# Pet Pigeon Losing Feathers



## Lolita's Mom

My newly found pigeon, Lolita, is losing feathers. When I took her home a month ago, she had mites and I sprayed her with bird no mite spray. Shortly thereafter she dropped a huge amount of dander and tiny, tiny feather bits.
I have sprayed her twice in the last month. She doesn't seem to itch as much. BUT she is now losing huge amounts of feathers. Several days ago, she seemed to lose most of the small feathers under her wings and today she dropped some of the larger feathers. There are feathers all over the house!
She seems very happy and she doesn't look featherless, even though she seems to have lost so many! Also, she is getting white around her beak where the feathers come in.

My question. She lived outside in the cold and now she is in the warm house. Is she molting? I have never had a bird, before. Does she have a feather disease? Did the spray injure her feathers? It is Geiser No Mite Spray.

Is she being fed improperly? She gets Dove seed and she only eats certain things out of it. She doesn't like the tiny, tiny seeds. I throw them outside
when she leaves them. The sparrows like them. She won't eat anything but the seeds in her dish. I am soaking wheat berries and peas and beans to sprout and see if she is attracted to them. I just hope she doesn't lose all of her feathers. She practices flying several times a day. But more than her, the feathers really fly!!!!!!!!


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## Pigeonpal2002

Hi there


Your baby Lolita is most likely going through her first moult. So yes, this is normal and natural for her at her age. Pigeons at this age need to switch from their "baby" feathers into their adult plumage. This generally occurs at about 2 months of age. Please make sure however she is on a good pigeon feed and has grit. Also you may want to consider adding an avian multi vitamin to her water as well. Check the resources section that Mary has posted if you need to find where to get grit and vitamins.


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## Victor

Lolitas mom:Our pigeon Tooter lost his last Summer to a point that I thought he was experiencing a vitamin deficiency, but it slowly started to stop.He has not lost a full feather since then, except for a little plum here or there occasionally.He will save the small seeds for the absolute very last as he does not seem to care much for it either but he will consume it IF HE HAS TOO!Tooter He will leave a small amount of cracked corn at the bottom of the dish too.It is so hard to give our "babies" a well balanced diet.They can be soooooo picky, can't they?  The pictures were cool.You ,Lolita and your Greyhound continue making beautifu music together.


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## Feefo

LOL, when Chickpea started her first moult it was January and I was convinced that she had parasites, feather rot or that she was suffering from malnutrition...even though I had been rescuing pigeons for at least three years. It wasn't until I examined enlarged photographs of her breast that I realised that she was going through her first moult.

What never ceases to amaze me is how much they change after the moult...Lolita's plumage will be different and very much more beautiful!

Cynthia


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## Victor

cyro51 said:


> LOL, when Chickpea started her first moult it was January and I was convinced that she had parasites, feather rot or that she was suffering from malnutrition...even though I had been rescuing pigeons for at least three years. It wasn't until I examined enlarged photographs of her breast that I realised that she was going through her first moult.
> 
> What never ceases to amaze me is how much they change after the moult...Lolita's plumage will be different and very much more beautiful!
> 
> Cynthia


When we rescued Tooter he was injured,frail looking and kinda beastly  looking, and he has turned into a beauty  .I wish my scanner was up and working...one of these days I will share.I enjoy looking at everyones pride and joys of all flocks  

******Victor


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## TerriB

Lolita's Mom said:


> Also, she is getting white around her beak where the feathers come in.


The white is the sheath which protects the new feathers. Once the feathers mature, the sheath will dry and crumble off during grooming. So be prepared - about a week after the moulted feathers drop, you'll find sheath crumbs!


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## Lolita's Mom

*Thanks to everyone!*

I am feeling so much more secure about Lolita, now that you have told me what to expect! I guess I didn't realize how really young she is! It is too bad pigeons have babies in such cold weather, here in Michigan!

She is dropping some of the sheath feathers already and her color is getting very beautiful. A month ago she was mostly smudgy looking with little color.

She made a sound today that was not a peep. Sort of a tiny whistle.
I was very pleased and so was my Hootie dog! She will probably do more than play the piano, now. She will have to be loud, to sound over Hootie!

But...Hootie is dismayed, as yesterday, she took a bath in his water bowl
and wouldn't get out! I had to wrap her in a towel and put her into her basket. She dried off fast and was running around again in 20 mintues!

I have grit and I am getting antibiotics for the water. I change it twice a day because she drops feather into it. She doesn't seem to be losing so many today!

