French Moulting?

[iain38]

A couple of members have suggested that my budgie, Yumi, may have FM?

[Loz]

The feathers don't look right to me and they don't look like they've been clipped, at least not in the usual way.
My guess is FM but I am far less expert than other forum members.

[iain38]

best image I could get of her wing open

[Hezz]

That wing has NOT been clipped. FM is the most likely cause.

[Marianne Marlow]

Agreed Hezz.
If you need an opinion from an avian vet on this, please book an appointment. It's the only way for you to gain peace of mind on the subject.

[iain38]

Took Yumi to vet today. They don’t believe she has FM and think she’s been clipped 😂 Apparently this very specialises in exotic animals and birds, so ….

[Hezz]

I hope they are right in a way, although self-mutilation can be a hard one to stop.

We shall see …

[tweetiepiesmom]

As Hezz says, time will tell. If you decide to get Yumi a friend, I'd suggest you get the second budgie from a different place from where you got Yumi.

[iain38]

We will be. Won’t be buying from that pet shop again. I guess these things are a learning curve, especially for first time budgie owners. Let’s say Yumi does in fact have FM, if we got another bird, from another breeder, is there a chance this bird would catch it?

[Marianne Marlow]

There are different theories on that. I read that they can only catch it in the nest when they are 2-3 weeks old. But, some people say different things.

[tweetiepiesmom]

As Marianne Marlow says the opinion on that differs among the experts. Also Marianne had a budgie with FM and none of the others caught it including that budgies cage mate.

[Hezz]

Agree with the two replies above me, but I don’t know anyone on this forum who has had FM budgies where it has been passed on to the cage-mates.

[starrymist]

From what I’ve learnt (I have what we believe is a FM, single budgie, aged 9 months so all quite new to this), a FM bird will pass on the virus to every bird but for most birds, they will be entirely unaffected & it is harmless. It’s only the youngsters & very old for whom it is problematic causing symptoms & potentially have the feather damage.
Also, I don’t know where you are but the UK Budgerigar Club avian vet advises to up the protein for FMs & to give Nutrobal 3 times a week.
For protein I give my bird meal worms & add pea protein powder to his veg chop.

[Marianne Marlow]

Yes, Lyra had very severe french moult. So far, touch wood, no budgie has symptoms. I would not have taken her in if I bred budgies, just in case it was passed on though.

Unfortunately, she passed away in September. I gave her extra vitamins and did all I could to help her be happy. Sometimes they just do not have long.

But skysmum had Jojo and he lived to 14 I think. His French moult was not as severe as Lyra's though.

Nov 30, 2022 20:25:56 GMT tweetiepiesmom said:

As Marianne Marlow says the opinion on that differs among the experts. Also Marianne had a budgie with FM and none of the others caught it including that budgies cage mate.