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.

Avian Polyomavirus (APV) or Budgerigar Fledging Disease

Avian Polyomavirus (APV) infection, otherwise known as Budgerigar Fledging Disease, is the primary cause of this symptom although other factors are often involved.

Budgerigar breeders recognise symptoms of APV in their birds as French Moult.

The term French Moult is a symptomatic description of a disease that may include APV, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease virus (PBFDS) and other infections.

Preventing APV

Prevention is the only cure as there is no treatment for APV.

An understanding of the disease and other predisposing circumstances will help prevent the disease.

There are three important facets to this disease.

• Polyomavirus (APV) “Carrier” Bird
• Nutritional Stress during the Moult
• Poor Quill Strength

Polyomavirus (APV) “Carrier” Bird

APV is the most common disease of budgerigar studs. In my book “The Budgerigar”, I describe it as the most significant disease of budgerigars, as it often affects immunity thereby having a profound effect on the long-term health and reproductive ability of an infected budgerigar stud.

Infection with APV occurs primarily in young budgerigars between 0-20 days of age. Budgerigars that survive the acute infection will often drop their long feathers in the weaning cage, fail to develop their primary wing and tail feathers, or these may be deformed as the virus damages the feather follicle especially of these long feathers.

APV infection is life long although infection and disease are not synonymous. In fact the vast majority of APV infections are asymptomatic. In most instances the lost flight and tail feathers of weaning budgerigars are regrown soon after recovery from the acute infection. These birds however remain “carriers” of APV and are the most likely birds to lose their tails during the first adult moult.

Small outbreaks in adult birds have been reported but are rare. Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease virus (PBFDS) infection (that often occurs together with APV in budgerigars) is thought to be immuno-suppressive and may predispose adult birds to APV disease.

From my perspective, I consider APV to be a disease confined to young birds but which remains as a life long infection. Most infected birds remain symptomless “carriers” throughout their lives. Some individual “carrier” birds – mostly those possessing exhibition quality feather features – become re-infected with APV following a stressful event.

In my view the loss of tail feathers in adult birds is confined to birds already infected with APV i.e, “carrier” birds. Often these birds have not exhibited any prior symptoms associated with APV. However, in most of these birds there are symptoms of APV prior to the failure of the tail feathers to regrow although they are not obvious to most budgerigar breeders.

A close examination of affected birds often reveals a slow or delayed moult, low vitality, poor feather condition, missing flight feathers, frayed tail feathers, staining of the feathers above the nostrils, preen gland cysts and tumors, feather cysts and other signs of poor general health. Some birds may appear in very good condition but these birds often have lost feathers during the weaning period and regrown them soon after. They are in fact APV “carrier” birds.

Nutritional Stress during the Moult

A failure to regrow tail feathers is most likely to occur in APV “carrier” birds during their first adult moult. These birds are often physically large birds that also possess championship quality feather features.

The regrowth of the paired central tail feathers occurs towards the end of the moult at the same time as the long end flights. Any nutritional deficiency (i.e. stress) is more likely to appear at this time as these feathers are the largest in the body and because their regrowth also occurs towards the end of the moult. Dormant APV infections are likely to be activated in “carrier” birds at this time.

Poor Quill Strength

The quill strength of many championship quality budgerigars is poor. Poor quill strength may be a consequence of APV infection or poor genetic selection. Feather problems (e.g. feather cysts, bacterial follicle infections, feather abnormalities) and a failure to regrow tail feathers are more likely in birds with poor quill strength.

Feather cysts (i.e. retained curled up feathers are trapped beneath the skin) and other feather abnormalities may occur as a result of poor quill strength in the absence of APV infection.

“The Budgerigar” Book

Avian Polyomavirus (APV) infection and methods used to prevent it are covered in even greater detail in my book – “The Budgerigar”.

Note from Gerald S Binks: 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 1 of 2
• Dr Rob Marshall’s book – “The Budgerigar”

I am one of those breeders who believe in the old fashioned tried and tested methods of feeding. When it comes to feeding, it is THE vital factor to success. If it (the feeding) is out of balance by the smallest amount and by that I mean it is changed frequently and has an absence of essential vitamins to support the seed input, then failure will result in the number of chicks bred and FM will arise easily because YOU have allowed to do so!!

