My girl April who is about 1 and a half years old had her wings clipped before Leroy died which was about the end of last year. They have not grown 1 bit! Whenever she tries to flie she plonks on the ground and really hurts herself. If it is french moult, will it be permanent??

Doesn't really sound like french molt, more like a slow molt. How old is your budgie? While molts usually happen about twice a year, the weather and climate in your home as well as diet can affect this quite a bit. What type of foods does she regularly eat? Do you remember what month she was clipped and how old she was then?

She was Last clipped around november last year.She was about 9 months old back then and now she is about 1 year and 4 months.

Can you take a picture of her wings spread out? I did that with Merlin because I was worried. French Moult will affect babies not adults.

 

I agree with Terri a very long moult Pretty had one of those.

 

pictures would be great even if they are just close up shots on the side and not spread out.

yeah, i agree with eterri and lovey, just sounds like a long moult.

 

i used to have a budgie with french moult and he had it since he was a baby - his primaries never grew in at all... and his new feathers fell out before they had fully grown.

 

a giveaway sign is that budgies with french moult will also lose their tail feathers this way and have a very short sometimes discoloured, stubby tail.

 

please try not to let your budgie land heavily on her chest because this can lead to feather cysts and even broken keel bones. keep her low to the ground when shes out so she cant hurt herself.

It has been like this for almost 8 months.now she is a year and about 2 months so shes had it since she was 6 months.

Edited August 5, 200619 yr by Jodie

I would say that doesn't look normal all feathery?

Have you ever taken her to the vet?

That really doesn't look normal at all. I think an avian vet for sure. What kind of diet does the bird have? First thing to do, after the vet, is ensure lots of fresh foods

another question when her wings were cut did they look that way?

Was she ever able to fly?

 

It should look like this

 

according to my reading it only affects babies and not adults french moult so did she look normal when you acquired her? Her feathering? Do you have pics of her when she was a baby and back about a year?

 

 

Here is an article about it http://www.birdhealth.com.au/about/r-polyomavirus.html

no they did not look that bad but she could not fly very good. now it is worse and she plonks on the ground with no flight at all

Edited August 5, 200619 yr by Jodie

if it is french moult it does get worse and she had it since she was a check and with each moult it probably has worsened.

 

I would seriously have her checked out by an avian vet and I am not sure if you are going to breed but don't breed her.

Omg, the wing looks like it's been half cut off right through the bone! If she didn't come to you this way, then someone should be brutally punished... that's not a wing clip, that's wing BUTCHERING. The absolute worst I have ever seen. Definitely get her to a vet and then have words with whoever did this. Poor thing, I'm not a vet but I don't see how she'll ever be able to grow that back normally. She can have a happy life either way, but this is horrible of whoever did it. I'm sorry someone did this to your little bird.

 

Were you there for the wing clipping? It looks like it would have bled...maybe I'm looking at it wrong or just looking at the picture wrong but there should be a bend after that straight area at the top of the wing, a bend right on the bone. I don't see that AT ALL. I'd love to have a word with the "artist" here.

 

*Editing to add...*

 

For the mean time, make sure she has LOTS of places to perch in the cage and that when she's out, you watch her closely so that she doesn't fall. It's no wonder she plonks to the ground, but as pixie mentioned, injuries to the keel bone (chest area) can be very serious yet show not obvious signs. What does her other wing look like? Can you get a picture of it?

Edited August 5, 200619 yr by eterri

the other wing looks pretty much the same but ir has two very awkwid feathers. why cant i breed her

Edited August 5, 200619 yr by Jodie

oh dear god!! that is horrendous! someone hacked half her wing off. i am so sorry someone did this to your bird.

 

the poor little mite. it must be VERY uncomfortable for her. does her tail have the same kind of poor quality feathers?

 

the first thing, get this bird to see a vet. she needs to be checked over and tested for PBFD etc. If she does have a virus, then no you will not be able to breed her because all the chicks will be born with the same problem.

 

As eterri said, this bird will need a specially designed and well thought out cage... she will need low perches to sit on and place items where she can easily get to them, because no doubt, with her wings in that condition it will be affecting her ability to balance.

 

please keep us updated, there are lots of people here that can give help and support. x

 

I think this topic would suit better in health questions so *Topic Moved*

Edited August 5, 200619 yr by pixie25

the other wing looks pretty much the same but ir has two very awkwid feathers. why cant i breed her

 

Pixie25 answered that question in her post and I agree again she really needs a vet.

Keep us updated.

 

Have you spoken to your parent (s) about your bird and the need for a vet? What do they think?

First things first. Don't panic. You guys are being very unrational here. If you look carefully it is only her flight feathers that have been cut, not her bone!!!!. Flight reathers do not start at the wrist, they start at the finger tip of the wing. The reason why it looks like that is because of the way it is being held in the picture. Her wing isn't fully stretched out. Her clip isn't the best I've seen, but it isn't completely bad. She still has parts of her primaries. What I don't understand is that the feathers hae a "fluffy" appearance to them. Perhaps she could have had french moult at birth, or she does not preen herself very well. Definately take her to the vet as her feathers should not have that appearance.

Another thing want to mention is you said that her feathers haven't grown. Did you mean they hadn't moulted and fallen out in that time or did you mean they hadn't changed in length in that time? Because (which I'm sure you know anyway) feathers have a set lenght, they do not continuosly grow.

They may be frayed like that on the ends because she is chewing them. If the clip is not done at the correct angle, the feathers will feel very "wrong" and she may spend a lot of time trying to fix them. Since they were cut so short, she probably has a hard time getting them to feel "right" by preening, so chews them instead. Some birds will pluck out feathers that they cannot fix, but not all. Your hen may be in the latter category. She also could go to the other extreme and not bother trying to preen them at all anymore. I have a bird that does not preen the shorter tail feathers very often. She could care less if they get frayed, but does a fine job on all the other feathers she has.

 

I don't think her wing has been hacked off. I do think she unfortunately got a really crappy trim by someone who had no idea what they were doing. That is a shame. If it has been 8 months since the trim, she should be getting ready to molt soon. They may have been trimmed right after a full molt, in which case it will be 7-12 months before the next full molt.

 

I would call your avian vet, explain what the feathers look like and how long they have been like that, express your worries, and see if they feel it necessary to check her over. That would ease your mind more than anything, I'll bet. Let us know what they say.