic, excitement...sometimes, rarely, during preening and rest. Occasionally there is like a inner 'hrfeee' wheeze accompanying it a couple of times. I need to record it.


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## AlicjanPip (Jun 19, 2013)

Abdulbaki said:


> Keep him somewhere open and fresh could be infectious catarrh but it's just my opinion ... If possible take him to a vet don't let him breed in this period; molting + breeding stress = a sick / weak bird!
> my normal / healthy pigeon's poop looks khaki or olive green with some white whitin it if his droopings aren't solide then something is wrong .. usually watery poops indicates diarrhea caused by so many factors ; internal parasites, Trich , salmonella , cocci , worms... etc etc


Hi Abdulbaki, yeah, I'll be taking him to the vet on Monday. So your pigeons don't have a nutty brown poop either! I always got told that is what it should be. The droppings are solid. Yesterday's forst dark greens were too solid...really tight and sticky. Today the khaki colour has a more normal consistency...in one poop, there was one undigested wheat shell in it.

What do really tight small solid dark green droppings indicate? Constipatiion? He's been having hemp seeds included in his diet this week.

Thankyou


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## Rod Hultquist (Aug 23, 2009)

The iodine I use is called "Lugols solution"


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## Doig (May 18, 2013)

Hello, I have no clue what you guys are talking about with the Iodine so, if anyone wants to explain that... that would be cool but not necessary. 

Anyways, I have noticed my birds resting more compared to moving a lot. After eating, most just goes back onto their perch and "sleep" it all off. 

Normal?


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## Rod Hultquist (Aug 23, 2009)

From Dr.Colin Walker's Book...."Provide a diet with adequate levels of protein and essential trace elements, such as iodine, during the molt."

Some sorces for iodine:
Lugols solution - add to water
Red Cell- add to water
Blitzform- add to water
Calf mana pellets mix with feed


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Calf manna should not exceed 3 to 5 percent of the feedmix.
If one is using iodinised salt 2% mixed with grit all year around then the birds should stay okay during molting. Calcium and protein should be cared for during molting.


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## Doig (May 18, 2013)

brocky bieber said:


> Calf manna should not exceed 3 to 5 percent of the feedmix.
> If one is using iodinised salt 2% mixed with grit all year around then the birds should stay okay during molting. Calcium and protein should be cared for during molting.


May I ask why calf manna should not exceed those numbers?


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## Abdulbaki (Jul 31, 2013)

because it contains so much protein intaking too much will negativley affect your pigeons' perfomance


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## Doig (May 18, 2013)

O.O 

thank you for clarifying it up.


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## AlicjanPip (Jun 19, 2013)

Rod Hultquist said:


> From Dr.Colin Walker's Book...."Provide a diet with adequate levels of protein and essential trace elements, such as iodine, during the molt."
> 
> Some sorces for iodine:
> Lugols solution - add to water
> ...


Hello Rod! Wow, I've never heard of any of these products...will have to ask around here, see if they're available.  Thanks for that heaps!


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## Doig (May 18, 2013)

AlicjanPip said:


> Hello Rod! Wow, I've never heard of any of these products...will have to ask around here, see if they're available.  Thanks for that heaps!


I would be careful with some products b/c I Googled some and they might have side affects with humans. not sure about birds... but be careful when dealing with some of the products.


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## Rod Hultquist (Aug 23, 2009)

You are right about being careful with these products. You have to follow the manufacturerer's directions. Lugol's solution I buy from a pigeon supply-directions are on the bottle. Red Cell is a horse vitamin. Many fanciers use it one teaspoon to a gallon of water one time per week. Blitzform is a product from Rohnfried. They have a whole line of pigeon products, again the directions are on the bottle. I learned about Cal Mana for one of the top pigeon flyers in the country. He flew on top in California and after retiring he moved to Florida where he flew on top there. I only use it in my mix(at 10% ) twice a week. I would suggest that you follow *Doig's example* and Google(research)it.


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