This is picture of my baby that will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. I was wondering why he would suddenly drop down after flying about 1 metre (or 3 feet). It was not until I saw him in flight with his siblings that I noticed he had a much smaller wing span. It looks like he has been clipped (but has not been) and has no long flights

 

 

 

 

 

Is he a 'walker' or do you think they will grow?

 

Cindy

How strange!! I'm not sure why his flights would be that short.

There is a bacterial infection that can cause the flights to drop away, called pulpitis. But it usually affects both tail and wings. They grow all their feathers...flights and shortly after leaving the nest they just drop out. Any regrowth can be brittle and break off. Your baby doesn't look like a french moult baby or "walker" but may have a deficiency or the pulpitis that it should get over by next moult. Some baby budgies can drop their flight feathers under stress....i.e. like when attacked by parents or siblings too.

Ahhh! Thanks Bubbles. Maybe it was attacked while we were away, even though it was just one night. I was sure it could fly before then, but as they were all alike, I just thought I must have been letting the wrong one out again.

 

Is there any special tonic I could give him that would help

 

Cindy

what a beautiful baby as for what is wrong do you see any other feather issues? Split, not growing in well?

what a beautiful baby as for what is wrong do you see any other feather issues? Split, not growing in well?

 

No Lovey, it just appears his wing feathers are a lot shorter than the other birds. They look perfectly formed, only very short. When you open his wings out the longest part is not as long as my husbands thumb. Otherwise he's normal and loves it when he is outside his cage, running across the top of it, until he decides he wants to fly. You should see all the packing we have around in case he falls

Cindy