bathing

Question
I have a 15 week old quaker.  He just had his first molt and new pin feathers are coming in.  I hear bathing is good for softening these new feathers. This would be his first bath how should i start?  Thank You

Answer
Hello Candy and thank you for your post.
It's not so much that the water softens the feathers.  The water helps to keep the skin from getting irritated and dried out.  It is very soothing to a bird, and it does promote preening, which is what keeps the feathers in good shape (kind of like you brushing your hair).
There are a couple of ways that you can go about getting your bird used to a bath.  The first way is to set a bowl of water that is room temperature in his cage.  You can splash it a bit to show him that there is water in the bowl, then let him be.  He'll get curious enough about it and go to investigate it (I have an Amazon Parrot that won't use a dish of water, but he'll bathe in a large coop cup that is attached to the side of his cage).
With the winter months coming in, I do suggest that you lightly spray your Quaker with water from a spray bottle that has had only water in it before (I mean no chemicals).  He'll probably balk at it at first, but then he'll start to ruffle his feathers and flip himself almost upside down so that you can get every part of him.
The Quakers that I've had would all spread their wings out, hang upside down from the cage, and really enjoy their "showers".
For the first time, do not spray him directly as this may really startle him.  Lightly spray just above him to make it seem like a light mist of rain.  Once he gets used to this, he might want to be sprayed directly (my oldest male Cockatiel loves to be sprayed directly, especially if I use more of a stream on the spray bottle....haha).

Please let me know how he likes his first bath/shower.

Good luck and God Bless.
Dianna