Aussie Finch Forum

Hi

I have one female Gouldian who is severely balded, in a flock of healthy, well-feathered and well-fed birds. What might this be about?

She is a split blue I purchased last year. I often find that I have some kind of low grade problem with these - reduced vitality in one way or another. I am still puzzled, though, why just one bird ends up looking such a mess. She has also had a sore eye for a couple of days - a bit swollen and itchy. I don't know whether she got pecked near the eye, or what else is going on. The flock doesn't have mites and is treated preventatively for such things.

She also did not breed this year, and it's not obvious whether she has a partner. I assume she must have one in order to have all those feathers plucked out, but I have never seen him interacting with her. She's a quiet bird who sits around on her own most of the time.

What do you make of it?

Ta

I don't think anyone knows the cause definitively but it's a really annoying condition.

A few years back I was conned and swapped a bunch of Gouldians with a bloke from petlink. He bought heaps of birds off me so I shouldn't complain too much as it seemed a reasonable thing to do at the time. I think I took about 8-10 of his gouldians. Anyway the whole lot went bald yet none were breeding. If a hen goes a bit baldy after having a few clutches I wouldn't be too concerned but on a few of these the baldness went down their chest such that one lost much of his purple chest. I'd always thought this baldness issue was largely inherited and so it hadn't affected my other gouldians. However I found out that one hen I bred that year (totally unrelated) ended up with a baldy problem. I subsequently got rid of all my gouldians (there were other reasons too). I gave all the baldy ones away to a mate with a big display aviary.

Not much help I'm afraid but if it was me I'd get rid of her quick smart!

I have an extremely bald cock Gouldian at the moment. But he just keeps going back to nest. So is doing it to himself. No history of this problem in his family as he is from my stock. His mate is an incomer.
LML

I to have a Gouldian hen that looks more like a vulture, I bought her so don't know the age, she had one clutch only.I wonder if it is age related.

Cheers Greg.

My baldy is only about 2 year old, or so I am lead to believe.

I've had other hens still breeding at 5 years old, and retired at 6, with no balding.

I had one hen almost as scruffy as the current one, but it was her partner doing it. After I forcibly divorced them her feathers grew back fine.

My very bald boy is a 2011 hatchling of mine. So not age related. As he did not have a mate last year I think he is just overdoing the "his turn" bit.
LML