My New Gouldians

[Animalzoo]

UPDATE!!

All is well with the Gouldian flock. Good news is I have pin feathers coming in on Mr Melanitis and his chest is slowly turning white





This is one of the girls I got first, she's looking very nice. Sitting next to the beautiful pastel male I got afterwards.



Not forgetting good ol' Baldy/Vulture face. She's not got pin feathers coming on her face but weirdly she went through a phase of pulling some feathers from her neck and chest. This has stopped and pins are coming through there now.



Mr Melanitis and baldy still have very dry and crusty feet. I did treat them with Scat and for mites and tbh its been longer than 21 days so could do another batch but is this ok or something that is wrong for a 1 year old bird?

We're doing ok though! Getting there slowly

[debbie276]

They are looking good and coming along nicely.
It's fine to retreat them with scatt.
good luck

[GouldieFledge]

Animalzoo

Just read this thread and it REALLY makes me want to go save all the terrible-looking goulds at my local shop!!!

Love what you're doing and it's an interesting journey to follow alongside. Keep the updates/pictures coming!

--Erin

[Animalzoo]

GouldieFledge

Thanks!! I hate seeing unhealthy birds in pet stores. It takes a lot for me not to buy them but vulture face was a certain no no. It killed me leaving her first time around and thanks to lovezebs I went back and got her and a few more in need. Then the help and advice from debbie276 and others has been essential and thanks to their direction I now have a good medicine cupboard for them all too. This forum has been great and I love sharing my stories and progress.

[Babs _Owner]

Animalzoo

Poor baldy, it is taking a while for the guy to recover. I can see his pin feathers coming in on the neck....hopefully after that the head will start getting feathers. The rest of the birds are looking much better. Are you giving boiled egg to promote feather growth?

[lovezebs]

Animalzoo

Hi Sue,

Things are coming along very nicely.

Mr Melanitis, is going to be gorgeous in no time.
As for Baldy, yes , she is definitely molting, and yes, there are pins coming through around the neck and upper chest area. Is there any development around the head /face area? I couldn't really tell from the picture.

I absolutely love picture number 3 , with your pretty girl, looking at your handsome boy. It looks like she's amazed by his good looks, going "WOW!"

The feet on the two you mentioned, are still not looking right. Regretably I am not well versed in medications, but if Debbie says it's ok to treat them again, I would do so.

Baths, are super important at this time , but you already know that, lol.

Who is the little cutie Zebra in the picture? Poor little muffin looks anxious.

Keep up the good work.

[Animalzoo]

Babs Yes, they get eggs one or two times a week. I was giving them more frequently but then the ladies started laying eggs themselves I cut back a little which did work.

@lovezebs The white zebbie was being beaten up by an adult female as there was a male in with them. She was bleeding and had tons of feathers plucked. As the gouldians are in a hospital environment and accept zebras I decided to put her in with them and it was fine. She was sitting chilling out next to Mr Melanitis happily. They all got on. This little sweetheart hatched in December. Initially I was going to keep her but I've changed my mind now with so many other babies on the go! Today I put her in with the girlfriend of the male who died for company. So she's in with her own kind again now.

I treated them all again with Scatt today. It was good to be able to inspect them all up close again. Baldy's got pin feathers on her front and back neck areas and the back of her head but not on her face yet. Her wings and body feathers are quite worn and rough so I'm looking forward to her proper molt to dispose of them all.

Mr Melanitis is looking better each day. He's covered in new pins and his chest is coming whiter and whiter every time I see him. He's really quite nice! I think he's going to need a new name soon!!

[lovezebs]

Animalzoo

I really hope that Baldy vulture, will get feathers on her head and face, it will make a world of difference.

As for Mr Melanitis, I guess you could just shorten his name to Mel the handsome.

[Animalzoo]

lovezebs MEL!!! I love it

[Animalzoo]

I'm so proud of Mel. His chest is now nearly all white. He's a proper stunner!
Here he is with Baldy and another little girl who needs a good rest. She's not got any pins yet but is also quite bald on the back of her head and neck.



Here's a better one of baldy's pins front and back. You can see how scruffy her back feathers are as well so she's getting there slowly but I'm so pleased her pins have started.





So tell me, is this the normal time they would have molted or would be growing new feathers? Or do you think this is just part of their body recovering?

Also, I gave them another round of Scatt but the feet on Baldy and Mel are still a bit crusty. Assume this will just take time, the others are fine.

[Animalzoo]

I grabbed this photo this afternoon of them all after I had cleaned their cage out. They're all posing perfectly!