Hi all,

A woman brought a budgie into my care about 3 months ago (he had landed in her backyard and gotten mauled by her Toy Poodle) and after lots of betadine, saline, polyaid and antibiotics he, amazingly, pulled through. In the time since he entered my care he has progressed exceptionally well. He is a very friendly boy who loves affection. He can now say a few words, ('hello lucky' and 'lucky boy') and he even taught himself to fly which suprised me as I thought he definitely would have had permanent wing demage from his encounter with the Poodle.

However, in the last week or two I have noticed that he has lost his primary flight and primary tail feathers and can no longer fly, he just nose dives to the floor. He is still as friendly and as affectionate as ever.

He has had no change in diet, is provided with fresh seed, fruit and veg everyday, his cage is cleaned every second day. All my are in a strict routine, they are fed, allowed out for a play and put to bed at the same time every single day and there has been no significant upset to his routine.

Any ideas as to what the problem might be?

Thanks and appreciation in advance

He could be just going into a moult. Sounds like one lucky bird. See if you notice any pin feathers coming through on head area. If it's not a moult not sure what it would be, do you have any pics of him? that may help.

okay, thank you robyn. I will take some photo's and upload them tomorrow

I agree with Robyn. I've just had one of my older bird that lost all his flights and tail and they are just growing back now.

Here is a photo of him. Also robyn, he has not lost any feathers on his head or anywhere else on his body with the exception of his primary feathers so he has no pin feathers coming through on his head. It's got me very puzzled...

 

Also, the one primary feather you can see on his wing is the only primary feather he has left..

Edited December 30, 201212 yr by LeoOlive

I'm pretty sure that when birds molt, they don't lose enough feathers at one time to lose their ability to fly. Any bird who molted in such a way would be easy pickings for predators. So I think there must be something else going on here.

 

It could be that another bird or birds is picking on him. They sometimes pick on the old or the weak. Which would explain Nadene's bird, too.

Thanks for the reply Finnie Lucky lives in a cage by himself, so there is no possible way that other birds are picking on him. I have been contemplating getting him a friend in case his problem is loneliness. I do, however, have close to 100 here (varying species) could it just be the stress of having so many other loud birds around him?

Hi check to see if the stubs of the feathers are still there, he may be chewing them himself and usually the stubs will stlll be there but they will be frayed.

Cheers Jenny

Hi, any sign of his tail and flights growing in? If not it could be another problem as Finnie said.

I don't think noise will be the problem, budgies LOVE noise!

 

I like Jenny's idea to check for quill stubs. Self plucking/chewing is a definite possibility, with all he has gone through, and three months at your place might not be quite enough for him to feel settled in all the way yet.

 

Another idea could be that after his bout with the poodle, and some time healing, he could be experiencing a molt, and the sensation of the new feathers coming in could really be irritating him, causing him to chew at himself a lot. Maybe reminding him of how he felt during his recovery.

 

Your idea to put a budgie friend in with him might make him feel better. A nice, gentle friend, though, and not a crabby hen. And that might take his mind off his own feathers.

 

I had a hen with a very, very similar problem, and I can tell you what I did to cure her, but it might not be pertinant to this bird's situation, so I will wait to see whether your bird gets better on his own or not.

Edited January 9, 201312 yr by Finnie

Hi friends!

Im sam from India..

My budgies are loosing there tail and flying feather,no lose of feather all over the body but tail and wings..how can i treat that? Someone please help me out..

On 21/03/2020 at 1:51 PM, Sam.sk77 said:

Hi friends!

Im sam from India..

My budgies are loosing there tail and flying feather,no lose of feather all over the body but tail and wings..how can i treat that? Someone please help me out..

I’m not an expert but it sounds very similar to a hen I have I have since been told she has french moult which is a disease don’t no how as she is 14 months old and I was on the understanding it’s usually transferred from hen to egg and then birth not sure if that any help