Thanks again to everyone!

Lolita's Mom




TerriB said:


> The white is the sheath which protects the new feathers. Once the feathers mature, the sheath will dry and crumble off during grooming. So be prepared - about a week after the moulted feathers drop, you'll find sheath crumbs!


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## TerriB

Yep, pigeons love to bathe several times a week. Some birds prefer a gentle shower. You mentioned antibiotics - is this to treat a specific problem?


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## Lolita's Mom

*Lolita's water*

Sorry, I misspoke!
I am adding a vitamin drop to the water.
I have new pictures of Lolita in the mirror!
http://community.webshots.com/user/gkoehler





TerriB said:


> Yep, pigeons love to bathe several times a week. Some birds prefer a gentle shower. You mentioned antibiotics - is this to treat a specific problem?


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## maryco

Thank you for the wonderful update! Your Lolita is looking beautiful.. : )


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## TerriB

*Beautiful!*

That picture with the window and mirror has a real artistic flair.


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## Lolita's Mom

*Lolita's voice*

Lolita whistled today, just a few times, really low.
It looks as if she is getting feathers over her feet.
She flys to my shoulder and she sleeps on the sofa.
She has abandoned her pillow on the bookstand divider.
So far, she has not done a do-do on the sofa! But I am sure
that won't last! 

I have to get her out of the bathroom, too.
Papering everything in it is becoming a hassel. I now paper every
other day, since everything is "firmed up" if you know what I mean.
Someone suggested a dog crate and I have one out in the shed for
a medium sized dog. I could put up a high shelf and station it on that.
Make a cover for it, I suppose.

When it is time for her to go to bed, I tell her to do so and she walks
into the bathroom and jumps up on the sink. Pretty easy to clean
the sink out every morning!

She has brought so much joy to my life! I am usually depressed at Christmas, and this year, even though many friends were in ill health or disaster, I never lost my verve! It was because of beautiful Lolita. God truly brought her into mine/her/our lives!

Thanks to you all for being here for us!

Lolita and her Mom


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## maryco

Hello Lolita's mom,

Your dear pigeon Lolita sounds like a sweetheart! 
I'm so glad she is bringing joy to your life as all our pigeons do to our lives..


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## gang11green

*Can someone help me???*

I have a Ringnecked Dove and she is losing all her feathers under her beak on her neck and around her eyes. The skin seems to be dry around the eyes and she is pecking at her feathers and today we saw some blood on one of her wings. I cleaned it with Hydrogen Peroxide and it seems to be doing well. I have bought calcium substitues for her diet and i am awaiting some results. How ever if anyone out there has experienced a similar thing i would appreciate some feed back if there is anything i could do to help my little Bella.....


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## Victor

Without seeing a picture of your bird, or seeing anymore symptoms other than what you posted, I would imagin that your bird is going through a late summer moult, which most healthy birds do about this time of the year. Mine (I have 10) started a couple of weeks ago, and it has subsided some. This morning there were still feathers and plummage on the floor.

Where do you house your bird? Indoors or out? Mites or spiders can cause some problems if your bird quarters are not kept clean, not saying that you do or don't, but just trying to gather some facts.

I will be off line for a while, but will check later and hopefully another member will reply.


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## pdpbison

Hi gang11green,



Please begin your own Thread for this under the 'sick and injured' Column.


Otherwise it is just way to messy and confusing when different people's Birds are being brought into the same Thread.


Phil
Lv


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## gang11green

gang11green said:


> I have a Ringnecked Dove and she is losing all her feathers under her beak on her neck and around her eyes. The skin seems to be dry around the eyes and she is pecking at her feathers and today we saw some blood on one of her wings. I cleaned it with Hydrogen Peroxide and it seems to be doing well. I have bought calcium substitues for her diet and i am awaiting some results. How ever if anyone out there has experienced a similar thing i would appreciate some feed back if there is anything i could do to help my little Bella.....


Well actually the bird is kept in doors. Even though i occasionally take her out for some morning air. She flies around but if she leaves she will come back. She has not left only one and came back the next day. She seems to be eating well and i think she looks ok. She likes being with me and she follows me wherever i go and she likes sitting on my shoulder and chirp on my ear. LOL I really love this bird as one of the family. I think she might be going through the molting stage. I sure hope that is the only problem. The only thing that worries me is the featherless dry spots around the eyes it appears to be about 1/4 inch or a little less around both eyes. She has bold and dry skin. Does that help you any. Are your birds looking like that???


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