As fanciers familiar to this website understand, in Dr Rob Marshall, we have on board, arguably, one of the finest avian veterinary surgeons in the world.

His book The Budgerigar should be to hand for all serious fanciers for the answers to all the disease conditions that exit in parrot-like forms (but specifically on budgerigars), when it always seems as though it is the best ones that succumb to “going light” and we struggle to help them.

Below are two examples of sound procedural advice on what are mysterious problems for even the most experienced of us.

Neither fancier wishes to be named.

Problem #1 affecting cocks only

Question: I get occasional birds that do not exhibit any external fluffing up features or nasal discharge or vent problems. However they do not look 100 per cent and their crops are almost empty. They require a heat source to help as there is some loss of weight. No signs of wetness around the beak and no regurgitation is evident. It can occur in flights or breeding / stock cages but seems worse as the colder weather begins. Can you make a calculated guess as to what it could be and would it be helpful to crop feed them using one of the powders made for this purpose?

Dr Rob says:

These birds are birds that come into breeding condition, so sexually they are on the rise (see pages 270-273 in The Budgerigar). You may see a very blue cere(s) and as you say, involving a cold spell (see pages 322-323) – there may be pin feathers on the head as well?

What happens is that under the effect of testosterone, their immune system is affected which causes an acute Streptococcus infection (see pages 374-376).

Check also for quill mites around the tail region in particular (see pages 390-291).

Preventative treatment is by using “Quik Gel” to support the breeding condition while it is chilly and using a penicillin based product containing amoxicillin from your local veterinary surgeon. Administer via a crop needle. Both of these products are obtainable from my surgery or through Riversway Avicultural (see advert on this Website) in UK.

No action and the result is infertility in the next cycle in 7-8 weeks and of course possible death at any time.

Associated images from “The Budgerigar” – click on any image to enlarge it:

 

 

Problem #2 affecting hens only

Question: Many of my hens develop watery large droppings with a few having caked vents during the breeding season, in and out of the breeding cages. All the cocks are fine. There is a smell to the droppings. Can you advise please?

Dr Rob says:

The most likely cause is stress which all breeders seem to dismiss, probably because we as humans all suffer stress in the modern world.

Where birds are concerned, stress occurs during the breeding cycle of the hen(s) (see pages 285-287 especially figure 22b). Not all hens are affected because this problem affects only those breeding hens when the stressful factor arises at the critical stage of the breeding cycle (e.g. a cold spell, wet weather etc. See pages 380-384)

Look especially at fig. 30a and figs 30b and 30d and examine the stress factors outlined.

Treat the complete flock with “Quik Gel” for two days to counteract the stress across the complete stud.

Isolate and treat hens with dirty vents and treat them also with an appropriate antibiotic medicine. Such hens require additional nutritional support (e.g. a liquid calcium and “Quik Gel”) during their recovery and once recovery starts such patients must be rested and fed well for 2 months (a complete breeding cycle).

Associated image from “The Budgerigar” – click on the image to enlarge it:

 

Additional comment by Gerald Binks

A warning to the inexperienced!

Do be aware that many items sold as “Hospital Cages” can quickly cause death by dehydration as the patient is incapable of drinking itself because it is so ill.

Many fanciers today use a show cage placed on a heat source so this sustains the body during treatment plus frequent topping up with water direct to the beak or via a crop needle.

Q1: What is the secret to maintaining a quality stud of budgerigars year after year?

GSB:

Unstinting good management and buying in outcrosses frequently, otherwise you produce small birds if a stud becomes too closely related.

Sell 10 birds and buy one.

Don’t put the sale money in your pocket or else the new buy becomes expensive instead of a swapping process.

Q2: What is your opinion on the modern budgerigar compared to all the different types you have seen throughout your career? Please refer to both the aesthetic part and the physiological part (size, breeding difficulties, vitality, and fertility).

GSB:

Good question!

Fanciers are apt to say:

The birds of yesterday were better than the birds we have today.

Not true at all. I have seen all the changes in progress in my 66 years at this hobby and the beauty of the top birds we have today far exceeds all predecessors.

The size of birds now is fantastic (look at the Best in Show Grey green of Les Martin’s at the 2010 Budgerigar Society Show, as well as his skyblue).

New standards are being set all the time – and now in the chase for width of face, we have what I termed “the Buffalo effect”, which has gone worldwide.

This faces us with an even greater challenge. Vitality and fertility, contrary to what many breeders think, with such big birds being infertile or difficult, is broadly incorrect.

It is a poor diet that causes such results and basically bad husbandry.

Yes, there are exceptions of course with individuals, but overall what I have said is correct.

Q3: Can you predict where the modern budgerigar will be in five years time? Have you looked beyond the “Buffalo” effect?

GSB:

Another good current question.

I am worried about the fact that I have seen birds that are already ugly with super heads, but dreadful carriage both of which are related to producing length of feather.

The word “Type” seems rarely to be heard, or even practised.

It is no use having “Buffalos” that exhibit drooping flights hanging below the body midline which exhibit narrow primaries and in some cases cannot fly.