Let me suggest some points to you. Your seed is grown in different parts of the world. African sources are often grown in poorly fertilised land and harvested early so that it ripens during shipping. That means it lacks in particular vitamins A & D. These two are more vital than anything else in breeding budgerigars and if you have two bad seasons on the trot, you are virtually dead in the water. So, you have to supplement artificially. In my case my solution is to administer small amounts of cod liver oil to the seed all year (remember it is stored in the liver and is not excreted). That covers the situation. I also give a multivitamin solution and cytacon (obtainable from your chemist). Over and above those they get Hormova in finger drawers and in the flights all year. Another old product – that works superbly. With this system plus grits being changed every week, and cuttle the only other additions are soaked seeds and biovit soft food. That system breeds budgerigars. Only if I depart in any way from this routine do things go pear shaped. Where does the FM come in, I hear you say. Well here it is:

FM will appear certainly here at Tanglewood every year. Shocked are you? Ah, but let me qualify that. It appears right at the very end of the season with the odd chick that hasn’t been fed properly and no more than that. The final pairings are tired and they sense they have had enough, so feeding becomes a chore in a few nests. However it is never the sort of FM that, in addition to all flights dropping, the body is affected as well and the chick looks retarded. That I honestly say. What I do do, is to be very observant from May until I stop and I check all the flights and tails every day. lf I see a big headed chick around this time I also “play safe” and remove one tail feather. That is purely an insurance. If I find any flights affected at this time, the bird has every primary and secondary feather removed as well as the tail and I get the affected chick out on the cage floor immediately so that it starts to get better nutrition for the replacement feathers just removed. The new growth will be fine – provided your principal dietary input was super to start with!! You should have had a very good season by the time a few FM’s arrive at the very end. Let’s face it you can live with that by that time. Remember it is the longest feathers in the body that are affected starting with the tail. Big headed birds in the nest towards the end of the season are likely candidates (long feathers). Watch them very carefully.

FM is like the cold virus in behaviour. Like a cold it doesn’t last. Taking out the flights etc clears the follicles which allows new growth to get through. This proves that the “FM virus” is a passing matter. So far I haven’t found a better technique to overcome FM problems but I do miss out when I am on holiday should any arrive. With good management practices success will be the reward — but that brings me back to not telling the public what a great hobby this is.

To finish on a promotional note, if your editor will allow me, I have heard it said that because I don’t show today, I cannot have good quality stock. If you don’t know, the Moffat stud was willed to me and was combined with my winning grey greens that emanated from pair 16 in the mid eighties which won Best Breeder at the B S and Best in Show at BW in 1988. To that, I have added super quality stock at great expense from Jo Mannes, Reinhard Molkentin and another line which has just started last season. If you hear such comments, would you be kind enough to ask them a question? The question to be put is simple. “Have you been to Gerald Binks’ aviary and seen for yourself? ” A lot of Scots have already made the trip and take a vastly different view. Think about a visit next year.

My new website is now up and running which those with computers should find interesting as it includes among many headings my previous “Thoughts from Tanglewood” which seemed very popular when I wrote it in my magazine Budgerigar World. The web address is www.budgerigar.co.uk.

Finally, to all the Scottish societies and clubs, can I leave you with the suggestion you contact every local paper you can think of and promote the hobby as being one to get old and young alike interested in. People are getting fed up with watching a computer screen as well as TV. They want something more stimulating or as parents they want to get their growing children off the streets. Local papers will jump at the opportunity to fill their columns if they get articles about a “new” hobby people have not heard about. Remember I started at the age of 12. By 14 I was committed to the hobby and the satisfaction of ME breeding a GOOD one has never left me.

A common question put to me is “how do I achieve a good fertility so that I do not have two poor seasons that can easily put me out of the hobby?”. Firstly let me address a depressing scenario. Here we have the enthusiastic fancier who has, we can say, 20 breeding cages into which he can drop perhaps 30 pairings over a normal season. If he has small birds he may not have many fertility problems but with the larger big birds, especially hens, it becomes more difficult in at least 80% of the nests. It’s easy to breed with the “mice”, but not with the “rats”.

Our fancier may well be feeding a number of items over and above the standard seed mixtures along with water and some vitamins that he has heard about – but really doesn’t understand. In some cases he’s not really interested and this is very true as I have found that in my book “The Challenge” fanciers love to read the “juicy bits” but when it comes to the two most important chapters in the whole book – the ones on feeding – they gloss over them. They are the vital chapters because without taking them step by step and understanding what is required, then a failed breeding season is very likely. Next stage is depression and that can be followed by “exit stage left” from the hobby. Two consecutive seasons like this and it’s a certainty.

Here in UK is a classic case of one such fancier who approached me for help. He was just not breeding birds of any consequence. You may know him. He is Geoff Bowley who is a quality judge and whose father won Best in Show at our biggest event some years ago. His fertility was appalling. Geoff is but one of hundreds who have called me over time with just this problem. My reaction is immediately to request every single item that goes into the husbandry of the stud in a nutritional sense. I write them all down as they list them. I can then assess what is going wrong and I can say that 90 per cent of cases are solvable instantly. This is based on having studied nutrition in zoology at school added to all the mistakes that I have made myself in the hobby. In my case, and I appreciate that the UK feeding methods are unlike diets abroad, I was searching for a diet that would stand the test of time year in year out.

