Aussie Finch Forum

Can anyone help me? How can I help it?

Other bird plucking or mites....need to sit and watch quietly if another bird to see which one..for mites dose with recommended medication..

It is a genetic condition or stress condition or suggested lack of iodine most likely and it is very common. There is nothing that can be done until bird moults out but when that is in your country i don't know. In Australia it is happening now and the birds will be ready to breed early next year.

Has it just finished a heavy breeding season?
LML

Balding in Gouldians is common, and as you can see from the various responses, there is some debate about the cause.
Nutrition, particularly iodine deft, stress, plucking, mites have all been blamed and it is possible that these things do contribute in some birds.
My personal view is that it is a genetic predisposition, that is then expressed when certain conditions prevail, like the end of a long breeding period or increased stress.
As has been mentioned, the feathers grow back normally after the moult, but are likely to fall out again after some months.
Some birds are just missing a few feathers and others the head is completely bald.
I treat it as a genetic fault and cull these birds. Unfortunately it is not expressed until after the first breeding season.

Cheers
Brett

I agree it has a genetic link. I know of Gouldian breeders who never had for many years then it appeared as they introduced new blood & it perpetuated in their collection as they bred from those birds.

Right about genetics I think. All of my red-headed normal hens are affected at the end of the breeding season, and they're all related. Meanwhile the yellow-headed normal hens and mutation hens—from different bloodlines—don't have the problem. Diet, housing, and all other variables, are exactly the same.

Thanks all
She is my pet bird. I didn't let her breed. This situation has been going on for a while. I have tried to kill mites with iodine, but it has no effect. This canary female bird also has this bald condition.

Are they getting natural sunlight?

This must be something fairly new and I would agree with you that it's probably a genetic condition. I use to keep gouldians back in the 80s and they never had that problem, although a lot of the stock back then was wild caught. So it is possibly from poor genetics caused by inbreeding the weird colour varieties.

When buying birds to breed, try to get them from different shops or suppliers so you have more chance of getting unrelated birds.

Feed the birds a varied diets including dry seed, green grass seed, various fruits & veges (including dark green leafy vegetables), boiled egg mixed with crushed cornflakes, and have clean water, mineral grit, an iodine block & cuttlebone available all the time.

If you have a canary with the same issue then there could be other factors involved including mites (get some Ivermectin from a vet to treat that), stress, chemicals in the environment (if they are indoor birds make sure they are not exposed to fumes from cooking, hair sprays, perfumes, deodorants, cigarette smoke, etc, or near an air conditioner or heater).

Make sure they have a good varied diet and add a vitamin supplement each day.

Make sure they get some sunlight each day, but avoid putting them out in midday sun because they will get sunburnt. Put them out in the morning and make sure they have some shade and increase the amount of time they can get sunlight. But not too much because birds can get skin cancer too.