I have seen it in several aviaries in the past few years, in the hunt breeders have for super head quality.

Without naming anyone, I know now where the long-flighted and long tails have come from – and it is not from the UK but outside the UK.

As Jo Mannes says, a budgerigar has to be a “charming budgerigar” – not a bag of long feathers and ugly faces.

Breeders beware!

Q4: September and March are the times when budgies are said to be in the peak of their breeding cycle. How do you build your birds up to get the best out of them?

GSB:

I do not, as such, as my feeding technique results, after my early mistakes and inexperience, are now near perfect.

Thus the birds come into condition naturally in September and March as the question states.

Why is this you ask? The reason is that there is still good natural light and this determines the condition factor. Artificial light is only on part of the day, so natural light is a massive factor.

This is born out by the chart in Dr Robert Marshall’s book “The Budgerigar” (it took 12 years to write) where he compares the northern and southern hemispheres as regards which are the perfect times to start breeding.

In both cases, he is dead right.

In the UK we drag our heels with decisions made by well meaning fanciers who stick to a ring date without thinking deeply. A 1st January ring issue date is fatal, as breeders work to that date and pair up for the rings for the early chicks.

Europe is far more advanced with a 1st November issue date so that pairing can be in September or early October – when there is still good light about!.

The great difficulty in budgerigar breeding is starting them.

Think about March as a month. For all my years, breeders have said it is better to start in March. It is of course the increase in light that makes it easier.

In my opinion the ring issue date and BS Show date, now being forecast to change back to November, should be re-visited fast, but then our BS gets itself strangled by the fact that rules can only be changed every three years!

Why do essential changes (that in business would be done immediately) take so long? Bizarre.

I am being constructive based on facts – nothing more – and if change is effected more rings will be sold as a result of more birds requiring rings!

Q5: What are your views on using birds with feather defects – in particular “tail less wonders” – or birds that do not keep a full complement of flight feathers? Do you feel this problem is genetic and by using birds like this could cause the problem to come out in larger numbers further down the line?

GSB:

“Tail less wonders” we obviously do not like – as it is associated with long feathers and the longest feather is the one feather that requires perfect nutrition in the aviary to grow to its full length.

Otherwise the tails succumb to borderline FM – which is what it is!

Such a bird will breed well and it will have no bearing on the chicks it produces – unless of course you haven’t paid attention to improving the diet and your husbandry.

It’s not genetic! It’s your fault!

Q6: Can you tell us a little of your selection process when looking for birds to retain for the following breeding season?

GSB:

I have a problem here.

I should have three flights and I only have two. You need three for sorting.

One for the adult keeps, one for young keeps and one for sales.

It is a big handicap here at “Tanglewood”, but I am too advanced in years to build another extension.

To answer the question is difficult for these reasons. I just have to use my eyes and decide what to keep along with plenty of quality reserves as backup.

Q7: You have been breeding exhibition Budgerigars for a very long time. If you were to start all over again, knowing what you do now, how would you go about it?

GSB:

Do nothing for a year.

In that time go round 50 aviaries in the UK and Europe and learn everything, without buying a thing.

Then analyse all your data on aviary design and quality birds and where they are and decide: What sort of budgerigar do I need to beat the rest? (That is ahead of any Ideal Budgerigar that is depicted.)

The one asset you need is DRIVE. Without it you will not get to the top.

Q8: Is there a particular fault in a bird that you just wouldn’t be prepared to work with?

GSB:

Long-flighted characteristics that can ruin a stud, which if present cannot be “worked out” by pairing to short feathered birds, back in, at a later date.

It is a terrible dominant genetic fault.

Q9: Do you have a number of different family lines? If so how many – and is there one more prolific than the others? Do you use lines as outcrosses, or do you go for outcrosses externally?

GSB:

There are three main lines here in the greens, grey greens and the blue series with, now, cinnamon being an important factor but used carefully.

My records are near perfect as anyone who has been here will tell you.

All lines are prolific with the odd exception here and there that we all get.

The longer I have been in the hobby the more I realise that quality outcrosses are a must.

The problem is where to get them and it is only the bigger breeders that have the numbers from which to be able to let you have what you want.

Existing lines are not used as outcrosses.

The problem can be caused by 15 or more different diseases, all resulting in massive weight loss which is rapidly depleted when a budgerigar is under stress and / or associated illness.

Regular readers are fully aware that we have, arguably, one the world’s finest avian veterinarians at our disposal. I refer, of course, to Dr Rob Marshall. So rather than take non-qualified comments from the editorial desk, please access his full expertise in the following way.

• On all pages on this site, in the righthand column, you will see (under the first advertisement section) a small navigation bar entitled “Translate Search Archives Tags X”.
• Click on “Tags” and this section will expand to show a dropdown box entitled “Select a Tag”.
• Click on the down arrow to the right of “Select a Tag” to expand the list of tags.
• Scroll down until you reach the tag entitled “Dr Rob Marshall”. Click on it to select it.
• All articles that have been “tagged” with Dr Rob Marshall will now be listed.

