What are Pin Feathers?

June 24, 2021

What are pin feathers? Pin feathers are newly developing feathers on your parrot. You can see them on their head, cheeks, chest, and wings.

Their new feathers will look like tiny sticks on their bodies that are lightly coloured. We call these pin feathers. Pin feathers are most noticeable on the head and neck where parrots cannot reach by preening. They sometimes have a black tip. Having multiple budgies is great because they can help their mates opening the pin feathers.

Getting new pin feathers can take a couple of days, but it can be a bit longer for some birds. This also depends on how many times they shed their feathers. Some birds can shed multiple times a year, and some birds only molt once or twice. When new pin feathers emerge, your parrot is likely to get irritable and very itchy. To help ease your parrot's itchiness, you can help out by giving them daily baths.

Kiwi tends to go through more harsh feather molts in our flock because she only molts once a year. She also gets really grumpy, so I add more protein and give her frequent baths during this period. On the other hand, Edward molts 3-4 times a year. Edward tends to get really spiky around his cere.