my birds pin feathers are incredibly tough to get rid of

nugbugrugpug

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ever since the first day i got my bird, hes always had these little pin feathers on his head. ive tried everything to get rid of them, ive looked up how to do it and in all the videos it shows them basically desitegrating when you rub them, but with my bird their very thick and tough. every time i try to rub them to get rid of them they won’t budge and my bird just ends up getting annoyed and biting me. i dont have any other birds so they cant pluck his pin feathers and i dont really know anyone else that has a bird so i dont know what to do. any tips or techniques would be appreciated.
 
Hi, you don't need to get rid of every pin feather as soon as you see them. His head looks pretty normal for a bird having a bit of a moult. Sometimes the pins may seem to take a bit longer to finish, but your parrot will probably be able to clear some by just scratching his own head. Basically.....if gently rubbing the feather isn't 'cracking' the casing, then the feather isn't ready! It will only hurt your bird. Just leave them and as time goes on you will get to see the difference between a 'still fresh' pin and one that has dried and is ready to come out.
I tend to squeeze the top part of the pin between my fingernails and if it kind of crunches lightly (I can't describe it, but you'll get what I mean haha) then you know you can work on that one for a bit. Just remember that you can't always go right down to the skin as the feather may still be forming inside. Best of luck! Helping your bird preen can be very addictive!
He looks very cute!
 
Last edited:
MJGB - MikeJenGaryBeckyBoo said:
Hi, you don't need to get rid of every pin feather as soon as you see them. His head looks pretty normal for a bird having a bit of a moult. Sometimes the pins may seem to take a bit longer to finish, but your parrot will probably be able to clear some by just scratching his own head. Basically.....if gently rubbing the feather isn't 'cracking' the casing, then the feather isn't ready! It will only hurt your bird. Just leave them and as time goes on you will get to see the difference between a 'still fresh' pin and one that has dried and is ready to come out.
I tend to squeeze the top part of the pin between my fingernails and if it kind of crunches lightly (I can't describe it, but you'll get what I mean haha) then you know you can work on that one for a bit. Just remember that you can't always go right down to the skin as the feather may still be forming inside. Best of luck! Helping your bird preen can be very addictive!
He looks very cute!
Click to expand...
thank you so much for the help!!
 
Pin feathers are how normal feathers start - they are like growing trees in tubes to protect them. You don't need to do anything, and shouldn't do anything, to get rid of them. They will disintegrate when the feather has grown enough to dislodge them and crack them. If they come away or disintegrate when you tickle the top of your bird's head that's fine, but don't try to remove them otherwise.
 
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