In the above list are articles entitled “Budgerigar Health – Parts 1-5″. These are superb for us amateurs to diagnose problems and narrow down the field of diseases which may be the route you can follow in conjunction with you local veterinarian.

We recommend that you print these articles and put them “on file” so that you can then submit them to your non-avian veterinarian, who can hopefully then supply you with the relevant drug(s). Make sure you take a sick patient with you after reading Dr Marshall’s excellent work.

Please do make use of the “Tags” system to quickly find items of personal interest. It is a very useful addition to this site.

Q. If you were shipping a group of birds abroad, across the USA, or via road, involving a long number of hours in excess of a day, is there any merit in putting them on amoxycillin trihydrate before they leave an aviary to assist with stress?

Similarly, if a breeder was buying a bird in Australia from a top champion in, say, Queensland and driving back to South Australia, would he/she be advised to crop “feed” amoxycillin before departure?

The stresses of such journeys are obvious involving crating, unfamilar noises en route, changes of seed and water on arrival in new premises and the rise in streptococcal infection as a result.

Jim Carter
Texas, USA

Our resident veterinarian, Dr Rob Marshall, answers as follows:

A. This is a very insightful question.

My approach to this situation is to give “Quik Gel” in drinking water a day before transfer and again via crop needle three hours before departure.

On arrival at the destination, place the birds in a holding cage, separated according to sex.

Monitor each bird closely for signs of acute stress as they enter the cage – i.e. look for pectoral muscle weight loss (see pages 226-7 “The Budgerigar” book) and wet vent (see pages 227-8 “The Budgerigar” book).

If these signs of acute stress are present, then crop feed with food and “Quik Gel” and a penicillin antibiotic (e.g. amoxycillin) and repeat this process for two days.

If no signs of acute stress are found, then give normal food and “Quik Gel” in drinking water for one day, then monitor the birds for five days whilst they acclimatise to their new home.

Note from Gerald Binks:

I cannot speak too highly of Dr Marshall’s book and, in particular, his product “Quik Gel”.

The latter is superb for administering immediately to a sick bird under stress.

My personal use of “Quik Gel” has been outstanding in the aviary, when needed, associated with a heat source.

Full details on “Quik Gel” can be found in this article.

Full details on “The Budgerigar” book can be found in this article.

Both of the above can be obtained online as detailed in this article.

As readers may already be aware, I am trying to establish if the loss of tail feathers can be attributed to nutrition, feather mite infestation, lice or another unknown cause.

For additional background information on tail feather loss, please read the following articles previously published on this website:

• Tails You Lose – Part 1
• Tails You Lose – Part 2

Naturally, I am on record that the problem is closely related to the longest feathers in the body (being connected to all the feathers involved) not receiving the FULLEST nutrition at the vital moment. It can, of course, also be regarded as a borderline French Moult syndrome as well.

Mites in Young Birds

Upon examination of one of my young budgerigars (5-6 weeks old), I noticed dense numbers of feather mites. Could this mean that young chicks were being infected by the mites from the parents?

I did now start to wonder if these feather mites, which accumulate in all our budgerigars, could be a contributory factor.

The mites could be coming at the “wrong time” – i.e. just as young birds were trying to grow tails feathers to their fullest extent.

All guesswork really, but to me, it was thought provoking.

Feather Mites

These were the steps I took to examine the feather mites:

• Use an optician’s eye glass (I found that x8 magnification was ideal)
• Remove some tail feathers from adults and the 6 week old chicks
• Hold each feather up to a strong light source
• Look at the main vein of the centre shaft
• Your should see groups of feather mites accumulated between each sub feather

So what exactly are feather mites?

They are but one group of “bugs” called arachnids. They feed on feathers themselves.

Have you noticed transverse damage across tail feathers? This is caused by the feather mites.

Do we want them there? The answer is no!

So, the big question is: how to get rid of them – or at least to reduce them radically so that they are a minor problem?

Seeking Expert Advice

First of all I contacted Dr Rob Marshall.

Here is his opinion on tail losses (which basically goes back to my earlier thoughts on nutrition as the cause):

There are nutritional, genetic and disease factors in the symptoms you describe.

Nutritionally, the paired central tail feathers are the largest feathers in the body. Together with the end flights they take the longest time to grow and the protein required and the energy requirements to regrow these feathers is substantial (if the tail and flights have dropped).

There is a greater likelihood for this condition to occur in susceptible birds when the energy, protein and mineral content of the diet is lacking, or out of balance.

Energy is the most common deficiency in these bigger buff-feathered birds as they are less able to maintain their body temperature – because their buff feathers are less efficient at insulating them from changing temperatures.

The vitality of such birds is often compromised so that they require more food to remain healthy.

Healthy birds eat less.

So my thoughts now were twofold.

1. Ask Dr Rob Marshall as to what actions he would advise given what he has said
2. In the meantime, attack the mite factor

Further Questions to Dr Rob Marshall

Here are the additional questions I addressed to Dr Marshall (replies later):

1. What should a breeder do to ensure a high energy output and protein input to avoid the problem in the first place?
2. What action can be taken to clean / disinfect the follicles after the damage appears?
3. What will stimulate re-growth in tail losses?

