# Brown feathers on my hen's head?



## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

She's going through a molt right now and the tips of her pin feathers are brown, I have never seen her like this, I've had her for 6 years. Any ideas? Is this okay or should I go to the vet? How urgent is it because the vet doesn't open until monday and even so getting an appointment may take a couple days


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

I cannot see much discoloration, just a couple areas that look a little beige in color. Are you sure that what you are referring to is actually within the pin feather or is it on the outside of it? Could she have been rubbing her head on something that picked up the color such as the perch she is sitting on?


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## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

Cody said:


> I cannot see much discoloration, just a couple areas that look a little beige in color. Are you sure that what you are referring to is actually within the pin feather or is it on the outside of it? Could she have been rubbing her head on something that picked up the color such as the perch she is sitting on?


hm yeah i think its possible she was rubbing her head on the wood perch and it left a brown residue. She splashed her head in the water and looks like some of it washed off. thanks!


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

They get very itchy during a molt so it is perfectly normal for her to be rubbing her head.


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## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

Um tbh i dont think this is residue, i am starting to freak out!!! Why do these things always happen on the weekends when the vet is closed 😖


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## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

I seriously hate the staff at my local vet. The doctor is good but the secretary people dont seem to care and when i ask for an appoint especiall Heidi she is like "yeah we are all booked uuuup" like that sarcastic tired gum chewing voice you hear from high school girls and ill be like can you just squeeze me in between and ill wait as long as i need to and they are like "no" and i asked them if there is an emergency hospital that sees birds and she's just like "i dont know!"

I fear the day when my bird is in pain and needs to be euthanized and they will just roll their eyes at me and shrug their shoulders while my bird suffers. Just thinking about it makes me so angry!

If it comes to a point where my bird is in dire need of care and she is the one to just shrug me off, something really bad will happen.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

I still do not see anything brown, are you referring to the points on the head that look to me to be almost the color of a millet seed? If you are referring to the small dark points at the tip of some of the pin feathers, nothing to worry about, that is just the coloring of the feather which is still compressed in the keratin sheath. Too bad about your experience with the vet maybe look for another, you can do a search here https://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'm so sorry you are having problems with the staff at the office of the vet you have been seeing. 

I would call and ask that they get a message to the veterinarian to call you back. 
Any vet should be able to do a call back at some point during the day. Be aware it may not be for several hours or until evening though. 
When you get ahold of the vet him/herself, then make that individual aware of what you have experienced in dealing with the staff of the office and your concerns. 
If you don't feel better after speaking directly to the vet then I'd definitely be looking for somewhere else to take your budgie in the future.

If her head is wet in the pictures, I don't think there is any reason for concern.
Please post a picture of her once she has dried off.*


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## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

Cody said:


> I still do not see anything brown, are you referring to the points on the head that look to me to be almost the color of a millet seed? If you are referring to the small dark points at the tip of some of the pin feathers, nothing to worry about, that is just the coloring of the feather which is still compressed in the keratin sheath. Too bad about your experience with the vet maybe look for another, you can do a search here https://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803.


yes i am talking about those points that look like millet seed. It's weird because I have had her for 6 years and seen her molt many times and have never seen that brown stuff on her or my boy budgie, but i'm glad to hear it's no big deal.

My girl budgie is a tank. she has never had any health problems, but my boy budgie got diabetes few years ago and now he has test cancer as i've posted in my other thread, but this girl budgie is pretty strong!


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Has she been vomiting at all? Do you see anything similar to what is on her head anywhere else in the cage?


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Vomiting was also my concern which is why in my previous post I asked if her head was wet - meaning wet from being misted, a bath or wetting the feathers in her water dish. *


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## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

No i do not see her vomiting and her head is actually dry in that last pic i posted

OMG I JUST SAW HER VOMIT WTH IS HAPPENING TO MY BIRDS?? Did the knotgrass cause this? What illness are you guys suspecting that has the symptoms of this brown feathers and vomitting?

I found an emergency hospital that takes care of birds but its 2 hours drive away, should i grab and go?


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Call the hospital and explain that your bird is vomiting and see what they advise you to do. There are many things that can cause a bird to vomit, do her droppings look normal?


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## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

called the hospital and as always when i explain to them they say "we cant say anything without actually seeing her" but its 3pm now and it will be very late by the time i get tehre and back and i think the stress from the journey will be very hard on her this late in the day so i am thinking that i will go first thing tomorrow morning just to make sure she is okay, i kinda feel like its just a heavy molt but its better to be safe and sure so i will go tomorrow morning i think. hopefully she doesn't die over night 

she doesn't seem to be in pain, she is looking out the window and stuff, but she keeps sitting at her perch with her eyes closed and looks tied, but i notice both my budgies are usually like this when they molt so its hard to say if its a hard molt or if something is wrong.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*No, the knotgrass does not cause vomiting. I give it to my birds as I've explained previously.

If you use auto-ship with Chewy.com you can now make appointments to video chat with a vet about your pets. Something to consider if you buy from them and use that feature.

Even a hard molt should not cause vomiting.*


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## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

I ended up going to the emergency hospital yesterday, got home around 10pm, but the doctor said she looks okay and is just molting hard and they monitored her for a while and didnt see her vomit and put her in an oxygenated environment to help her relax her but she was super active and looking around and stuff and they said she looks ok so maybe what i saw wasnt a real vomit. but she was pretty stressed from the 4 hour journey there and back yesterday so now she looks comfy and is napping


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Glad to hear this. Hope she feels better soon!*


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

I'm sorry about the issues with your local vet but I'm glad you're doing everything you can to make sure she's okay. It for sure is vomit and I hope that it was just a passing thing - it's good to hear the other vet said she was looking ok and she seems fine now. Hopefully she feels better soon, please keep us posted!


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## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

StarlingWings said:


> I'm sorry about the issues with your local vet but I'm glad you're doing everything you can to make sure she's okay. It for sure is vomit and I hope that it was just a passing thing - it's good to hear the other vet said she was looking ok and she seems fine now. Hopefully she feels better soon, please keep us posted!


Thanks yeah it seems the vomiting was only on that day. She has been sleeping a lot though which i notice she usally does when molting, but overall she looks okay and i think the brown stuff is clearing up, but she definitely seems to have slowed down compared to her usual self.

I'm so angry at my local pet vet because I've been trying for 3 weeks to ask her a simple question about Lupron injections for my Male budgie who has cancer and she is a good vet, but her Staff are incredibly incompetent and they just give you the run around and they kept saying she would get back to me in a day or 2 and she never and I called several times and finally again today as it's friday and then in the middle of the day they send me a random email about something I didn't even ask about, it's so frustrating!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Call again and tell the staff you need to speak directly to the vet today.
If you aren't satisfied with the result, then its time to look for a different vet.
Being totally unable to reach the vet herself is completely unacceptable.*


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## Rextos (Nov 13, 2020)

FaeryBee said:


> *Call again and tell the staff you need to speak directly to the vet today.
> If you aren't satisfied with the result, then its time to look for a different vet.
> Being totally unable to reach the vet herself is completely unacceptable.*


Agreed it's absolute BS. I called them again and just got a half-assed email from a staff member. Sadly she is the only Avian vet in my area but if I drive 2 hours there seems to be good vets so next time I need to go I will go there.


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