Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:09 am Post subject: What's happened to my Kakarikis feathers?!
Hello, I'm a bit concerned about my green Kakariki. He seems well in himself, and is eating and drinking, and behaving normally. The problem is, some of his feathers look odd. I don't' know if he's just moulting, or there is a problem. Some of his feathers have come through a sort of dark grey colour! Does anybody have any ideas? Thanks!
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_________________ Amber
Mum of 3 daughters, a dog, a cat, a guinea pig, 8 chickens, a yellow-sided Conure, an African Grey parrot, and 2 Kakariki boys!
Hi guys, well a year has passed, and my green Kakariki still has weird feathers, and his head is now bald! He still seems happy! My yellow Kakariki looks absolutely fine! I just don't understand! I spoke to a bird breeder I know, and he said his green Kakarikis often go like that, but his yellow ones don't!!! Does anyone know the cause of this???!!! They have both been treated with Ivermectin, they have a varied diet, I put apple cider vinegar in their drinking water, as I've really noticed this has improved the plumage of my chickens. I just don't know why he is like this!!! Any ideas anybody???!!!!! Many thanks! _________________ Amber
Mum of 3 daughters, a dog, a cat, a guinea pig, 8 chickens, a yellow-sided Conure, an African Grey parrot, and 2 Kakariki boys!
you mean those grey feathers down on the back poking thru?
If not molt and not mites, then the other bird is mosyt proberly picking on it.
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and his head is now bald!
That is definatly not normal
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I spoke to a bird breeder I know, and he said his green Kakarikis often go like that,
That is definately not normal....we have never had anything like that in to 100s of wilds we have breed and never seen it with other breeders unles mites have been a major issue...or maybe something like inbreeding????
Or lacking in diet???? _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Thank you for your speedy reply! If it was mites, surely my yellow one would be affected too! Maybe I should do them with Ivermectin again, but I'm sure it's not mites. His feathers seem to be growing wonky and weird as well. They have parakeet mix and a high quality parrot food mixed together, and they have loads of fruit and veg, and different garden weeds, I'd like to feed them sprouted seeds, but when I've tried before, they went mouldy, and I got scared coz I don't want to make my boys ill! I'm also pretty sure that my yellow Kakariki is not picking on my green one. I watch them a lot, and the green one seems to be boss! He chases the yellow one off the food!
I've taken a few photos so you can see the difference between the 2 boys. They are the only 2 birds in my aviary. _________________ Amber
Mum of 3 daughters, a dog, a cat, a guinea pig, 8 chickens, a yellow-sided Conure, an African Grey parrot, and 2 Kakariki boys!
If it was mites, surely my yellow one would be affected too!
No that is not always the case...We we have rescued birds often most are ok and a couple only real bad....rescued a flock of 15 a few months back..2 where so bad we had to put down...way worse than yours
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Poor green boy looks awful!
Yep that is bad....
Does both with invertimin, couple drops on the back of the neck..make sure goes on the skin....the does again (very important) 10 to 12 days later.
Clean and spray the avairy down with a mist spray of 50/50 vinegar, and allow the birds to fly thru the mist several times....again repeat 10 to 1 days later.
A few mls of apple cider vinegar mixed in with their chopped veggies every few days ....and continue as routine 'maintaince'.
Also a sprig of rosemary, few leaves of mint and basil every few days... must be fresh, not dryied. The birds use the aromatic oils to prune and are a natural defense against mites and such.
Within a a week you should see a dramatic change in the condition of feathers and new feathers growing.
Mint is great for hand taming birds, once they reconise the smell ...had a few times. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Thank you so much for your help! Got to go to work in an hour, just for a couple of hours, so this afternoon, I will give the aviary a thorough clean out, and I will catch the boys and put Ivermectin on them again, and also in 10-12 days time. With the 50/50 vinegar solution, is it ok to use apple cider vinegar, as that's all I have! They do have apple cider vinegar in their drinking water which they also bathe in. I will buy some potted herbs next time I go shopping, so I can give them fresh herbs, thanks for that tip! Another question if I may! The aviary floor has wood chips on, but I'm gonna take them all out I think, I can't keep the aviary as clean as I'd like with the wood chip. Under the wood chip it's mostly concrete with a little bit of earth, but at least I can sweep it and disinfect it better. Do you think the wood chips are a bad idea? What do you use for your aviary floors? I'm thinking maybe mites are hiding in the wood chips or something, and I just want them gone! I will do as you have advised this afternoon, and I really hope my green boy improves as I'm worried about him! Thank you very much for your help! _________________ Amber
Mum of 3 daughters, a dog, a cat, a guinea pig, 8 chickens, a yellow-sided Conure, an African Grey parrot, and 2 Kakariki boys!
Run a forum search.
We have some with mortor floors with a thin layer of pumice san
The earth floors also have a thin layer
Its important to have dry floors to ptevent worms.
The only reason we have the above is it makes cleaning out once a fortnight easy, and believe the pumice sand is good for them. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Thank you, the wood chip is dry, as they have a covered run. They seem to like scratching about in it. I've never thought about sand, that would be good as you could rake it! I'll have a look through the site! