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hugochavez, yes it's seasonal and she should be finished her molt if you are in North America. It ended in the fall getting ready for winter. The "schedule" is, breed in the spring, molt end of summer/early fall (not now). Then rest through winter getting ready for the next season.
Exception is if she is having her first partial molt around 5 months old. It's not as "complete" and lasts a shorter time. A molt would show you some feathers on the floor including the whole complete shaft where it was connected. Nothing shredded or partial. like if she were chewing on it or shredding it.
I never lived with a plucker for a long time but it's my understanding you'll see destructive signs on the actual feathers. Perhaps others could say if they actually extract the whole feather from the shaft and if it's misleading meaning it looks complete not shredded.
Does she have "allot" of pinfeathers? especially around the neck and head? Does it look like her feathers are unsettled not smooth, like sticking out or puffy or messy away from her body? They should be laying smooth and sleek this time of year.
I've heard people say its normal. That's because it's normal for THEIR birds but it's not. It's a misunderstanding.
You'd want her to have a little raised protein during that actual or baby molt time to feed those feathers which are protein. If she's been in a constant or off and on state of molt, or soft molt, since end of summer, that would mean she's getting too much protein and you'd want to lower it. And reevaluate her diet.
That's why I mentioned that in my previous post, it would make her uncomfortable and sensitive. Especially if you hit a pinfeather when touching her "the wrong way". And it's not healthy for them. Also stressful.
Give her baths or misting from above in the morning to help with this. Lower the protein this includes seed. Up the greens and veggies. Follow the strict natural daylight schedule, too like I suggested. If you cant exactly, you can fake it with black out drapes found at stores like Linen N Things.
I had my 2 of my birds stay somewhere when I went away for 5 days and when I came back, one started having pinfeathers in just that short time. The other was younger and didnt have that. I didnt leave the normal green/veggie breakfast and dinner she usually gets because I didnt want to risk it sitting around too long in the people's care and getting bacteria. It corrected itself when she went back on her normal diet just as fast. I was surprised, to tell you the truth.
Thank you for leaving her wings. I agree with some of what you said, Monica about still partially flying but not so much the exercise. Climbing and stuff isn't as good as getting the heartrate up with flying. And even in the house, it doesnt compare to the long hourse spent outside flying if they werent captive. Although for some birds, handicapped or whatever of course, they have to get different treatment. And yes, I agree with the sometimes pecking order problem but that's what I meant about unnatural conditions. Even little zebra finches can be brutal and peck some poor little male seemingly for no reason, it's unbelievable. Same with one keeping the other from eating. But it's not like there's one "leader" and they all follow.
More like a bunch of 6 year olds all chasing the same soccer ball.
Now, a bossy hen, yeah...but I figured she's saying "hey if I have to push all these stupid eggs out, the least you can do is follow instructions" lol....like when you send your husband to the grocery store HA!
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