Attacking The Mite Factor

I decided to attack the feather mite factor (as well as any other forms of arachnids that could be around e.g. red mites, fodder mites, air sac mites and burrowing mites that cause scaly face).

I wondered whether there was a cure that could kill off at least 90% of them – on some form of a course at certain times in the season?

If so, how to achieve this with a big stud of 200 plus birds or even five times that number?

The only available product (that I am aware of) is of course Ivermectin Solution.

This is fine for gently rubbing into the neck area of a bird (with surgical gloves on please or it goes into your skin as well) but dealing with bird numbers is a problem.

Help was therefore needed so I started making enquiries.

The Abbate Technique

I received an illuminating letter from Reji Luke – a passionate breeder in India. Mr Luke believes that low nutrition is the basis for tail-less problems. He stated that, in his opinion, amino acids required for growth are used for body mass build-up during the initial stages of the chick’s growth.

Mr Luke’s letter proved most illuminating – especially on the matter of ridding feather mites on birds in big numbers.

Mr Luke credits much of his studies to G.A. Abbate (Snr), a cage bird breeder based in North America.

Apparently, Mr Abbate was reading about the use of Ivermectin on cows.

It struck him that could it be used for our birds – but in what quantity and medium and what dosage and for how long?

After many experiments and a lot of time, he managed to establish a safe and highly effective process for use on a large stud twice per year.

His technique is now used all over North America and in many other countries.

Here it is:

IMPORTANT Preliminary Notes

• Use “Ivermectin 1% Injectable Solution” – this is widely available, but we suggest you obtain it via your veterinary surgeon. (Note: Don’t worry about the word “injectable” as we will be giving it orally !)
• Never exceed the dosage (see below) – An overdose can kill your birds so accuracy is vital. All external parasites and many types of intestinal worms can be removed in this way.
• Perform this technique every 6 months when the stud is NOT breeding.

Stage 1

• In the evening, just before the birds roost, remove all the sources of water available to the stud. The next morning the birds are thirsty.
• Vigorously shake the Ivermectin bottle.
• Using a syringe, add the Ivermectin to a standard plastic / glass jug of drinking water using the most appropriate dosage below:
  Metric Dosage
  • 1 cc / 1 ml of Ivermectin to 0.95 litre of water
  British Imperial Liquid Dosage
  • 1 cc / 1 ml of Ivermectin to 1.7 pints of water
  U.S. Liquid Dosage
  • 1 cc / 1 ml of Ivermectin to 32 fl oz / 1 quart of water

Stage 2

• Vigorously mix the water treated with the Ivermectin before placing it before the birds in a clean pre-sterilised container.
• Leave the mixture before the birds EITHER until they drink all of it OR until the next day.

Stage 3

• Exactly 2 weeks later, repeat stages 1 & 2
• That’s it – job finished !

Binks Follow-Up

As the feather mite feeds on dead feather, how are they killed off?

The only way I can suggest is to use a bath of the aforementioned mixture as well as the drinking water so that many birds will splash around in it at a depth of about an inch and wet their feathers.

Also, when timing it for the first session, choose a period when there is a big moult approaching – with both both your young birds and adults shedding feathers in great quantities.

Once treated, clean out all cages and flights of all the rubbish seed and droppings and the feathers in particular, so that cross infection does not repeat itself.

Your mature breeding stock can then be bred in the knowledge that the chances of mite-infested adults contaminating their chicks is now unlikely.

I have treated my stud using the aforementioned techniques – and the stud looks great!

Since the treatment, close examination of the feathers has seen a dramatic reduction in damage and the new feather growth seems very free of feather mites (and presumably any other mites or even lice that can be on birds).

With a small stud, spraying around the vent feathers can be done of course, but most fanciers have bigger numbers and this is a sure way to deal with matters provided you are systematic with the timing.

I am indebted to Reji Luke for steering me in this direction.

Further Binks Question

Now, think about this! In a non-treated aviary (knowing that the parents can infect their young with mites in the nest), does their presence cause the chicks to be “pulled back” nutritionally, resulting in one possible cause of French moult and / or the loss of the tails?

I do not yet know the answer, but I will be investigating further and the information will be published on this website.

I am interested to know more about feather cysts in budgerigars as I have a bird with a cyst on one wing butt. It is a 2008 bird.

This arose after a moult and I now see some of his tail feather follicles look rather swollen and resemble what can be described as an “ingrowing look”.

There are also a few “stumpy” feather tips protruding from these tail follicles. Should these be pulled out?

This problem has only started after full maturity – so my concern is, should I discard this bird from future breeding now, or persist with it as it is certainly fertile?

I am trying the Binks “Attack, Attack, Attack” principle, but I am frustrated by this recent setback.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Here are responses from Gerald Binks & Dr Rob Marshall:

GSB Replies

Let me give my opinion first of all, as the enthusiastic amateur on matters medical. I e-mailed Rob Marshall for his expertise and this can be seen below.

I think this is an excellent question which bothers a great number of fanciers, myself included.

