I'm not sure if this is a medical or nutritional issue, hope you can help. Georgie, below, has some distorted flight feathers. They are present on both sides, and when I spread his wings, or observe them spread, the damaged feathers are located closer to the body than to the wing tip. There are 2 to 3 stripped feathers on each side. You can see them curling up on the left wing in the picture. The rest of the shaft is bare above this flared out tip. It's not behavioural/plucking. What do you think this is and what should I do?

 

how old is George and how long have you had him?

how old is George and how long have you had him?

 

 

George is 5 years old and I have had him since he was 4 months old

Also you say the rest of the shaft is bare. Is it really bare or has it still got a sheath around it from when it grew?

It if feathers are brittle it could be a nutritional or calcium deficiency. What is his diet?

Also you say the rest of the shaft is bare. Is it really bare or has it still got a sheath around it from when it grew?

 

Sorry, melbournebudgie, I'm not too sure of my avian anatomy. I was trying to say that, in comparison to his other flight feathers, all but the tip is "bald"

 

Elly, I am feeding him a seed diet called Forti-Diet from Kaytee, which contains a variety of seeds, grains, as well as calcium (I am reading from the package)

 

This had started on one wing last year, and I thought it would regrow. He can still fly.

Edited April 20, 200817 yr by Erin

Sorry I meant to say has it still got a sheath which is enclosing the rest of the feather, my bird used to get these when she was being lazy with her preening and if I gently rubbed the shaft between my finger the rest of the sheath would break apart and ta-da she had a whole feather.

Sorry I meant to say has it still got a sheath which is enclosing the rest of the feather, my bird used to get these when she was being lazy with her preening and if I gently rubbed the shaft between my finger the rest of the sheath would break apart and ta-da she had a whole feather.

 

Ahhh...I will have to check. I wasn't aware of this possibility. Would the shaft look pretty thick though? His look pretty thin, though again, this is new territory for me.

The shaft would be fairly thick and probably have a tinge of feather colour.

I would suggest adding more to her diet since just seed is not complete diet. Here is the link to our Food and Nutrition Area, http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/faqs/i...=show&cat=5, she may be stubborn and not eat new food at first but there are excellent ideas in different articles on how to get them to try different foods along with our nutritional forum that talks a lot of way too.

I would suggest adding more to her diet since just seed is not complete diet. Here is the link to our Food and Nutrition Area, http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/faqs/i...=show&cat=5, she may be stubborn and not eat new food at first but there are excellent ideas in different articles on how to get them to try different foods along with our nutritional forum that talks a lot of way too.

 

 

Thanks Elly and Melbourne: George is a he. I will check on both and followup. Are there any possible medical conditions this problem suggests? The rest of his feathers look healthy

Edited April 20, 200817 yr by Erin

It is possible, anything is but I will go with the most obvious a nutritional deficiency since is on a basic seed diet only adding other foods can improve the conditions of the feathers.

Even though some Budgies live longer lives, 5 is already getting on for most Budgies, most of the older birds that I have that were given to me by other breeders are looking pretty old at 6 & some have already died at about this age. I’m not sure I haven’t had the problem with Budgies, but with Canaries as they get to old age; when they moult they often get similar looking feathers that are misshaped. When the feather emerges from the skin it is covered by a sheath, with some problems this sheath doesn’t get removed for some reason, maybe this is part of the problem. I don’t know if it’s because the bird doesn’t remove it, as Melbournebugies says or some other factor

Even though some Budgies live longer lives, 5 is already getting on for most Budgies, most of the older birds that I have that were given to me by other breeders are looking pretty old at 6 & some have already died at about this age. I'm not sure I haven't had the problem with Budgies, but with Canaries as they get to old age; when they moult they often get similar looking feathers that are misshaped. When the feather emerges from the skin it is covered by a sheath, with some problems this sheath doesn't get removed for some reason, maybe this is part of the problem. I don't know if it's because the bird doesn't remove it, as Melbournebugies says or some other factor

 

 

Thanks, Norm. This makes sense to me. Although <sob> the thought of Georgie as middle-aged or worse is hard to bear: I just lost my other, a 15-year-old, last month.

My pleasure…lets hope your bird keeps on keeping on for a long time yet.