Young Gouldian Female - lost flight feathers & can't fly :(

[Jasmin]

Hello All,

I'm fairly new to Gouldians and learning as I go. So everything I see that's out of the ordinary, I go through stages of panic until someone tells me it's ok!

I have a young Gouldian female (was given to me by a friend of a friend, can't guess age, but she's not in full colour).
She's been with me for about 1.5 months now, doing well.

Last night at 3 am I woke up to a ruckus in the cage downstairs (she shares with a male gouldian), and she was flying everywhere frantically, banging into the sides of the cage. After I turned on the light, she calmed down, so I though maybe she 'lost' her perch and couldn't find it again.

When I checked on her this morning, there are flight feathers everywhere in the cage and she can't fly more than a couple of inches off the ground, although she's desperately trying. Her wings seem ok, she is flapping them normally, but she just can't get any height.

I don't suspect the male had anything to do with this - he's very calm and has never shown pecking behaviours.

I moved the food and water where she can reach in on the ground.

Does anyone have any insight they can offer me? Whether this is normal/abnormal...to lose flight feathers like this, ever happened to anyone else? A sign of illness?

Thanks for your help!

Jasmin

[Sally]

Is there a light on during the night, so that the cage isn't in total darkness? If it is too dark, and something frightens the birds during the night, they can go into a real panic, injuring themselves. It is a good idea to have a small light nearby, all you need is enough light for the bird to find its way back to the perch.

[Jasmin]

No, I don't have a night light for them, but I will get one now!

Should I be worried about the lost flight feathers..?

[L in Ontario]

The feathers will grow back in time.

All finches (and parrots, etc) should have nightlights. Seems each of us learns the hard way (myself included).

[Chichireeo]

yeah, i got a night light too, after learning here on the forum about what may happen. better safe than sorry. i bought the "moonlight" but just a blue led light is fine.

[birdclaws]

Whenever I've had a bird loose feathers, I will add put some Miracle Meal (or fresh eggfood) sprinkled with Feather Fast in a separate treat cup. It really does help the bird feather fast!

[DanteD716]

I bought two societies with scraggly, shredded looking flight and tail feathers. I have eben giving the as much eggfood and treats as I can, now they can actually fly a few feet

[Jasmin]

Thanks for your help

I inspected her last night and aside from the lost feathers, she seems ok.
I did notice some caked blood on the tip of her wing, but I think it's from the feathers falling out.

I put extra perches in the cage so she can literally hop from perch to perch to move up and down without trying to fly..

Let's hope for speedy feather growth!

[ac12]

Give her LOTs of egg food.
And if you have Morning Bird "Feather Fast" add that to her soft food per the directions.

[Jasmin]

UPDATE:
The little Gouldian that lost her flight feathers a few weeks back: she's back in action!
They grew back, and she's flying up a storm!
A changed bird! She seems so happy!

[ac12]

That's great news