While common with aged pet birds, such cysts do appear in the areas described by Jon on a fairly frequent basis in the exhibition world.

It is sometimes associated with build up from a blocked feather follicle – which, if lanced with a sterilised scalpel, releases a cheesy-like mass that has accumulated around the follicle and the protruding stump of the feather, or feathers.

There may be a group of feathers or stumps involved, not just one.

This applies to both areas – namely where the primaries are seated and the tail follicles sited as well.

My problem personally with this type of cheesy cyst, is that, after clearing the mass, it returns.

There is some blood loss while clearing the mass, but not a great amount – but here comes the next problem!

It returns after the scalpel wound has recovered. (I should perhaps mention here, that I was trained in zoology at school and also learned a great deal while in the Royal Army Medical Corps medical centre under various doctors. So despite being an amateur, I do have some anatomical experience behind me.)

At this point, I’ll hand over to Dr Rob Marshall (…whose great book, The Budgerigar, should be on everyone’s bookshelf. I refer to it very frequently even after 65 years at this hobby!).

Dr Rob Marshall Replies

I often see a caseous (a sheath-like cyst) infection at the base of the tail that involves the follicles of the long feathers, specifically both areas where such long feathers grow. So that includes the zone from where the long primaries grow!

This type of infection is nearly always associated with the preen gland in the case of the tail area.

In my mind it reflects an inherently (note that word) weak bird that is not preening itself adequately due to a lack of vitality – hence not all birds in a stud are affected, as in other variable diseases.

Lack of nutritional balance and other conditions that suppress immunity to this problem are often a cause.

That is an environmental change that is too moist, dusty or where there are fluctuating temperatures and humidity.

The use of Ivermectin, which many fanciers use for the clearance of mites, is a solution and has a propylene glycol base which is great for clearing up cheesy-type infections as described earlier.

Conclusion from GSB

This last observation from Rob Marshall caught my eye!

I knew that Reinhard Molkentin, one of the great thinking fanciers in the hobby, places a small drop of Ivermectin on the dorsal (top) side of the tiny area where the tail grows with a “00 brush” – when he rings each bird.

I called him and he states that they have a trolley which has all the food, rings and tools on it, but also a bottle of Ivermectin! As he and his son Holger go round on their daily routine, they put a drop of Ivermectin on the tail area of birds being ringed that day. That routine never changes.

Reinhard also added that this idea came from what happens with cattle – such as the small Dexter cattle that get ticks and worms, as well as other variant bugs. It is general practice with all the farmers to do this, obviously using larger doses.

So, as Dr Rob Marshall observes, Ivermectin can be very useful to have on hand.

Reinhard is adamant that for the past few years they have not had one case of cysts and they are breeding with 200 pairs per annum now.

This article should stimulate not only Jon Ashby, but us all in general.

Jon Ashby should therefore breed with a bird with cysts and seriously consider taking the combined advice of Dr Rob Marshall and Reinhard Molkentin.

Dr Robert Marshall has responded in “Tails You Lose! – Part 2 of 2″.

So if you have experienced this and have some reaction, do please add a comment at the end of the article(s).

Naturally it is a problem that should be able to be cracked – somebody may even have found a cure to clean up the feather follicle to allow new growth to re-appear. If so, please do contribute.

Leave it to me to follow up any sound suggestions and I will take it from there.

Among birds being checked in was an outstanding bird (for its time) in full condition, and the buzz among the officials was on the lines of – “Here is the Best in Show”.

Overnight, both tail feathers disappeared!

They were not even on the cage floor. The question was, who was the culprit among the overnight stewards? Then it was realised that one of them had a very good bird in the same class. Such are the vagaries of human nature to win at all costs! The outcome, of course, was that no tail – no win!

Quality Nutrition is Everything

Anyway, that was yesterday, but in 2010 the problem takes on a different aspect which results in the same feeling of depression by the owner(s).

I refer, of course, to the fact that you can breed a super bird with all the right head qualities, depth of mask and so on, until it gets to 5-7 weeks of age and suddenly it loses its tail feathers! It can be earlier or later. The bird is what I have always thought – a borderline French Moult victim.

The reasoning is that the tails are the longest feathers in the budgerigar body, and thus require a perfectly nutritious metabolism to sustain these feathers soundly to full growth and permanence, until the first normal moult.

The Puzzle

So, your “Best in Show” winner has succumbed to the dreaded title of a “Tail-less wonder”.

It is now left with a familiar situation, where, for the very observant, the tips of the feathers that normally are left in the feather follicle, as in a standard French Moulter, are not there! I find this difficult to understand and so far I have no answer to it.

As the bird continues to grow, tiny new tail feathers start to appear – but then stop growing. If pulled out, you find a clean outer stump from within the follicle at the base, where growth has started, but stopped, as the poor nutrition (?) has failed to support them further.

To contradict this statement, we can now look at the adult “Tail-less wonder”. By the time the bird has reached, say, 10 months of age, it still continues to create the same kind of stumps as before – but it has, by then, a high quality metabolism because it has been fed under your good management. So why no normal tail growth at this stage?

