Bald Vulture Gouldians - Advice

[yegbirdlover]

Hello Gouldian finch people,

I have a question. I have two Gouldian hens, who went completely bald over the summer while in my outdoor aviary. No one was allowed to breed, as they had no nest boxes ect. They were mixed in with males, so I'm not sure if the males were attempting breeding and were pulling feathers, or what the situation was. Neither of them went through a moult this spring/summer, like the rest of the birds did.
Since the cooler weather has set in where I am, all of the birds are now in the indoor flight room. The 2 hens are seperated in their own cage, I have been providing them with every vitamin supplement that MorningBird offers...
I have been putting MorningBird Feather Fast in both their veggies/softfood, as well as in their water. I rotate Feather Fast for MorningBird Iodine supplement in their water every 2nd day. The birds have lights on top of their cages and they are on from 6am-10pm, set on a timer.
Now, I don't know if I am seeing things, or if its wishful thinking but...It seems like their feather follicles are starting to look pointier... But maybe not.

Advice anyone, on how I can get these bald little vultures back to their true beauty?

Thanks!

[finchmix22]

yegbirdlover
Sounds like you are doing everything you can do. Are you giving eggfood as the soft food? That helps feathers grow back. Can you post a pic? BTW
WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

[yegbirdlover]

finchmix22
Yes, dried eggfood mix provided daily as well.

[finchick]

While I'm far from an expert at this, I had a single female that seemed to go bald overnight. Since her skin looked fine, I assumed that the feathers fell out, rather than being pulled out. All I did was lightly sprinkled powdered sea kelp from the health food store to her seed and, while it took a few weeks, it grew back and has not fallen out since. There are so many trace minerals in sea kelp, I figured something in there might help.
As for water, I try to keep the water clean and pure, rather than augmented with vitamins or nutrients ~ for fear that the water quality may deteriorate (bacteria) or that the vitamins would loose their effectiveness. Also, I tend to change the water several times a day, so the additives would be lost anyway.
Don't know if this will work for you as well, but it's worth a try.