I am a newbie in this forum. I have read a lot of interesting things in this forum and I see that most of you are so experienced and well-informed about budgies. I have a question about one of my budgies which I asked some other forums and can't get satisfactory answers.

 

I have a male budgie. We owned him last June. I thought he is at least 2-3 months old when we owned him. This is one of his photos when we owned him:

 

Approximately 3 months ago he was started to drop his primary flight feathers. I found his feathers on the ground. These feathers were complete (not broken) with a feather capsule full of blood. When you put pressure on these capsules blood came out. This was normal I think because these were blood feathers. Also in the center of the feathers near the capsules there were black lines like dry blood. Till this period he can fly without any problem.

 

Firstly I thought he fought with other budgies. After some time he lost almost all of his primary flight feathers. One or two weeks ago while trying to fly, his longest tail feather also dropped. Newer ones grew on the both side of the wings, however these were weaker and smaller than the original ones. And when he tries to fly these feathers dropped again generally. This photo was taken 2 weeks ago:

 

 

After some period not permitting to exit from the cage and supporting with vitamins. Now he is in this situation:

 

 

I don't know whether it is BFD or he is plucking his feathers beacuse of some other skin problems. What do you think about the situation? Is he French Moult?

I think he needs to be checked by a vet. It is possible he has feather quill mites. Failing that then the possibility would be french moult, but to me he doesnt look like he has that or PFBD. Ask the vet to test if feather quill mites are at play.

Edited January 19, 200916 yr by KAZ

I think he needs to be checked by a vet. It is possible he has feather quill mites. Failing that then the possibility would be french moult, but to me he doesnt look like he has that or PFBD. Ask the vet to test if feather quill mites are at play.

 

It is hard to find avian vet in my country. Let me show you a photo of the feather dropped recently:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_30KHrAAPsrU/SXVuDZg3...00/CIMG1821.JPG

Edited January 20, 200916 yr by Neat
PHOTO OVERSIZED turned to link ... 640 x 480 is the size maximum

Look like FM or Quill mites like Kaz said

Best to get a vet to look at.....

Edited January 20, 200916 yr by Neat

Look like FM or Quill mites like Kaz said Best to get a vet to look at.....

If it is a quill mites then what can I do for the treatment?Also generally he plays with his wing feathers and tail feathers more often. This behaviour is not like preen, but like trying to pluck it or to scratch the area. This makes me suspicious about mites.

Edited January 20, 200916 yr by Neat

Do you have a regular vet by you at least? Without a definite yes quill mites or FM then we can't really give you a treatment for something that is up in the air for a diagnosis, especailly since we are not trained professionals. I think the best thing you can do is to get him to a vet if not avian then a regular that sees birds. Keep us updated.

Quill mites you will need Ivermec which is obtained from your vet ...

 

Birds can loose their feathers like that from stress related illnesses

 

Ie: Mites , Quill mites, FM and moulting ....

 

I am looking at the feather that fell out and like i have said to others I am not a "VET"

but the quill end on a FM bird "usually" has a broken end - When i had issues

that was the first sign the vets told me it a dead give away ....

 

again contact local avian vet for a test - It looks like a premature feather that as fallen out due to the blood which is still in the shaft of the feather which is a sign of quill mites it you look closely at the feather some say that you can see tiny holes in the shaft where the motes have borrowed into it There does seem to be stress marks on the feather from what I can see on that photo.

 

again I am not an EXPERT

Edited January 20, 200916 yr by Neat

A more clear photo:

 

 

The quill of the feather (above the number date field in the photo) is like a cavity and full of black things. First I thought it was dry blood.

I have to agree with quill mites, however i do not see any on the feather in that photo - they look like little brown specks of dirt.

See here for info ----> http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....showtopic=22353

there is no harm in treating with Ivermectin or moxidectin anyway, as it will kill any worms etc too.

Edited January 20, 200916 yr by **Liv**