My cockatiel is about 3 months old I am a new owner and I have done lots of research but she has a lot of feathers missing. It’s mainly only noticeable when she is wet, it could just be because they aren’t fully developed yet but I’m not too sure should I be this worried? I just need answers
Hi Olivia,
Feathers grow in tracts, so not every bit of skin has a feather growing from it. Feathers are designed to overlap each other and it hides the spaces in the tracts. When your bird is wet, the feathers tend to part at the tracts, much like when you put a part in your hair. So as long as she looks normal when she is dry, then her feathers are fine. Young birds will have more damaged and broken or lost feathers as they explore and develop their balance.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
