molting help?

[jj287]

My CAG has been dropping feathers. I noticed ten or eleven grey feathers in the bottom of the cage yesterday. However, the ends look as if they are cracked. What I mean by that is that they do not have the smooth, translucent shaft part on the end that I noticed on one of her red tail feathers that fell off. Does this mean she's pulling them out and not molting?
The area where I think the feathers are coming from looks a little ruffled and not as taken care of/preened as usual.
Also, she seems to not be as active as she usually is. Normally she sings and plays all morning but today she is just kind of sitting there on one foot gently preening. I heard that sometimes birds get tired and a little crabby during a molt... could this be the case?
She is only 1 year old so this will be her first molt, and I am worried.
Can anyone offer advice that has been through this before?
Thank you all in advance!

[NotEnoughTime]

My reading says that a grey's first moult starts at about eight months. My friend also tells me that their metabolic rate increases about 30%, so nutrition and stress can be issues. Nutrition is pretty good in parrots these days - but they can simply be stressed if we become overly stressed with worry about a moult - kind of a catch 22.

Has there been any major weight changes? How is the poop? The calamus should come out in a properly moulted feather. To me cracking could indicate chewing but that could be as simple as playing with the feather after it came out - are there still "barbs" sticking up from her skin? Any bare patches showing?

If you have noticed a major weight, behavioural change as well as chewed off feathers and bare patches, I would get her into a vet to see of there are any medical issues.

[jj287]

I do not see any bare patches, but the feathers in that area look a little "rough", like all tussled up, if that makes sense. And she's about 13 months old, so she's due for a molt. She is pooping normally and it looks healthy. She doesn't seem sick, she just seems a little less active than usual. She is eating fine, she seems to be eating more than normal actually. Do you think it would be okay for me to just monitor her today, and if she were to change for the worse tomorrow, then take her to the vet? If it is just a simple molt, I don't want to stress her out more by putting her in her carrier in the car (she HATES this with a passion).

[NotEnoughTime]

Eating more than normal would be normal during a moult - due to the increased metabolic rate. I'm not sure about the "roughness" - are you seeing the "downy" feathers underneath the regular feathers? If it is a moult then the feather loss will continue for quite some time... My bird loses about eight to ten feathers a day (at least that I can find) for a month or so...

I will back off at this time and let someone with a grey who's gone through the first moult comment. I'm relying on what I've heard from my friends with greys and what I've read... So I'm not expert enough to go beyond what I've said here...