Feeding Changes Can Cause Trouble

Obviously, we are not all good avian managers and so many fanciers try all sorts of commercial products (that may affect their studs adversely) in the hope that something “works”.

In “The Challenge” book, this is discussed at length. In my case, I realised many years ago that one new product can upset the complete metabolic balance that can easily precipitate French Moult. Budgerigars are very sensitive to nutritional changes!

Binks Receives A Hit!

By reason of a balanced nutritional input, I have not had any French Moult for years – unless I push a pair to breed too far and ask for trouble.

This season (2010) I have produced a light green normal chick that at 5 months of age looked superb. Mick Freakley and Geoff Tuplin saw it and waxed lyrical – but days later – no tails!

I immediately thought of something that has been in my mind for many many years. We have all these specialist veterinarians, some of whom are paid by various societies in the world, who deal with the basics of diseases that in the most part are well recorded and have been so for years. The question in my mind is simple and is vitally important to us breeders, namely: Why has no research been carried out on the tail loss factor?

Infected Follicles?

In the past decade we have swiftly become interested and have acted upon acquiring longer feathers and directional feathers on either side of the head, to create what I termed for the hobby as “The Buffalo Effect”.

Not easy to achieve, but the hobby at large is trying and is already succeeding in many aviaries. This has to put extra strain on avoiding the loss of tails for the reasons given above.

So, with this personal experience in mind, I approached Dr Rob Marshall for his (and I stress his) comments and the possibility of some positive research into the state of the follicles, post the loss of their tails.

My mind says:

• “How do I clean up the follicle, so that the growth can behave normally?“
• “What is inside the follicle that is stopping new tail growth?“
• “Is it an infection? If so, which bacterium is it, and how do we knock it on the head?“

Finding A Cure?

When I was approached, at the age of 19, with a kind invitation to join Her Majesty’s Armed Forces (for two years at her expense), I tried to join the Black Watch Regiment- as I have a Scottish (and Lancashire) background.

I was rejected for flat feet much to my now wife’s amusement!

So, I found myself in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and was eventually put in charge of The Medical Centre near Aldershot, under a gaggle of qualified Doctors.

Where is this getting to, you will be asking?

Well, I learnt a great deal in patient treatment – especially treating boils. We used a paste that was applied to the infection called Magnesium Sulphate paste. This is still available from your pharmacy. It has the capability to draw out all forms of nasty boils until they are clean and heal.

I decided to get some recently and, while it is early days, I am melting the paste and working it into the tail zone and seeing what happens – if anything! There have to be more modern treatments, of course, but I am currently stuck in the past!

Conclusion

I have now received the report from Dr Rob Marshall (see below).

Close scrutiny will reveal that the possibility of a cure has to overcome factors in the bird’s background – but my latest question to him is “How do you explain that the bird with the best head qualities – with the slightly longer feathers – is affected, but its nest mates – also stunning light greens – do not have the problem? Certainly ALL have the same genetic background!”

Please note: If you are serious about your hobby, I would urge you to obtain Dr Marshall’s book “The Budgerigar” which took 12 years to compile. Details of how to obtain a copy can be found below.

• Tails You Lose! – Part 2 of 2 (Dr Rob Marshall’s report)
• Dr Rob Marshall’s book – “The Budgerigar”

Identifying Early Illness

• Introduction

  For most diseases there is a sequence of signs that appears before a budgerigar becomes obviously sick.

  At first there is a loss of the health signs. Detecting potential disease therefore requires knowledge of these health signs as well as looking for the other signs of failing health or disease.

  Self-diagnosis requires an ability to recognize the signs of health, failing health as well as symptoms of disease.

  A systematic physical examination of the sick or dead budgerigar helps reveal more subtle symptoms and improves the accuracy of self-diagnosis, but when in doubt contact your avian veterinarian.

  Individuals that display distant signs of failing health or disease should be caught and examined more closely in order to identify the exact nature of the health problem.

• A Systematic Approach

  A systematic approach to the physical examination is recommended as it produces the most comprehensive information about the nature of a bird’s illness or injury in the shortest possible time.

  Distant signs of failing health or disease:

  • Noise & Smell
  • Roosting Activities (on perches & the ground)
  • Feather Quality (colour, cleanliness & strength)
  • Droppings (size, colour, consistency & smell)
  • Physical Abnormalities

   
  Close-Up Inspection:

  • Eyes
  • Frontal Feathers
  • Feathers above the Nostrils
  • Cere & Beak
  • Mouth & Facial Feathers
  • Body Condition
  • Vent Feathers
  • Wings
  • Tail
  • Droppings

Some Examples

To illustrate the systematic approach to problem identification, here are a few examples:

• Breeding Cock Problems

  Breeding cock problems are mostly the result of energy depletion, so that most birds can be saved when emergency first aid is given at the first signs of sickness. A treatment protocol – including a wise choice of medicine – can be started.

