[Guest]

Clopin only moults once a year. As you can imagine, this is an extremely heavy moult and it lasts for about two months.

She recently started this mammoth moult and I decided to photo-document it.

6 December

Here is her little face starting to get some pin feathers.

She's pretty patchy looking as she's been dropping feathers like crazy! She's like a little feather grenade.

Her wings and back are particularly scruffy.

No more flying for Clopin for a while. No flight feathers are left on her left wing.

She's been less responsive with her training so I've decided that she can have the rest of the month off and we'll concentrate on training again after the holidays. Poor girl.

And... this is only the start! Last year she moulted out all the feathers on her head and she ended up looking like a little porcupine.

Oh, here's a few photos of her in her prime. Just so you can compare them.

10 December

Please excuse her very red foot... she had some cherries just before I took the photo.

Some nice pin feathers are coming in on her head.

And under her eyes.

Her back and wings are pretty much the same as last time. I really hope she doesn't moult her two long tail feathers this year!

13 December

Clopin now has a porcupine head!

 

[Sharon]

Awww...poor little guy! He's lovely though, even when molting!

 

[Kate]

She will lose the tail feathers Kelsey. I'm surprised they have not gone already. With my Alex's the tail is usually the first thing to go and believe me they look like crap at the moment. When Asiatics moult they really do a good job of it. You think they will never get back to that beautiful sleek bird they were before the moult. Down here in Sydney they usually start to moult in November. By January my babies will be looking their beautiful selves again. Hopefully I will see what sex they are. Their father got his ring much earlier than this.

 

[Jenny]

Aww, poor little Clopin! Thanks for making a journal out of this - quite a few new parrot owners see the first heavy baby molt and panic! Thankfully, mine don't molt that hard Let's keep hoping it stays that way!

 

[Kate]

Jenny that's not a baby moult. That is a normal moult for an Asiatic Parrot. I think their moult looks worse than other birds as they normally have such tight smooth feathers and we notice it more. But they do moult heavily.

 

[Jenny]

I know it's an adult molt :wink: I meant to say that a lot of new parrot owners see their little birds go through their first rough molt and panic - most bird's baby molts are really rough, same as the asiatic parrots always seem to molt heavily.

 

[Kate]

Whoops I read that wrong. Sorry it is still very early in the morning here and I was not quite awake.

 

[Jenny]

Hehe, that's ok! I didn't write it very clearly anyways lol

 

[Storm]

Ouch, that is one heavy molt

 

[Sensfan]

Ah poor guy. He must be so uncomfortable.

Millie is going through a heavy moult and Niblet a lighter one but they keep each other pretty well pin feather free, well sort of.

Millie leaves a trail of feathers everywhere she goes :lol:

 

[Ella]

I was comparing the photos and it's really quite amazing the difference!

Poor little Clopin, that moult must be itchy!

 

[stacey101]

Poor Clopin!
must be so itchy

 

[Apple]

Oh I just want to pick his pin feathers. LOL Beautiful bird.