The Importance of Diet

[MiaCarter]

So, as most know, I was in the hospital for a few weeks and during that time, my husband cared for all the birds.
But he didn't take the time to do all the supplements and special foods.
I think they basically got greens, egg and seed. (Plus cuttle bone and millet)
He also didn't turn on the UV lights for the proper amount of time each day. (And since they were never put into their cages - where most of the UV lights are mounted - I'm not sure they received proper therapeutic light dosages.)

A lot was omitted from their diet when I was away sick:
mealworms
veggies
tonic seed
F-vite
health greens
herb salad
bee pollen
kelp
multivitamin
avian trio
probiotics
miracle meal
....and more. That's just off the top of my head.

So I came home and I thought they looked a bit less....shiny and boppy?
Their feathers didn't look as perfect and smooth as usual. They just looked vaguely different.
And they seemed less vocal and sleepier. There were more random lulls of silence.

But the big difference was in the gouldians!
My male gouldian started balding!!!
I've, never, ever had a bald gouldian.
I don't think it's moulting, as it's bare skin, all along one side of his face. About the area of a dime.

I've given some liquid iodine to give him an extra boost.
He seems okay, but I bet he's going to remain bald until his next moult (which should be soon....I've owned him since July and he's never moulted!)

But there's some evidence for anyone who doubts that good diet and proper lighting makes a major difference!

Which makes me wonder.....
How on earth do you do those strategic minimalist diets to mimick the times of not-so-plenty in the wild?
I know that most times those minimalist diets are seed only.
So do your babies just look a bit scruffy and "off" for a few weeks?
I'm intrigued!

[debbie276]

I think our would be hard for you to know exactly what caused what.
Feathers are not alive so a deficient diet shouldn't make them dull or less perfect and smooth once they are there. Not bathing and/or climbing around on cages and other things in the room easily would. A diet lacking the needed nutrients would affect any new feathers.
A gouldian going bald commonly is caused by stress and hormonal imbalances. Free flying all that time could have been very stressful for them. Another bird could have harassed them and/or bullied them at the feeding and water dishes.
knowing they were free flying all that time opens up many posibilities.

I'm sure they are very happy to have you back

[MiaCarter]

debbie276 - The feather thing is hard to describe. It's not the actual feathers, but how they're held if that makes sense?

I have a couple birds who consistently have perfect, smooth feathers that sit flat. But they've been looking a tad scruffier than normal.

The difference in them was subtle but noticeable to me. They just didn't seem as happy and well kept. (I guess they weren't as well kept!)

But you're totally right. It could be due to stress or just the change in normal schedule. (I'm usually religious about keeping their schedule normal so that would have made that change a lot more noticeable.)
Though they had a LOT less human contact. I typically spend a few hours in there each day. So you'd think most would enjoy not having me around! LOL
Lots of potential issues!

I've noticed that some were napping more and the room had more quiet lulls. It's more or less back to normal now in this regard.

I didn't think of someone guarding food bowls. That's definitely a possibility because I usually feed breakfast and dinner in-cage (and I've chosen cage assignments based on who gets along nicely so as to minimize any stress around eating and sleeping.)

I'm just so bummed about my gouldian balding!
I've never had that sort of problem before. He was so lovely....and now, he's so....so not lovely.

[debbie276]

Good thing is now that your back and they are more supervised they will do wonderfully amd be back to normal quickly.

Best of luck

[Sheather]

MiaCarter Interesting to me because I don't use supplements of any sort - my flock lives on seed mix, calcium (eggshells and/or cuttlebone), crumbled boiled egg and greens + fruit on a daily basis, but nothing further. I never considered that any sort of austerity diet - seemed pretty good to me, and they do very well - and my birds, to me at least, always seem in perfect form. I've been complimented by other breeders on them.

Lack of UV lighting is probably more to blame than lack of supplements. My guys have south-facing windows and old glass panes that let in all the UV they could like.

[MiaCarter]

Sheather Yeah, I agree. Not turning those lights on regularly was a definite problem.

See, though, it sounds like your guys get lots of fresh foods. Mine didn't get much in that regard. I'd say 90% or more of their diet was seed while I was in hospital. He gave them greens and egg, but just a couple times a week. He didn't realize they get that stuff 2x/day.

So without supplements and without a balanced diet and without proper lighting, it definitely impacted them.

I bet they would have been just fine if we removed just one of those three things from the equation, but the lack of all 3 was just too much it seems. (Though what's curious is that one pair felt good enough to lay a clutch of eggs and start incubating! So I suspect some were more impacted than others.)

The good news is everyone is back to normal....except the balding gouldian. But I expected that. That bald spot will likely remain until he moults.
But the balding is not getting worse, thank goodness. I did a week of iodine in the water so I think that helped. And they're now getting their kelp again too.