The issues of molting in birds
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What are bird feathers made of?
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Why do birds molt?
Captive birds and their molting cycles:
Apart from the normal cyclical function of the bird’s body system which works to replace worn out feathers and grow new feathers, captive birds are totally dependent on the following care which is provided by their owners:
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Adequate sunning
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Proper baths, adequate drying in the sun after baths and preening of feathers
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Diet
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Environmental stress
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Proper and adequate sleep and rest
Most problems occur for molting when ANY of the above factors are not properly taken care of by the owner.
The problems of molting, for example – cannot molt, take too long to molt, molt halfway and then stopping, etc are a result of owners not providing proper care concerning all of the above factors.
Therefore, to solve the problems of molting, one has to ensure that all of the above factors are taken care of in the correct way. Birds are not humans, they react differently from humans.
Why do birds molt when I change the brand/type of bird food?
Now we focus the various conditions on how a new brand/type of bird food affects the bird's system on molting:
Case 1:
- Bird's feathers are old and already worn out, ready to molt if a better or higher nutrition bird food is being introduced to the bird. This is natural, the bird system will immediately seize the abundance of necessary nutrients to manufacture and grow new feathers in order to replace the old and worn out feathers.
Case 2:
- Bird food contains chemical/s which cause the dropping of feathers and re-growing of feathers. In this case, the bird's system will drop feathers and grow new feathers. It is however debatable if this is a good or bad thing. Why?
- We need to know what is that chemical and what it does over short or long term on the bird's system. Does it cause the bird to go down form? Does it improve the form of the bird and maintains a high level of form consistently over time? Does it damage the bird or render the bird into a low form status most of the time?
- It is the owner's responsibilities to test and find out over time. It can take up to 3 months of astute observations, study and experimentations.
What are the most desirable benefits of a brand/type of bird food?
1) The bird eats a lot and the bird does not get fat.
2) The bird performs more of display and singing.
3) The bird's health improves and stays high over a lot time.
4) Under correct management and care, the bird comes to top form and stays in top form, more often rather than 2 to 4 times a year.
5) The bird becomes fiercer and more active from eating the bird food.
6) The owner has more control in bringing up and down the form of the bird using simple methods, rather than relying on "luck" or feeding exotic supplements to the bird.
The above are points for hobbyists to consider and think about. If you require more information and wish to discuss in greater depth, kindly email me at snabber@hotmail.com
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Adequate sunning
Jambuls can be sunned for up to 4 hours directly, in fact they need a minimum of 2 hours of direct sunlight daily whenever available. Problems such as a drop in health and performance can happen if a jambul is not sunned for 3 to 4 days consecutively.
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Baths & Drying
Birds should be given enough time to bathe AND dry themselves daily in order to keep their skin and feathers in good condition. If they are not bathed for more than 2 days, micro-sized dust particles clog up the oil glands on the skin of the bird causing irritation to the skin and frequent preening by the bird. If a bird is bathed too early in the morning or too late in the evening, it cannot dry its feathers and skin properly. This extra moisture can lead to poor feather condition. Excessive accumulation of water in the skin of the bird can disrupt the proper functioning of oil glands which in turn prevent the feathers from being protected by the oil.
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Diet
Banana IS essential and should be given daily for the jambul.
Other fruits like papaya, apple and orange are recommended to be given on a once a week basis or once every fortnight. Banana should be given when other fruits are provided. Katola is recommended to be given only for 1-2 days of a month for non-molting birds, 1-2 days maximum per week for molting birds.
Bird food – It is advised that the owner should study the bird and avoid over feeding the bird. If the bird is getting fat and lazy, it is best to reduce the amount of bird food.
Live food – The same rules for bird food applies also to live food like worms, grasshoppers, ants eggs, etc.
Jambuls can survive for 2 weeks being fed on banana and water alone.
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Environmental stress
Environmental stress comes in all forms like – other animals in the home, some birds are afraid of cats while others are afraid of dogs. Young birds are hung next to older birds which continually ‘bullies’ and presses down onto the younger birds. Human activities like loud and sudden noises can also frighten or stress a bird, usually birds can learn to acclimatize to this if these activities are part of the family lifestyle and birds usually will get used to them. Other than these, some birds will never get used to other animals like dogs, cats or even older birds.
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Proper sleep and rest
Birds require an optimum of 12 hours of undisturbed sleep. Providing as many hours of undisturbed sleep in total darkness contributes to the overall health and energy levels of birds for the next day. Sleep and rest are scheduled timings for the bird’s body to repair and maintain itself, allowing the bird’s brain and nervous system to reset themselves for best performance.
All these affect the growth of the PIN FEATHER (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_feather) in birds.
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