moult help

[Andy_G]

i have a male harris was a year old in july
most of al his feathers are new but he has two tail feathers that look as tho they aint shifting other than that he looks fully moulted out any ideas ?? :(

[Osiris]

When did you put him into moult Andy_G ? Is it just the 2 tail feathers that are not appearing that are shifting or as he got some primaries and secondaries etc left?

[Andy_G]

jsutseems to be the tail feathers nto shifting he went down March beginging was this late?

[Shaun Byrne]

Dont worry mate, he might not lose all his feathers in his first moult, this is quite normal. If they are in good condition it will not cause him any problems.

[Andy_G]

one si broken tho from previous flight and when do u htink i should start bringi his weight down to get him out the avairy??

[Jiff]

don't needlessly worry mate, as has been said sometimes you don't get a full moult, but regardless there's still plenty of time left, up the qualityt of his diet and he might just drop em, if he don't and you start to hunt him if it makes a big differance which i doubt( one deck feather) then you could always imp one in.

[Andy_G]

hes been fed well day old chick, quail etc and vitamins once a week so not bad ,
alos was gonna start to bring his weight down in next week or so to sart to re train him? or should i wait longer to bring weight down??

[Osiris]

Its up to you... some people bring the weights of their birds down and start to do 'some' re-training before their bird has fully moulted. On the other hand, some people leave their birds until they have fully moulted before doing any re-training.

[Adam Barrett]

some people bring the weights of their birds down and start to do 'some' re-training before their bird has fully moulted

this has worked fine for me without any negative side effects :wink: 8)

[Andy_G]

will bringing his weight down "stop the moult finishing as they say"
Any one from nottingham wanna pop and see him see what ya reckon lol

[Adam Barrett]

no it shouldent stop the moult from finishing but may slightly extend it.

[Andy_G]

oh what to do what to do lol
leave him till end of this month or slowly start to bring him down over next 2 weeks
instead of 4 chicks a day to 2?

[Mary Quite Contrary]

hes been fed well day old chick, quail etc and vitamins once a week so not bad ,
alos was gonna start to bring his weight down in next week or so to sart to re train him? or should i wait longer to bring weight down??


It is better to start exercising the bird whilst taking the weight down.
This should help turn the fat into muscle, and help shed the weight quicker as the bird will be moving about.

This way is better than reducing the bird to base weight and then starting training as it is harder for the bird to gain the muscle with a reduced ration.

[Osiris]

A good thing for building up some muscle is to do some verticals. It really helps. Just keep increasing the height of your arm so it has to jump up higher for the reward piece. I personally, let the bird moult out fully before doing so, but as i said other people start retraining when nearly finished and it doesnt interfeer with the rest of the moult.

[Andy_G]

ok tahnkc sot all i think im going to leace him in avairy till end of month let him really finish