Canary losing feathers on head and neck only

[Rour]

My female canary appears to be balding and losing some neck feathers. I have her in a flight with a male canary and two GBWB. There is no fighting or pecking taking place, and the male looks fine. She flies around, eats well (a bit too much, I must say!). Could it be the start of a molt (although I haven't seen molts start like this) or some kind of sickness?

Thanks!

[finchmix22]

Can you take a pic? Also, sometimes, we don't see the pecking going on. One day, I barely caught my GS pull out a feather of another finch as it was flying past the GS. I would have missed it completely if the GS had not ended up with some feather pieces in her beak. So, sometimes watching them for a bit can show aggression we don't see if we're in and out of the area we keep our birds.

[Rour]

Can you take a pic? Also, sometimes, we don't see the pecking going on. One day, I barely caught my GS pull out a feather of another finch as it was flying past the GS. I would have missed it completely if the GS had not ended up with some feather pieces in her beak. So, sometimes watching them for a bit can show aggression we don't see if we're in and out of the area we keep our birds.

I will try to take a picture today if she stays still.

Many thanks

[CandoAviary]

On the site this is answered in Question 8.

[Rour]

Hmm,

Well, she is a 2011 canary (I got her from a breeder). She is not breeding now, nor has she ever bred. So could that mean she has some kind of parasite as per the third reason listed under Q8? Are there any other possible reasons for this? Maybe if I try eliminating some of the reasons I can get her better?

[DanteD716]

Neck and head? Sounds as if she is getting plucked, or the male could be pullin feathers while courting her

[CandoAviary]

Yes it could be parasites, internal or external.. the stress causes that were listed were many more than breeding. Also the C section of the third reson explains about iodine deficiencies... also the lighting. Please go back and read the entire section as there are many reasons listed there ... and even better... the solutions for each of the problems.
I do the exact same things as discussed here and most birds are in good feathers. Hope you can find the right fix to get your canary back to peak condition

[kheather]

iodine deficiancy can also cause that in canaries...I believe they are similiar to goulds in their iodine needs.I give my canaries and goulds iodine. Just a thought!

[CandoAviary]

In this picture the white hen to the lower right has the classic stress loss of feathers around the neck. It was a little wider in the back but has already started to fill back in. She has since been seoerated to her own cage. Kelp is given every day... lights are up to 14 hours a day and her feathers are responding beautifully. I know these pics are small but maybe you can see the feather loss around the neck. These birds are not plucked.


This yellow hen to the bottom left is suffering some stress feather loss also. She is responding with the same treatment however this hen has not been removed to her own cage. She is still house with the male. I will remove her once I remember to bring another cage home from the store...I have no more spares at home...

[Rour]

Can you take a pic? Also, sometimes, we don't see the pecking going on. One day, I barely caught my GS pull out a feather of another finch as it was flying past the GS. I would have missed it completely if the GS had not ended up with some feather pieces in her beak. So, sometimes watching them for a bit can show aggression we don't see if we're in and out of the area we keep our birds.

I will try to take a picture today if she stays still.

Many thanks

\I managed to take some pix of her - sorry if they are not so clear, I used my cell phone!

[Rour]

Can you take a pic? Also, sometimes, we don't see the pecking going on. One day, I barely caught my GS pull out a feather of another finch as it was flying past the GS. I would have missed it completely if the GS had not ended up with some feather pieces in her beak. So, sometimes watching them for a bit can show aggression we don't see if we're in and out of the area we keep our birds.

I will try to take a picture today if she stays still.

Many thanks

\I managed to take some pix of her - sorry if they are not so clear, I used my cell phone!

You can just see the red around her neck indicating loss of feathers there, and the darker spot on her head as well.

[Rour]

In this picture the white hen to the lower right has the classic stress loss of feathers around the neck. It was a little wider in the back but has already started to fill back in. She has since been seoerated to her own cage. Kelp is given every day... lights are up to 14 hours a day and her feathers are responding beautifully. I know these pics are small but maybe you can see the feather loss around the neck. These birds are not plucked.
[ http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu184/CandoAviary/Carnarybreeding464.jpg ]

This yellow hen to the bottom left is suffering some stress feather loss also. She is responding with the same treatment however this hen has not been removed to her own cage. She is still house with the male. I will remove her once I remember to bring another cage home from the store...I have no more spares at home...
[ http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu184/CandoAviary/Carnarybreeding442.jpg ]

Sorry, Candace, I didn't get the chance to read the whole thing - too busy ATM! I will do so tonight. Where can I get kelp for the iodine? Should I give her some medication if it's a case of parasites or wait and see first if it's an iodine deficiency?

[Cath1068]

Not to change the subject but that canary looks HUGE compared to the tiny bird in the nest.....I got a chuckle out of it....

[Rour]

In this picture the white hen to the lower right has the classic stress loss of feathers around the neck. It was a little wider in the back but has already started to fill back in. She has since been seoerated to her own cage. Kelp is given every day... lights are up to 14 hours a day and her feathers are responding beautifully. I know these pics are small but maybe you can see the feather loss around the neck. These birds are not plucked.
[ http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu184/CandoAviary/Carnarybreeding464.jpg ]

This yellow hen to the bottom left is suffering some stress feather loss also. She is responding with the same treatment however this hen has not been removed to her own cage. She is still house with the male. I will remove her once I remember to bring another cage home from the store...I have no more spares at home...
[ http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu184/CandoAviary/Carnarybreeding442.jpg ]

My canary is not looking good this morning. She seems to bi shivering, so i gave her a heat source. Should i isolate her and try giving her iodine or medication?

[purplejasminevn]

In this picture the white hen to the lower right has the classic stress loss of feathers around the neck. It was a little wider in the back but has already started to fill back in. She has since been seoerated to her own cage. Kelp is given every day... lights are up to 14 hours a day and her feathers are responding beautifully. I know these pics are small but maybe you can see the feather loss around the neck. These birds are not plucked.
[ http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu184/CandoAviary/Carnarybreeding464.jpg ]

This yellow hen to the bottom left is suffering some stress feather loss also. She is responding with the same treatment however this hen has not been removed to her own cage. She is still house with the male. I will remove her once I remember to bring another cage home from the store...I have no more spares at home...
[ http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu184/CandoAviary/Carnarybreeding442.jpg ]

My canary is not looking good this morning. She seems to bi shivering, so i gave her a heat source. Should i isolate her and try giving her iodine or medication?

Hi
It just happened to me recently with a female canary that I adopted from a person who had cancer and could not take care of her birds.

She has same problem as yours. I end up put her in hospital cage – with heat lamp – heat pad. Calcium plus in water. She stayed for few days and passed – On the same day she passed I found a soft egg near by – I guess it is egg Binding issue.
Dean will not mind if you give him a call or email him. From his experience I am sure he can help just like other finch/canay members in this Finch room.

Hope yours will get better