My bird lost chest feathers

[queen mom]

I am VERY concerned about my pet cockatiell.He is 5 months has been showing no signs of illness 5 days ago he got startled was on the floor jumped up and fluttered his wings{they are clipped] when all of a sudden his chest feathers flew all over the place!!!!I would say 1/4 of his left breast came out He seems allright eating and talking...He has a male who is 2 years old in the same cage Could someone tell me what I should do!!!

[Aqueous]

My first guess would have been a molt, but I've had cockatiels before and none of them have ever lost that many feathers at one time during a molt.

You said he's in a cage with another bird and the problem may be as simple as the other bird picking at his feathers.

If you're really worried I'd say the best option would be to take him to an avian vet.

[charmedagain]

Hi at 5months old he is going through the first molt my 8month old baby cockatiel last loads of feathers at first i thought it was his parents plucking him but after watching them for a few days i noticed it was not them. They lose baby feathers for the new feathers to come through which is then there true colouring.
Keep a close eye the birds and if you see any signs of his feathers being plucked by the other bird i would seperate them as this problem can lead to a very bald bird..
Also keep an eye on him incase he is plucking himself as some young birds will do this through boredem or from a severe fright

Mike

[halaroo]

My cockatiel lost a pile of feathers once when he was startled (he flew into the face of a greyhound). At first we thought he'd exploded by the number of feathers on the floor! He was fine after a few minutes. He was only a few months old at the time as well. I'm not a bird expert, but it sounds to me like yours was just startled too. Hopefully that's it.

[robinson]

my bird has lost feathers from around its neck. Could this be because of old age?

[Nameless]

I wouldn't think! But don't quote me on that!