Searching for the perfect diet

After the 2nd World War in 1945 the UK hobby just survived with a few dedicated fanciers with relatives who were fighting being pressed to bring home seed in their kit bags whenever possible. Forget the kit – just get the seed!! The birds were terribly small but bigger than the wild variety. Head qualities were non-existent. By 1975 however the British had forged ahead with the massive improvement in head qualities including depth of mask, spot size, backskull, but until recently not width of face with directional feather.

So how did the UK, now joined by Europe, improve everything? The answer lay with two areas – Nutrition and Selection – and thinking what exactly could be ahead in time but not yet achieved. You had to know a budgerigar’s features to the millimetre to be able to do that. The credit for these forward-thinking stages goes to names such as Harry Bryan, Angela Moss, Frank Wait, Maurice Finey, Joe Collyer, Doug Sadler, Alf Ormerod and Margery Kirkby Mason to name but a few. Binks was around but no more than that. Progress depended, they all agreed, on nutrition and everyone had their own haphazard ideas. All sorts of vitamins and mineral salts were thrust into the birds. Everybody had a biscuit tin full of seed mixture to which was added 12 teaspoons of cod liver oil and then a product called Kilpatricks Pigeon Minerals was added. This contained a multiplicity of minerals but mainly salt and carbon. The tin was shaken and the blackened mixture was given after 24 hours. That was THE most successful post war diet and into the 1950′s that still existed, but it was dead easy to breed budgerigars by the bucket-load. I never forgot it but by the 1960′s new products entered the markets which looked better. After a while I realised that even though they looked good they were made by “chemists” who understood their chemistry but they didn’t know anything about budgerigars and what they really required to make them highly fertile and far bigger than their ancestors.

Now I come up to the year 2000 and beyond. Size, feather growth and directional feather is all the rage. Few fanciers have the latter and to obtain them requires a big dip in the pocket. For many years now I have gone back to basics with a high vitamin A & D inclusion in the diet and this is where the Geoff Bowley’s of the world go wrong. Their birds look fit when you see them, but the big birds of today demand this high dose to give them the vital energy to reproduce instead of just sitting there or laying infertile eggs. I personally still use cod liver oil but in a lesser quantity at two teaspoons to 12 pounds of seed. I also use the Kilpatricks Minerals and it has shown me how important minerals are over and above grits and cuttlefish bone. “Binks has, I suppose, bred a fistful again” is something I hear occasionally. So Geoff Bowley was given my diet in full. He applied it fully and after a few months on it his birds were put down to breed. The results were terrific and he wrote it up in a magazine. However two years later I heard he was doing badly again which I found astounding. When I found out the reason it was Geoff who said “I really couldn’t get on with the cod liver oil, so I dropped it”. I was staggered but it proved my point 100 per cent. Today I find that if your birds have the right diet balance there is little need to trim the vent area. Thick feather there doesn’t matter if the birds are bursting with energy.

The Importance of Grit

This is a subject that is a bit obscure to many fanciers especially when they read articles by a few veterinarians “that grit is not necessary”. I find this point of view bizarre. Nature has provided birds with a toughened muscular section of their digestive tract called the gizzard. It will only function given grit in both soluble and insoluble forms. E.G. Sharp granites and shell grits. No grits and the gizzard lining becomes ulcerated and breaks down and another distressed bird is found on the floor soon to die. Take shows for example. What is the first thing the birds go to on return home especially in your country where they are away from home for longish periods. You know they go immediately for the grit pots. The “grit not necessary brigade” is very wrong in my personal view for giving out such bad advice. Birds do not have teeth so that is replaced by a gizzard and its contents. No “teeth” no proper digestion and nutritional conversion.

Let me turn to the presence of grit in the aviary. Ask yourself, “How often do I top it up or replace it?” Chances are you just see the grit there and think the birds turn it over except that they do not! What they do is choose the particle they want from the top surface and the smaller particles are rejected and a dust accumulates. You will have seen this I feel sure but have you replaced it regularly enough. In flights it is so easy to overlook this important management practice. It also extends to every grit pot when the birds are breeding. They do the same and the bowl looks fine and full but the birdbrains only take the top layer. Remember the swallowed good grits are expelled once they are worn down in the gizzard and require replacing. If none is available then the chick rearing process is affected and dead or scrawny chicks may be the result. You are the sole provider for your stock. Any failing will be reflected in your breeding or health conditions. There is no substitute for quality husbandry.