Brittle Feathers

[rich]

hi,

couple of my birds have brittle feathers, the tips seem broken and corse

 

are the birds ill or is there something missing in their diet

 

thanks in advance .. Rich

[Guest IB]

If it's the tips that have broken off, most likely they have fractured along a 'fret' mark. If you have a close look you might see a white mark across the feather at the break.

 

Fret marks are caused when normal feather growth is unterrupted, usually through stress of some sort like missing a few meals or a night or two out.