Many people believe a good budgerigar is fluked, but on visiting the top aviaries (and although myself have not been to many but know within no reasonable doubt) one will observe the quality of the special foods that are fed to their stud of birds.

However, we all have problems with this infection and I have, over many years, learned that a lot of the products that are available for your birds may not be the right ones to bring the next successful generation of birds in your stud into fruition.

I will in the near future send photo images of two siblings from the same parents but from different rounds, who then, as they came out of the nest and for 5 weeks after leaving the nest box, dropped their wing feathers and were just total wrecks within themselves.

Another phenomenon is where they grow all the body feathers out and a complete set of new wing flights appears – also their temperament changed totally.

I wonder if any others in the fraternity have experienced this?

My first thoughts were PBFD but I am glad it is not that.

My theory is it has to have been the lack of food with added protein being fed to them by their not so experienced parents.

Each day I observe the feather that is linked being pushed out by another feather. The 18 years I have been breeding I have had this phenomenon happen only twice before. Then the cameras where not as good and also I thought it was a one off. I now have a before and an after photograph!

One of the temperament displays of young birds with FM is they are very agitated when they are handled.

One of these associations with these two young siblings while they where in the nest, is if touched in the wing feather flight areas they would be very agitated but they still had quality feathers and follicles to match.

The only strange non standard feather behaviour with those that carry FM and with these two siblings, was that the appearance of rough dry feather was not apparent right up to even when they were shedding their feather.

Please note: as soon as I observe the feathers where falling out, they were removed from the wings and tails and I have been doing this with FM’s over the years.

Regards
Gary Armstrong, Australia

Touch wood the number of birds affected with french moult in my breeding room are almost zero.

Biovit is supplied with added soaked droats , grated carrot and garlic powder.

Regards
Barrie Shutt