FINCHforum

My second gouldian male started molting last week, or so I thought cause feathers were everywhere and I noticed very few pin feathers. But today there's a large bald spot on his head which was not there yesterday.

He's losing feathers really fast and I've always been providing liquid iodine in their water and there's powdered kelp in a finger drawer added since earlier this week, I also add vitamins occasionally when they're not on any medications.

I'd like to know if this is normal during a molt or if I should do anything else? Thanks.

None of my finches have ever gone completely bald unless they were being plucked.

This morning I noticed a LOT of pin feathers on his neck where he also had a bald spot but nothing yet on the top part of his head, his wings also have a lot of pin feathers.

I will move him to another smaller cage so he could have easier access to powdered kelp and egg food mixed with Feather Fast, I read that baldness can last a year long even with treatment so I hope that's not the case.

This isn't your Gouldian that has been so sick, is it? By moving him to a smaller cage by himself, you can make sure that he isn't being feather plucked. With the supplements you are giving him, he should be fine. My Gouldians are in the middle of breeding, and a couple of days ago, I noticed some pin feathers on the head of one of the males. Now there is no sign of them, so I don't know whether he is getting ready to molt or what. Gouldians are certainly different than some of the other finches.

No, actually this is the dominant one! The feather loss happened within a week and I'm 100% sure this isn't a plucking case cause I regularly see the shower of feathers falling when he's preening!

Today also my yellow gouldian who's at the end of a molt (new feathers are starting to show and less pin feathers visible) is now lifting his leg at all times even when he's at the bottom of the cage, this isn't the resting 1 leg while perching position cause he lifts it even when hopping/eating, there's no signs of external injuries so I hope it'll recover on it's own.

I placed both together just now so they get easy access to extra nutrients.

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And not to sound whiny or hopeless cause I'll never give up on these birds. But I've been having the worst luck with them as they were never all in good health at the same time. There's always one or two with a problem except for the female probably cause she wasn't infected when I first got her.

Now I see how important it is to buy healthy birds from respectable breeders, otherwise you wind up spending months of time and energy treating rather than enjoying the hobby.

Oh, H2O15, I really feel for you. I give you credit for sticking with it, a lot of people would have given up long ago, but with each setback, you just seek out a solution and stay with them. Unfortunately, this has been a really tough lesson for you. I'm sure most of us have bought birds from an unreliable source at one time or another, but we have been lucky to get away with it, or lost the birds very soon, before we had invested so much time and money into them. Those birds are lucky to have you!

Great news! This morning I inspected him and his entire skull has tiny pin feathers coming out, and then I noticed that his breast area has very little feathers left but I'm not worried anymore cause it seems that he's going through a very heavy molt.

My other gouldian with the leg problem is also recovering on his own, today he could use it to scratch his head and he's standing on both legs! I feel SO relieved now.