Moulting

This month, I thought I would talk about a rarely discussed natural process, namely moulting. We all know it happens and certainly we know it is a continual fight to keep our aviaries in a well presented polished appearance without feather dust . Difficult.

The process of moulting is affected by a number of factors. The health of the feathers is dependant upon the quality of the diet and the environment in which our birds live. Feathers are constructed from keratin, a protein derived from the essential amino acid group. Vitamin A, niacin, pantothenic acid and iodine, as well as others, are essential for the health of the feathers. Moulting depends on age,sex, the time of year and, as mentioned, the environment. French Moult is a viral or perhaps a nutritional problem but the author has yet to be convinced about which is correct.

I am in contact with Dr Robert Marshall , certainly one of the World`s finest Avian Veterinarians. Dr Marshall has a quality publication called “Budgerigar Medicine” which is highly informative. He records , bearing in mind what facts are written above, that seed is deficient in Vitamin A & D, vitamin E (the fertility vitamin) , niacin and ,yes, pantothenic acid ! And some breeders still insist on trying to breed budgerigars on seed and water alone, plus you can throw in the “no grit brigade”.

The quicker the moult is completed the better. It is a stress period for birds and especially to young babies at three months of age when their first major appearance changing moult takes place.I have always found this natural process amazing. How does nature effect such a radical alteration in a bird? In our case it is from a barhead to an exhibition, clear headed bird, with spots that appear totally different from their 6 week appearance.

When I was in my early days, we had what was accepted as the “annual moult” In the northern hemisphere this took place in October. Today our birds appear to moult at any time at all,usually when we don`t want them to.It has to be an environmental factor, although we feed our birds far better today than earlier.It takes about eight to twelve weeks in ideal conditions ,with extra protein being available, for our aviary birds to complete their moult. Far longer than I thought. No wonder the hoover never stops.

According To Dr Marshall, quality exhibition birds take two years to mature. That doesn`t surprise me . I have said over the past 10-15 years that our big birds take at least 18 months to develop and possibly 24 months. Question? Do we therefore pair our birds too soon, or, as some say today, hens are ready to breed at 8 months? (cocks @7 months). I am divided on the subject although I am not advocating you wait for 24 months. They pass on before that, in some cases in case you haven`t noticed.

I have left the matter of feather dusters (chrysanthemums down under) to the last. They are a form of “mongolism” to use an outdated term where the bird is double the size of a normal one ,is certainly odd in behaviour and its feathers continue to grow indefinitely.Such birds are usually culled very quickly. Interestingly F.D`s are totally different in Australia to those above the equator. Certainly both types appeared in the same decade which begs the question was the MUTATION caused by an external dose of ,say, radiation ? This was my Father`s Specialist subject career before he died in 1990 and certainly he agreed it was feasible. Where the sources of radiation came from is speculation, but nuclear tests have to be considered.

Conclusion:

I have just received an e-mail from Didier Mervilde, in Belgium. He has read an article emanating from the University of Ghent which claims French Moult has it`s origins in a virus called “polyomavirus”, their wording. I know they are adamant that a virus is the certain cause but I feel there are questions relative to nutrition which can ,if wrong, predispose chicks to this feather problem.

Thank you Gerald Blinks the Author of "The Challenge"