  • For a sick breeding cock:

    • Move the sick cock into a heated hospital cage
    • Provide emergency first aid
    • Select one of the following medicines based upon the individual symptoms:
      
       
      • AIL Spray: Quill or red mites discovered during physical exam
      • Doxycycline Megamix: Infertility in this and previous breeding rounds
      • Moxi-T: Dirty feathers above the nostrils, missing flight or tail feathers
      • Turbosole CankRtabs: Vomiting associated with sudden onset illness and dark green droppings
      • Fungilin: Vomiting associated with infertility, going light, excessive hunger and large dark brown droppings
      • Sulfa AVS: Watery droppings with an odour

   

  • For a dead breeding cock:

    • Post Mortem: Post Mortem findings determine best treatment for breeding partner and rest of flock

• Breeding Hen Problems

  Breeding hen problems, especially sudden deaths, are often the result of entering the breeding cabinet when not ready to breed, inadequate nutrition, stress or food related diseases.

  • For a sick breeding hen:

    • Treat the sick hen in a hospital cage
    • Provide emergency first aid with added liquid calcium (e.g. HiCal)
    • Add “Super Charge” and “HiCal” to the drinking water of all other breeding pairs
    • Select one of the following medicines based upon the individual symptoms:
      
       
      • AIL Spray: Quill or red mites discovered during physical exam
      • Doxycycline Megamix: Failure to lay eggs, deaths when laying eggs in this and previous breeding rounds
      • Moxi-T: Dirty feathers above the nostrils, missing flight or tail feathers
      • CankRtabs: Vomiting associated with egg laying
      • Fungilin: Soft shelled eggs associated with infertility, going light, excessive hunger and large dark brown droppings
      • Sulfa AVS: Watery droppings with an odour

   

  • For a dead breeding hen:

    • Post Mortem: Post Mortem findings determine best treatment for breeding partner and rest of flock

• Problems In The Flights

  • Individual Bird Sickness

    A systematic approach is needed to guestimate the cause of an illness when a sick individual bird is discovered in the flights. During a close examination the eyes, cere, nostrils, body condition and plumage (frontal feathers, feathers above the nostrils, facial feathers especially around the mouth, breast feathers, vent feathers, wing and tail feathers) should be inspected systematically for additional signs of failing health or disease.

    A complete physical examination is recommended as it produces the most comprehensive information about the nature of a bird’s illness or injury in the shortest possible time.

    After this close inspection, the captured bird should then be placed into a paper lined show or hospital cage. Here it may be given first aid treatment and its droppings can be closely monitored as the physical appearance of droppings provide a wealth of information as to the possible causes of failing health.

  • Deaths Occurring in the Flights

    An occasional death in the flights is considered a normal occurrence and often the result of natural attrition involving older or inherently weak birds. Concern, however, should be aroused when more frequent deaths and an increasing number of sick birds appear in the flights, as this is the pattern of a contagious disease.

    A budgerigar breeder’s greatest fear is the overnight discovery of two or more dead birds on the floor of a flight as this finding is a portent to further deaths over following days. Swift action must be taken at this time to identify the stress factors involved with the deaths.

    With a cluster of deaths a pattern involving one sex or age group often emerges which considerable helps identify the underlying stresses involved. For example, gender-specific deaths occur as a result of breeding behaviour stress interacting with other stress factors. The high testosterone levels of males and high mineral needs of females ready to lay eggs are the factors that link a cluster of deaths in the flights to a particular gender.

“The Budgerigar”

The above article has been adapted from Dr Robert Marshall’s 2009 publication “The Budgerigar”.

For more information on this book, please click here.

• Introduction: What, Why When?
• Correct Use of Medicines
• Wise Use of Medicines
• Choosing a Medicine
• Preventative Medicines
• Curative Medicines
• Medicine Cocktails

Introduction: What, Why When?

• Medicines: What are they?

  Medicines are chemicals that are used to treat or prevent diseases.

  Some are given routinely to treat, control and prevent parasites including worms, coccidiosis, lice, and mites. These medicines are necessary to keep budgerigars healthy and have no undue side-effects or harmful effects on enduring immunity.

  There are other medicines – such as antibiotics and anti-canker treatments – that must be used cautiously and not on a regular basis as their incorrect or repetitive use may harm the natural immunity of budgerigars especially when they are used incorrectly. When used wisely, however, antibiotics and anti-canker medicines may be used to enhance health whilst having no harmful effect on immunity.

• Medicines: Why use them?

  Budgerigars are particularly susceptible to environmental diseases that may cause catastrophic losses and illnesses that affect their wellness and ability to breed.

  Medicines are needed to cure and prevent these diseases such as coccidiosis, worms, lice and mites.

  Sometimes long courses of antibiotic medicines are necessary to improve breeding results when Psittacosis is the cause of this problem. Antibiotic medicines may also be necessary to save the lives during outbreaks of disease or when environmental conditions favour an outbreak or illness.

• Medicines: When to use them?

  In order for budgerigars to remain healthy some kind of health plan is necessary.

  The simplest plan includes routine treatments against worms, lice, mites and coccidiosis.

  Some studs prefer to avoid medicines at all costs and use a system of health management that lets nature take its course and over time only the “strongest” birds survive by the end of each year. They breed from these birds to produce offspring that they feel will be naturally resistant to diseases. Over a period of time these breeders hope to develop highly resistant families of birds without using medicines.

