| Budgie Resources |
| More Budgie related stuff coming soon |
|
| Budgie feather disease page |
Hello and welcome to our budgie's feather disease page!
Diseases of the Feathers.
Feather Diseases; Abnormalities found in the feathers of budgies.
One of the most common signs being that the tail feathers would fall out and not grow back.
This is caused by a virus. In young budgies under 6 months old, the feathering was very poor with
many expanses of balding on the body and legs and particularly the wing and tail feathers.
The rest of their feathers were of very bad quality and could even be misshapen, with the birds
themselves are smaller than usual for their age. The silver lining here is that the head and neck
were spared, no matter what the age of the infected budgie, and in no cases was the beak misshapen
or abnormal. In the UK there are no remedies for this; all you can do is keep things extra clean.
Mites; Very hard to spot as they are tiny (you can only really see them from under a
microscope), but feather mites are very common in budgies. They like to nestle right down into
the feathers close to the skin and many budgies don’t have any problems with them. Sometimes
(all be it occasionally) mites can be the cause of feather disease in a number of different
ways. They can cause the budgie to scratch which results in messy feathers or even feathers
that have been bitten off! Some species of mite like to eat parts of the growing feather,
leaving the feather visibly bladed in certain places. You can get anti-mite treatment
which is proving to be successful.
Feather Cysts; Most cases of this appear on the outer parts of the tail and wing (but it can also be
seen on the necks). There are three types of cysts in these cases. The first (and most common) is the usual,
spherical shape that can get to about half an inch in diameter with it either being very hard or very soft,
having a yellow substance in the middle with a few feather remains. The second type of cyst is a little similar
to the one I just described, the main difference being that the skin surrounding the cyst is thick and inflamed.
The third and last type of cyst – which is also the rarest – is narrow and long in shape, occurring in groups.
They lie next to each other with one of the cysts touching the follicle of a feather. The only treatment for
cysts is surgical (where the feathers would be removed) and if you opt for this, then you need to remember that
the feathers will not grow back.
Pulpitis ; This feather disease is when the pulp of growing feathers
(usually the big tail and wing feathers) gets infected. These feathers may both be shed
prematurely or just break off and never re-grow. Pulpitis is normally caused by a bacterial
infection (streptococci and staphylococci are the main culprits) but some cases can be viral.
The germs are said to live on the bird’s skin and only cause a problem when they interfere
with a growing feather. Some birds get cured with multiple baths in Virkon S, but there is
no way in telling which birds will or won’t respond positively to treatment.
Stress Marks; Lines on the feathers where the barbules didn’t form properly.
Without a properly formed barb (or barbules) the feather can’t hold together or form correctly,
giving the image of messy budgie. When a sheath is not shed is also a problem under the same
category of ‘stress marks’. Sometimes, a fully formed feather can be entombed in its own sheath.
If you identify these problems, then in usually means that there is something wrong with the
budgies system in general. For treatment, I would recommend visiting your avian vet and then
after the next moult, all should return to normal.
Feather Dusters; Most cases of this well know disease is of genetic inheritance,
and the effects are that the bird’s feathers grow continually. It tends to start pretty
shortly after the birds begin to feather properly. Commonly, budgies with this die young
at around 6 to 8 weeks old.
Multi-feathers; The growth of long contour feathers. These are usually a series of
normal looking feathers joined at the end by a very thin section of feather shaft.
Some records point towards this being an inherited feather malfunction and it’s usually a
disease that the budgie will always have.
Follicle Problems; Some budgies have bald patches which are the result of a lack of
follicles for the feathers to grow out of. There is also a condition called ‘Pollyfollicles’ and
this is where multiple feathers are growing from the same follicle, the result of which is
deformed feathers. This does seem to be more common in Australia than the UK with cause and cure
being unknown. Follicles can also be too small or just simply, inactive.
French Molt; This tends to occur when the budgie is at a very young age and is also
known as Budgie Fledgling Disease (BFD). It’s when they suddenly loose their second and tail
feathers and it can badly restrict their lives. It seems that the disease is transmitted to
offspring in the nest by already effected budgies - the overall culprit being the Polyoma Virus.
There is no real cure for this unfortunate disease, but you can give special food supplements to
help them a little
Deficiencies in Vitamin A ; In some studies where birds have been the unfortunate
victim of feather diseases, there have been signs elsewhere in the budgies body that screamed
of a deficiency in vitamin A. When a supplement for vitamin A was given, this proved to be the
cure and the feathers started to grow back successfully.
An essential knowledge for budgie owners as so many things that can go wrong with just
the feathers – but please do not be disheartened. These are only here being listed so that you
are in the know, and will be able to spot anything quickly. Please don’t panic, as your budgie
may not suffer from anything at all, but I’m sure we all agree, it’s better to be aware of
theses things so as to be prepared for anything.
support@ukbudgies.co.uk
Thankyou
ukbudgies forum
|
Why not join our friendly discussion forum and chat about budgies. We offer lots of support and advise
to help you care for your budgie. join our very friendly group of members, we even have a online shop
Where you can buy your budgie foods, budgie cages, budgie treats, budgie toys and more! Click here
to join, its quick, easy and FREE.
Budgie ages
Budgie proofing
Budgie banter
Budgie diseases
Budgie life span
Budgie nail trimming
Budgie bathing
Budgies living together
Budgie wing clipping
Budgies first aid kits
Budgie feather disease
Budgie foods & treats
Budgie cages
Necessary foods
Other birds with budgies
Poorly budgies
Sexing a budgie
Budgie chat
|
| Welcome Guest |
The time now is Sat Sep 22, 2007 11:40 am
All times are GMT
|
|