Bourke Parrots - Help Needed

[waynomelb]

I have a great pair of Bourke Parrots and this year they have had 4 clutches.

1st Clutch produced 1 Baby

2nd Clutch produced 3 Babies

3rd Clutch produced 5 Babies

4th Clutch produced 3 Babies

The problem i have is that 2 babies from Clutch 2 and all 5 babies from Clutch 3 cannot fly. These birds to not have tail feathers. The Parents are not related as they were brought from different Breeders, The Parents are approx 2 to 3 years old. They bred the previous season and produced about 5 young with no problems.

The 4th Clutch has produced 3 babies and they are all flying around with no problems.

Do people recommend i maybe swap the Adult Cock bird for a new one? or possible what could be the problem causing this in some birds and not all?
.
I'm also looking for someone who maybe interested in taking these birds from me, there are 7 in total, they live happily on the ground of a planted aviary.

[shanny2]

ifi was closer or you where closer i would take some but i cant as i am in nsw sorry i hope you get the answers that you need

[Buzzard-1]

The first thing that comes to mind is interbreeding but usually not the whole clutch is affected.Second thought is mild poisoning at the time of mating. Do they have no tail at all or a stunted tail? I'd be more concerned that their wings are stunted. This happens in budgies a bit and are known as runners. If you could post some Pic's with age of bird attached would help.

[jusdeb]

I thought of runners also ...

[waynomelb]

The first thing that comes to mind is interbreeding but usually not the whole clutch is affected.Second thought is mild poisoning at the time of mating. Do they have no tail at all or a stunted tail? I'd be more concerned that their wings are stunted. This happens in budgies a bit and are known as runners. If you could post some Pic's with age of bird attached would help.

Thanks for the reply, it cannot be interbreeding,

I will try and get some pics tonight, they have no tail at all and possibly their wings are stunted. They are healthy birds. I also breed budgies and have never had this problem before.

What is the prognosis on runners, will they remain like that all the time?

Wayne

[bleeding green]

Read up on avian polyomavirus and see if there are any other symptoms that match. Also consider the calcium intake of the parents. Usually symptoms to do with poor development of any sort stem from issues regarding nutrition.
I'd stop the parents from breeding first and foremost. You can't expect differant results until you make changes.

[shanny2]

that is want i would think there calcuim intake its like my baby guinea pigs the mum didn't get calcuim and the babies died

[Myzomela]

I would be very very concerned that it's Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease- a virus which affects the growth of tail & flight feathers. What are the wings like on these chicks? If the main flight feathers are also missing on both wings then that's the clincher. If the wing feathers are all normal, then it's something else.

If it is PBFD, It means that one or both of the parents are "carriers" - that is they carry the disease but look normal. Young birds are more susceptible. There is no treatment and unfortunately the affected birds should be culled as they are unlikely to recover.

You can test the parents and siblings, but it will be expensive.

Please check out the youngsters and let us know what you find- I hope I'm wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!

[natamambo]

When I was into budgies (many moons ago) some of the old breeders believed runners were genetic and would dispose of parents and young no matter how good show wise. Like any mutation it is possible that chance brought your two together.

If they are runners they will most likely die before reaching adulthood as they will be defective in other ways too.

[waynomelb]

I would be very very concerned that it's Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease- a virus which affects the growth of tail & flight feathers. What are the wings like on these chicks? If the main flight feathers are also missing on both wings then that's the clincher. If the wing feathers are all normal, then it's something else.

If it is PBFD, It means that one or both of the parents are "carriers" - that is they carry the disease but look normal. Young birds are more susceptible. There is no treatment and unfortunately the affected birds should be culled as they are unlikely to recover.

You can test the parents and siblings, but it will be expensive.

Please check out the youngsters and let us know what you find- I hope I'm wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gee i think you might be on to something there. There are no tails at all and the wings do not look too good either. I cannot cull the birds i would rather give them away for free to someone who will give them a home and let them live at the bottom of the aviary.

What about the birds from earlier clutches that are flying and look normal could they be carriers as well?