# Frayed flight feathers - 23-days-old squab



## gkutlu (Jan 27, 2019)

Yesterday, I noticed that the tips of the flight feathers of my 23-days-old squab looked white. Upon closer examination, I noticed that they are growing frayed.

What is the name and cause for this condition? Is there a treatment?


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## Ladygrey (Dec 10, 2016)

Possibly protein deficiency, the parent birds need protein and calcium , esp when raising babies. 
If he is hand fed then he needs a balanced feed. Supplements can be used. 

At this point he will be eating on his own, or should be, I would use kaytee exact and make small pea ball size nuggets with it and hand feed it to him after encouraging him to pick at his seeds and legumes , vitamins for birds in the water as well. 

If he is preening aggressively. Look for feather lice.
And also if his cage is too small they can damage their feathers on the bars.


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## gkutlu (Jan 27, 2019)

@Ladygrey, thank you for the reply.

I have had to hand-feed this squab and its same-clutch sibling since day 10. The temperature is at the minimum 71F throughout the day in their room. They had no feathers yet, but the parents stopped sitting on them and keeping them warm at day 10, and they looked a little cold. This one stopped asking for food and looked lethargic. Its crop was staying hard and half-full. I moved it under a heat lamp and, suspecting Candida, gave it MedPet Medistatin for three days. It then perked up, and started asking for food again. The parents then started nest-building activities for their next pair of eggs, and the cock stopped paying attention to these babies. Since then, I have been hand-feeding both with Nutribird A21, and recently switched to Kaytee. Both formulas claim to be complete, so that's all I feed. Today, at day 27, this squab occasionally pecks at seeds and peas, but is not eating otherwise.

Hitting the cage walls is a possibility, though its same-clutch sibling is not showing similar signs.


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## Ladygrey (Dec 10, 2016)

gkutlu said:


> @Ladygrey, thank you for the reply.
> 
> I have had to hand-feed this squab and its same-clutch sibling since day 10. The temperature is at the minimum 71F throughout the day in their room. They had no feathers yet, but the parents stopped sitting on them and keeping them warm at day 10, and they looked a little cold. This one stopped asking for food and looked lethargic. Its crop was staying hard and half-full. I moved it under a heat lamp and, suspecting Candida, gave it MedPet Medistatin for three days. It then perked up, and started asking for food again. The parents then started nest-building activities for their next pair of eggs, and the cock stopped paying attention to these babies. Since then, I have been hand-feeding both with Nutribird A21, and recently switched to Kaytee. Both formulas claim to be complete, so that's all I feed. Today, at day 27, this squab occasionally pecks at seeds and peas, but is not eating otherwise.
> 
> Hitting the cage walls is a possibility, though its same-clutch sibling is not showing similar signs.


With all this new info, seems like it is a genetic problem, or perhaps a nutrient malabsorption problem. Whether he thrives remains to be seen still , or he may always be a poorly pigeon. Or perhaps he out grows it.

I’m not familiar with details of genetic feather appearances. But they do have frill back pigeons, and I know frizzle chickens, so mutations and genetic factors come in to play.


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