FINCHforum

I've had several gouldians going bald, separated them, and thought I no longer had the problem. But now I see a female blueback just starting the process. Does anyone know of a cause for this -- or a cure? She definitely does not have air sac and ivermectin doesn't work on this symptom.

Is it their annual molt? Mine just finished.

They are molting. Mine went "bald" last month. I once had a Gouldian that went completely bald - including the face. The poor thing looked like a vulture. Give them a good diet, supplimented with some additional protein, and your birds should look better in two to three weeks.

When a bird molts you shouldn't be able to see skin. There are many reasons why a bird could go bald like, diet, stress, hormones or genetics to name a few. Air sac mites would not cause balding though feather mites might.

In general gouldians should not go bald when molting, but it does happen. Keep them warm and healthy, plenty of extra vitamins in water etc and they will moult out in couple of months.
I bought some gouldians of a guy once. He gave me them really cheap because they were bald. Few months later a had some beautiful feather perfect birds, bargain