  Unfortunately, this system has flaws because of the sudden and catastrophic effects that some diseases have on budgerigars. As well, because there is a continual flow of new breeding stock into studs, there is a constant fear that a dangerous new disease will enter to which it has no previous immunity.

  In order to manage diseases, budgerigar breeders should give routine treatments against worms, lice, mites, coccidiosis but avoid antibiotics or anti-canker treatments unless these diseases have been previously diagnosed in the stud.

Correct Use of Medicines

• It is commonly accepted that medicines will become necessary at some time.

  The type and amount of medicine used varies from stud to stud and a correct choice is essential if the overall health and vitality of the various budgerigar families are to be retained.

  A veterinarian with bird skills must first choose an appropriate medicine and programme. The observation skills of the budgerigar breeder are then needed to determine the best time to administer medicines.

  The golden rule of medicines is to use them only when required, as inappropriate use will break down good levels of acquired immunity within the stud.

  At times, it is difficult to know when the birds really do need medicines because the symptoms of illness are often hidden. The correct identification of an illness is the only way to select the correct medicine to administer to the flock.

  Veterinary testing or the response of a sick bird to a treatment trial, are the best ways to identify the illness and a need for medicines.

Wise Use of Medicines

• The wise use of medicines plays a most important part in developing a strong natural resistance against disease in young birds by protecting the immune systems of susceptible birds from potentially irreversible damage.

  For example, the effective control of Streptococcus or Megabacteria infections requires a plan of action involving the correct use of medicines, good stud management and an informed breeding strategy. However, the use of medicines alone, without good management or breeding strategy, will fail to eliminate either of these diseases from the stud.

  Medications should be used as little as possible in a healthy budgerigar flock.

  The common aim should be the production of healthy and robust budgerigars by natural means and without compromising immunity. In this way, budgerigars are able to become naturally resistant against infection as young birds and require less medicine treatments in later life during periods of stress.

  It is difficult to maintain continuing health in the young bird flights without using some form of medication even in flocks with strong immunity. It is widely accepted that medicines must be used to protect young birds from environmental diseases and the common parasitic diseases such as Coccidiosis, worms, lice and mites.

  Products such as “Quik-Gel” may also be used to promote and strengthen natural immunity.

  Medicines used for budgerigars have been well researched, and although it is possible to improve breeding performance by the strategic administration of medicines when disease problems exist in a stud, it must be remembered that they are of no help and are in fact dangerous for a stud that is healthy.

  When there are breeding problems, the correct choice of medicine is vital if breeding performance is to be improved.

  First and foremost, the exact disease process must be identified.

  Secondly, early recognition is essential if treatment is to eliminate an infection before a loss of health occurs.

Choosing a Medicine

• Microscopic examination of the droppings is the best method of determining if and when medicines should be used.

  Droppings may be submitted to specialist veterinarians for examination or breeders may wish to learn the technique themselves.

  Once an illness has been correctly identified, a treatment plan can be developed to effectively overcome the disease. This may or may not involve the use of medicines and breeders should consult an avian veterinarian for assistance in selecting the most appropriate medicine and treatment strategy.

Preventative Medicines

• Healthy budgerigars are at considerable health risk when breeding, during weaning and in the young bird flights and may be protected from stress and environmental diseases by the prudent use of medicines.

  Medicines used in this manner are referred to as preventative medicines.

  Administration of a preventative medicine protects immunity and natural resistance.

  Consult an avian veterinarian for assistance in selecting the most appropriate medicine and prevention strategy.

Curative Medicines

• Curative medicines are required to treat a disease outbreak.

  Repeatedly poor breeding results may indicate a need for a curative medicine with the choice of medicine being determined by the nature of the illness.

  Curative medicines, by their very name, imply a dose of medicament strong enough to destroy the disease involved.

  Curative medicines are administered outside critical times of breeding and often as part of a pre-breeding season health programme.

  The treatment interval (duration of treatment) is longer than for preventative medicines. Preventative medicines are administered in an ongoing or intermittent fashion. Curative medicines are administered continuously from 3 days to 45 days, depending on the diseases and types of medicine involved.

Medicine Cocktails

• Combinations of medicines mixed together into a cocktail may be needed during disease outbreaks, as secondary infections are common in budgerigar illnesses.

  For example, “Megamix” is mixed with many antibiotics to prevent secondary infections. “Baytril” and “Carlox” may be mixed together with “Megamix” during a coccidiosis outbreak as secondary Ecoli and other bacterial infections become particularly troublesome for the survival of infected birds.

  An understanding of those medicines that can be safely mixed together is paramount to correctly treating and protecting budgerigars against disease.

  As a general rule, if a mixture of medicines remains clear in drinking water, then the medicines are compatible. This rule however, should be followed with some hesitation, and whenever unsure about the compatibility of different medicines, it is best to contact an avian veterinarian.

Dr Rob’s Products

To order the products mentioned in this article, please use the links on the Dr Robert Marshall page.