When your budgies moult . . . .

[Budgiekin]

I was just curious if any of you collect your budgies' feathers when they moult them. (I am not sure I want to admit it, but I do). If you do collect them, what do you do with them?

I started collecting my budgies feathers with my first Budgie Apollo. Actually, I am glad I did. About a year after he died, I started creating a scrapbook about him. On one of my scrapbook pages, I made a page that included some of his feathers. I love looking at them; it reminds me of the beautiful colouring he had! I miss him so much.

http://i1.tinypic.com/rwtd9h.jpg http://i1.tinypic.com/rwtfr7.jpg

[Amy]

I collect Billy and Lily's feathers to!

Bobby, who lived in my bedroom, had a big moult and I got lots of feathers then and I kept them in a little box.

I don't have any of Dusty or Misty's feathers which is a shame because they had lovely colouring. (Dusty was grey, just like Apollo and Misty was yellow with turquoise splodges.)

[Dave]

Most feathers we don't collect. There are some we do though. Some really nice-looking feathers we'll save. The rest get vacuumed up. :P

[Amy]

Yes feathers are a nuisance! They go all over the place!

[Bea]

I have a tail feather from my very first budgie. That's really special. I also collect Blinkie's feathers but haven't done anything with them yet. I was thinking of making a bookmark with a photo of Blinkie in the middle and then lots of feathers around it.

[Joey]

I ussually collect the feathers because I put them inside th nestbox's to keep the babies warm and to keep the ground soft for them.Not that you have too but I would rather sit and lay on feathers than wood.l!ol!:rolleyes:

[miss_missy]

so what does it mean when they moult?

[Budgiekin]

Moulting is the process by which your budgies essentially shed old feathers, which then get replaced by new ones. It is how budgies maintain glood plumage.

When your budgies moult, you will find feathers just about everywhere in their cage!! During moulting time, it is a particularly stressful for your budgies as quite a bit of energy is expended as the feathers grow in. Their nutritional needs are also greater at this time; extra protein and vitamins and minerals can help provide the nutrients that your budgie needs. Egg bread, cuttle bone, fresh veggies, pellets (forumlated diet) are all good foods to offer your budgies. These foods of course should be offered daily anyway, so there shouldn't be any extra preparation of foods needed during moulting time.

Sometimes your avian vet may recommend a vitamin and mineral supplement for use either daily, or just for during the moulting cycle. It isn't necessary for all budgies though (mostly for those who are not eating any, or are eating very few pellets and veggies). The best kind is the powdered kind that you can sprinkle on their food, rather than the kind that dissolves in water.

I hope this answers your question!

[Amy]

Well now I know what moulting is exactly!

I think that I will do the same, Joey that sounds like a good Idea.

You should make the bookmark Bea, it will look fabulous!

[Kiko&Kina]

hmmm....whats egg bread?

[Budgiekin]

Essentially, egg bread is like a biscuit you can give your budgies. It contains eggs so it is a source of essential protein for your budgie. They seem to like it (at least mine do!!) I try to give my budgies their egg bread regularly, particularly when they are moulting.

[Amy]

Oh I've seen that in the pet shop down the road, I might get some.

[Dave]

I've never seen that before. I'll have to look for that next time I'm at the pet store.

[Mistyoriline]

I am so into collecting all the clean feathers:)