Damaged feathers

[suzyc1954]

Hi everyone

I have three budgies - two are ace pilots and the other is a kami kazi pilot!! Ben is not a very good flier and falls to the floor after a couple of flaps and looks to me to offer a helping hand or jumps onto the gas fire bars to get off the floor (I can't use the fire because of this). He has sometimes ended up getting inside the fire and I have had to block the openings off to stop him doing this whilst I am out.

I believe his inability to fly any distance is because his flight feathers are genetically deformed. The wing and tail feathers are not smooth and the filaments (I think that is what they are called) are not straight. Some of the feathers that have fallen out appear to be bent out of shape and hard as though coated with super glue. The feathers grow back exactly the same. Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

Sue

[nat]

It could be that he has a milder form of french moult.
French moult can affect birds in varying degrees.
Some birds grow little or no flights at all while others grow flights which are very brittle and bend easily and then snap.
The feathers either don't grow back at all or grow back brittle because there is little or no blood supply to the feather shaft.
Unfortunately there is no cure to make their feathers regrow to any norm, but the birds can still lead a happy and long life with it.
French moult is a virus which is transmitted to chicks while they are still in the nestbox.

[Hezz]

Everything Nat wrote.