# Pigeon Molting



## dcollins387 (May 28, 2004)

Hello, I am a brand new member with some questions. My Jacobin pigeon is molting and I was wondering how long will it take for her hood to be fully regrown? How often do pigeons molt? She is expecting babies to hatch in another 6 days, is there anything extra that I should do for her?


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## dano7 (Feb 10, 2004)

Pigeons molt the whole year round; in the rest period they shed some down feathers, but in March/April the first flight feathers are molted. The molt continues slowly until the main molting period, which usually starts mid July to the beginning of August.

You can speed up the molt by feeding only barely for a few days. Any breeders will then go into molt.

A bit less protein than the breeding season is appropriate for the molting period, though small amounts of sunflower, hemp, rape, or linseed will improve bloom in the new feathers, especially the "beetle gloss" of some black pigeons.

My home birds, which live with a long artificial day in the winter, started molting heavilly in mid March, so if you have inside light on your birds they may be early.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hello there,

A few flax seeds to the mix will also help with a healthy molt and new growth. Garlic given as part of the nutrtion program really gives them a full smooth coat of feathers and lots of powder.

Treesa


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