missing head feathers

Could be either...I would guess the former....it's getting picked on...since the symptom doesn't seem to be present in any others....

Oh...welcome !

thankyou for your quick response,
is this behaviour normal with these birds?? will it eventually stop once the 'order' has been established?

A couple of years ago I had my white Indian fantail treated for Canker. He was missing feathers around the lower and mid neck and breast area. He was fine after treatment. He too looked pretty horrid. Are there any missing in this area as well? A picture would be great.

Dale of Oz said:

thankyou for your quick response,
is this behaviour normal with these birds?? will it eventually stop once the 'order' has been established?

Click to expand...

Dale, I am not convinced it is a pecking order problem though.

I am leaning towards this bird having canker. This can cause loss of feathers even in the area of the head. If you have, or can get canker meds, you should begin treatment for all your birds.

I can see new feathers growing in. Could this be a moult?

What about he "Bump" on the side of the Head? Dave

It did look like a bump on the side of the head. Or is it just the picture? Worms can cause feather loss also. Or, as has been mentioned already canker.

Maybe we need another picture without the bird being squenched (is that a word..LOL???) down........

Hey Renne...Skrunched? I have no idea! Dave

What are those little red bugs that live in the wood and come out at night?
A couple of my fantails looked like that last summer.
I noticed them hopping around at night, but couldn't find anything on them during the day.
I treated the wood with sevin dust and it stopped!

Think you're talking about red mites.

Msfreebird said:

What are those little red bugs that live in the wood and come out at night?
A couple of my fantails looked like that last summer.
I noticed them hopping around at night, but couldn't find anything on them during the day.
I treated the wood with sevin dust and it stopped!

Click to expand...

Yep, what Jay3 said...red mites......they are TORTURE for the birds at night. A bunch of us here went through that last year........BUT......they never caused feather loss. They mostly bite the legs/feet.........

missing feathers

Last year one of my birds looked like that, it seemed to happen over night and I was freekin out, it looked terible but it was just molting. I am still not going to guess on yours though.
I was wondering what you are using for bedding, it almost looks like bamboo lol is that what most people use down there?

Lovebirds said:

Yep, what Jay3 said...red mites......they are TORTURE for the birds at night. A bunch of us here went through that last year........BUT......they never caused feather loss. They mostly bite the legs/feet.........

Click to expand...

Yes, thats what it was. But one of the birds was scratching his head and neck raw. Could never find anything on the birds. Once I dusted all the wood and crevisses, all scratching stopped and feathers grew in.

Msfreebird said:

Yes, thats what it was. But one of the birds was scratching his head and neck raw. Could never find anything on the birds. Once I dusted all the wood and crevisses, all scratching stopped and feathers grew in.

Click to expand...

I got perch oil for them. Does dusting work just as well? The perch oil smells awful. No wonder it keeps the mites away. What does everyone else use for red mites?

pattersonk2002 said:

Last year one of my birds looked like that, it seemed to happen over night and I was freekin out, it looked terible but it was just molting. I am still not going to guess on yours though.
I was wondering what you are using for bedding, it almost looks like bamboo lol is that what most people use down there?

Click to expand...

the bedding under the bird is a collection of twigs and leaves, and pea straw,
the eucalyptus leaves apparently also help minimise insect issues in the nests.
I also use a spray called 'coopex', it has 'permethrin' in it, and that will apparently kill mites on contact and remain active for a few weeks to kill any hatching eggs.
I have only had my dovecotes since october, so I have only sprayed once, I also took advantaage of the weather and gave the birds a bath with coopex in the water.