Galah losing feathers

[birdybird]

Hi,I'm a bit worried about Birdy bird, he's a galah and he's all of a sudden started losing feathers. He weighs about 260 grams so he's pretty small and lighter in colour than a lot of galahs. Well I think he is a he!! not entirely sure. This week he's dropped 3 large flight feathers and about 8 medium wing feathers ( about 50mm long) and a whole bunch of down. Not sure of his age.
His diet, well he mostly likes seed and I also sprout seed for him, cooked brown rice, snow peas, a small amout of cheese and offerings of carrot, potatoes, brocolli etc but usually just vandalises these. Occasionaly give him vitamins in his water.
I recently started taking him to work to give him something different it's only a 3 minute ride in a little transporter cage.
He's in the workshop with me but if I have to make noise with tools I put him in the office. Could the travel each day be stressing him out? It's a bit of a bumpy ride in the ute.
When he's at home he has free range of the house the only time he's in the cage is when we eat. We don't use pesticides.
Can I improve his diet some more or could it be something else?

I think I might take him to an avian vet.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks, Brad

[avinet]

It's likely he is just into a moult, a little bit out of season since summer would be more normal but domestic birds tend not to have read the manual as carefully as they should

I doubt that going to work with you will be a cause - unless he is obviously stressed by it, and I assume if that was so, you would not be taking him in the first place.

I don't think it is diet related - his diet isn't too bad, he gets a good range of food, and even though he is only appearing to vandalize some of the food (I like the use of vandalize - must remember that for future use!) he is actually extracting juice from the food, the nutritious part, and leaving the indigestibles cellulose behind. All I would suggest is trying to get him onto pellets. Seed is a high fat diet and galahs are prone to getting fat and developing fatty tumours - pellets can reduce the fat intake. Although his weight at the moment shows he isn't carrying any excess fat.

cheers,

Mike

[birdybird]

Thanks for your advice Mike

Cheers Brad

[carlsandclan]

My galah is starting to molt, so I wouldn't be overly stressed about it. I would only be really worried at this stage if he has bald spots, which could be a sign of plucking. But again, that doesn't appear to be the case.

I don't feed dry seed at all. I sprout them and feed a huge variety of fruit and veg. Although galahs don't seem to like fruit that much! I also give my boy dandelion flowers and greens, bottlebrush flowers, grevillea flowers and hibiscus flowers, which he devours! Lots of leafy greens, too - rocket, silver beet, baby spinach. My parents grow them, so I have a great supply.

There are some great lists of healthy food for our fids out there. . Variety is good - something new every few days works for me, because I can make up a tub of veggies and keep it in the fridge. My vet Is really happy with AJ, so we must be doing alright!

[birdybird]

A quick update on Birdy bird. I think you're both right. It seems he's stopped losing feathers and has now sprouted 4 new tail feathers (exciting stuff!) and lots of new feathers around the neck and elsewhere