NEW FEATHER CASINGS WILL NOT COME OF THE FEATHER?????

[Bijou Bantys]

Hi, I have a Belgian D' Anver rooster, that has tail feathers, that grow in after molting, with the new casing, but the casing does not come of, he does not try to pick of, either, I have tried to pick it of, but that does no good becuse the feather is not ready. If you pull to hard the whole new feather comes off, and there is blood at the end of the feather. This is very frustrating, because he never has a nice tail. He doesn't have any mites. I am not sure if is genetic, or some deficiancy of some kind. Please let me know if anyone else, has had this problem, an any solutions they may have. Thank you

 

[TwoCrows]

You need to leave these feathers alone. Don't pull them out. As the feathers grow, these feather casings will fall off or be preened off. The larger feathers, like tail and wing feathers grow very long and thick before the outer skin of the feather shaft comes off. The bird knows what to do, so don't pick at them.

If you want to help him with a molt, try adding some cooked ground beef to cooked ground turkey to his diet a couple times a week. Feathers are about 85% protein and birds have a hard time getting enough during a molt. The extra protein will help to grow these feathers in better.

 

[Bijou Bantys]

Thank you for the reply, I will try the ground beef. Just so you know I do not pull out the tail feathers, these casings never come off. There must be something else going on. Again thank you

 

[DylansMom]

Hey there, I think you have a lazy rooster and I have a lazy peacock! One of my males has done the same thing every year for the last 10 years. We wait until the tail is almost completely grown in, 4-5 feet long. At that point probably 75% of his 100-150 tail feathers still look like they have drinking straw wrappers on them(sound familiar). At that time, right before breeding season, we catch him, and hubby bear hugs him. Bird's back to hubby's chest, this exposes the underside of that huge train of long tail feathers. I then take a wire slicker brush, the kind used for dogs and cats, and use it to break up all those feather casings. Always stroke it with the feather not against, so we don't damage them. Just to be clear, we are not trying to pull it off, just damage and break it up. It literally looks like it is snowing under him. Once the casings are damaged they tend to fall off as the season progresses and he does a lot of shaking and displaying, as well as normal preening. We have 40+ Peafowl and he is the only one who does this. His diet is the same as everyone else's, but he also needs his beak clipped more often, doesn't seem to bother keeping that worn down either.

 

[TwoCrows]

There is a disease called PBFD, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease in parrots that is responsible for irregular molting and feather problems. I have never heard of this in poultry before, but in parrots, it can lead to shabby feather growth, feather loss or just abnormal growth. It is a virus that attacks the immune system and is contagious to other parrots.

You might take your bird to and avian vet for an exam and maybe some blood work just out of curiousity. I have never heard of feathers not loosing the casings. Good luck with your bird!

 

[DylansMom]

I don't know about the rooster, but our Peacock is quite healthy. The situations may not even be the same as we have never seen any bleeding occur. When he started this about 10 years ago, I looked all over the internet trying to find out what was going on. I did find one mention of this and that person was convinced it was just a case of laziness/poor personal grooming with his bird. He had it vet checked and it was declared to be in perfect health as far as the vet could tell. That was also where I saw the advice on breaking up the casings, they would do the same thing for their boy every spring. And after 10 years, he doesn't even seem to mind the whole process all that much anymore. If I can, I will take some pics of his feathers this year before, during and after the slicker brush treatment. Other than the casings, the feathers he grows are gorgeous, and because we break it up early, by the time he molts you cannot tell he was ever any different than the others. He is a loud pied named Harley.

 

[TwoCrows]

I don't know about the rooster, but our Peacock is quite healthy. The situations may not even be the same as we have never seen any bleeding occur. When he started this about 10 years ago, I looked all over the internet trying to find out what was going on. I did find one mention of this and that person was convinced it was just a case of laziness/poor personal grooming with his bird. He had it vet checked and it was declared to be in perfect health as far as the vet could tell. That was also where I saw the advice on breaking up the casings, they would do the same thing for their boy every spring. And after 10 years, he doesn't even seem to mind the whole process all that much anymore. If I can, I will take some pics of his feathers this year before, during and after the slicker brush treatment. Other than the casings, the feathers he grows are gorgeous, and because we break it up early, by the time he molts you cannot tell he was ever any different than the others. He is a loud pied named Harley.

Pretty bird!

 

[Bijou Bantys]

Thank you for your suggestion, I will give that a try. My rooster is healthy, But I think you are right with the laziness. By the way, your peacock is beautiful.

 

[Bijou Bantys]

Thank you, I will talk to my avian vet, and see what he thinks, about your suggestion.