Gouldian loosing neck feathers

[xoncas]

Hi all

I have a Gouldian Finch which started loosing neck feathers a month or so ago. I isolated her and gave her Scatt applied to her leg as per instructions (her bird mate had mites a week or so later e and has since recovered just fine).

However, she hasn't really improved. She looks fine, eats normally and flies normally but something is definitely wrong.

Any ideas? I've attached some photos to help.

Angle 2

Angle 1

[Icearstorm]

Do you supplement iodine? If not, it may be iodine deficiency. If so, how often? I have heard that both a lack and an overabundance of iodine can cause balding, which gouldians seem especially prone to.

[lovezebs]

xoncas

It might be a lack of iodine, or some other vitamin or mineral.

What's the diet and the lighting like?

With a good diet, good lighting, and some supplements, she should re grow her feathers back after her next molt (hopefully).

[debbie276]

Balding can be from many different things such as over breeding, diet, mites and stress. Too much Iodine can be just as harmful as too little so you really shouldn't just add it to the diet without assessing what they eat.
Her feet look a bit dry and flaky in the one picture. Are you sure she doesn't have scaley mites?

Here is a very good article about gouldian balding and what you can do to help.
https://ladygouldian.com/content/why-my-gouldian-bald

Here are several links to nutrition pages that may also help

Nutrients & Their Sources
http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/nutrients_and_sources.php
If you feed eggs there should not be an iodine deficiency.

Nutrients: Signs of Excess
http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/nutrient_excess.php

Nutrients: Signs of Deficiency
http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/nutrient_deficiency.php

best of luck

[paul-inAZ]

For the first time I am seeing baldness in some of my Gouldians. This in one cage with a pair and one of their youngsters around 4 months old. Four of their other young in with them are not affected. My other Gouldian cages are OK.
They look and act normal and happy except for the baldness.

Liquid iodine supplements scare me. There is a slim safety margin between enough and toxicity.

I've added pulverized oyster shell which they seem to avidly eat. Oyster shell has iodine, other minerals and of course calcium.
At a bird mart today I picked up some dry powdered kelp which I'll add to their food. The other thought was to get some sushi seaweed at an Asian market, dry and pulverize it. Seaweeds are iodine rich and should be nontoxic in moderation.

Time will tell.

[lovezebs]

paul-inAZ

Don't like iodine supplements either.

You can find iodine in natural sources, without having to go the supplement way.
As you already mentioned, kelp
Boiled eggs
Cooked corn
Cooked green peas
Banana
Strawberry
Sea salt offered in very small amounts.

[Jen]

paul-inAZ
Where did you find the pulverized oyster shell? I have "crushed" oyster shell for my Guinea Fowl and would like to break it up into smaller bits for my finches, but it is very hard to break into smaller pieces. Any ideas?

[paul-inAZ]

I use one of those cheap blade type coffee grinders. They cost $15-$20.

Put a half inch or so in and pulse the grinder until the "crushed" shells are smashed into the desired size.

[debbie276]

I use one of those cheap blade type coffee grinders. They cost $15-$20.

Put a half inch or so in and pulse the grinder until the "crushed" shells are smashed into the desired size.

I also use a coffee grinder to grind things smaller for the birds like oyster shells and charcoal. It's a handy tool to have.

[wilkifam]

She will probably be fine after next molt. I would retire her from breeding.

[paul-inAZ]

An update on that Gouldian pair and 2 of their 5 juveniles with balding. None of my other birds in other cages are affected.

In the absence of solid data as to the cause(s) I chose to act on the idea that iodine deficiency was involved. To that end I added the dried powdered kelp to the pulverized oyster shell.
They ate the oyster but wouldn't go near the kelp for a while. After dusting the oyster and their seed with kelp powder they began to eat what seems quite a lot of both.
Now I see a few pin feathers starting to emerge.

Can it be a result of the iodine in oyster shell and kelp or would it have healed on it's own? With no controlled study I can't say. I'll take it though.

Moderator: could the title of this thread be changed to "gouldian balding" to make it easier to find if the OP doesn't mind?

[debbie276]

Gouldians usually will not fill in their missing feathers till the next yearly molt. It could be that its just their time to molt.
Good luck

[xoncas]

So how are your Gouldians doing?

Mine seemed to have recovered for a while (I bought some seed that specifically had iodine supplements) but I've just noticed that she started to bald again.

I'm a bit confused on what to do next as she's also sleeping a lot.