Loss of feathers.....

Question
QUESTION: hello..

im from india... im having 2 pairs of budgies... one of them is  having feather loss for past few days.. it is more than the usual..im very much worried... im feedng them with grains and corriander leaves(some times).. the bird is active... but the loss of feathers worries me...  wld it be bcos of mosquitoes or any insects?? but im checking the cage often and find it is clean.. im afraid whtr it wld spread to other birds.. pls help me... i love them a lot.. i dont want anythng to bother them..

ANSWER: Hi,

There are a few reasons why your budgie may be loosing allot more feathers than usual.

If your budgie has gone through some stress lately, for example, a new cage or new cage mate, they have what is knows as a freak molt.

Secondly could be feather mites. You can usually see a deterioration in the feather quality and they may look moth eaten. If this is the case, get some feather mite drops from your vets. Xeno are the best. Pet shop strength ones don't seem to do the trick as well.If it is mites, you will want to treat any other bird that is with him.

A sudden change in air humidity. Heating can dry the air out and make birds loose too many feathers at once.

Whatever one of these you thing it could be, get a bottle of very slightly warn water and perhaps some added aloe Vera, and give him regular sprays. (unless he is having the mite treatment) This will help keep his skin soft and make any new feather growth more comfortable.

Add some PYM to the food. Its like a yeast powder especially designed for caged birds when they molt.

Check that he isn't pulling his feathers out himself. Some parrots are prone to do this, but less so are budgies. Birds do this through boredom with lack of toys and attention. If you suspect this, put a small amount of TCP into a sprey bottle of water and osprey him twice a day. The taste will put him off doing it and get him out of the habit and give his feather chance to grow back.

Please consider which one of these it may be. First molts of the year often are more severe than others and no two molt will be the same. There are allot of factors involved and unless your bird is looking bald, I wouldn't worry too much, just keep him out of drafts.

Hope this helps.

Charlotte

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hello charolotte...

thanks a lot for ur reply.. actually im a beginner in this field.. i dunno much abt TCP,PYM etc.. but i thnk ur second option wld be the reason of feather loss.. i dont thnk he is depressed... as he seems to be active... he is scratching himself so much.. while the rest of the birds dont seem to lose much feathers lke him.. And very sorry to tell this... i dont understand the meaning of molts.. i'll be very thankfull if u can explain in detail...

thanks a lot...

Aravind

ANSWER: Ok, before I answer in depth, please answer me the following questions.

1- where is your bird kept? And if in the house, where in the house.
2- How old is your bird?
3- Have there been any changes lately that may have contributed to stress. For example, have you moved them around your house, into a different cage, out the heating on or up...
4- What do you feed him?
5- Where are the other birds?
6- How many birds share the environment with him?
7- How long have you had him and did you get him separately to your other birds?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Answers to ur question:

the name of the one loosing its feathers is "chweety"

1- We hav kept the cage below our stairs... its a corner place getting with not so much light(as one of my bird is breeding)...

2- i dunno the exact age of my bird bcos i bought it from a bird shop during last december..

3- it has been two or three weeks since i hav changed their place...(also i clean the cage daily)

4- dry millets.. and corriander leaves..

5- the other birds are also kept in the same cage... and im afraid to take them to vet.doc as one of them is breeding.. i thought the movement of the cage may upset her...

6- there are 3 more birds in the same cage..

7- i got them last december.. and i hav never seperatd him..

one more thng.. today i saw another bird("Sonny") has lost a patch of feathers at back of his neck.. Sonny and Chweety are scratching themselves often.. will mosquitoes be a reason.. cos there wld be mosquitoes at night times..

Chweety has lost some feathers in her face too... im very much worried.. pls help me...

thank you.....

Aravind

Answer
Hi,

I am really concerned for your birds. They sound to me to be really out of condition.

1: If you are to keep 4 budgies in a cage, they cage size will need to be at least big parrot sized. The bigger the better really or you are sure to encounter problems with fighting and illness.

2: Please get your birds back into a light area. Sun, or good light, is vital for birds as it is for humans. They absorb certain vitamins through sunlight just like we do, and lack of these vitamins will make them very ill. If a budgie is nesting, the right nest box, put in the correct place, will provide enough protection.

3: If you are considering breading them, please put the breading pair in a separate cage. Birds can get very aggressive when they are breading and will attack other birds very badly. Budgies are one of the more aggressive when breeding and need lots of space.

4: You need to add variation to your birds diet. In the wild, they do not eat millet and coriander leaves all the time, they will eat a mixture of fruit, nuts, seeds, grasses and even veg.

5: If your bird hasn't laid any eggs yet, please seriously consider removing the nest box and waiting until they are better and stronger before, and get a little more knowledge behind you before breeding.

6: The molt (loss of feathers) doesn't sound like mosquitoes to me. It sounds like ether stress, or lass of condition. If the bird is unhealthy, it can loose weight and that encourages sudden loss of feathers. Also, the extra scratching is probably due to all the feather regrowth that is probably happening. A molt is a very irritating and uncomfortable time for a bird and will cause a certain amount of distress if it happens very quickly. Give them regular sprays with warm water to soften the skin up and make it more comfortable.

7: The bald patch sounds to me like your bird is being attacked by one of the other birds. This will happen in a confined space. Breeding will trigger this aggressive behavior off.

Here are some steps I suggest you try strait away if your birds are to improve.

a) Take out the nest box and don't let them breed for now.
b) Get a bigger cage. For 4 budgies, I suggest at least 100cm (39inches)wide, 60cm (24inches) deep and 75cm (29.5inches) high. The bigger the better.
c) Feed them a different more varied diet.
d) Get them back into the light so they don't get too ill. Make sure to keep them out of draft.
e) Get your birds to the vets and have them checked for mites.
f) Get some toys for the cage and change them about every so often to avoid them getting bored.

Hope this helps

Charlotte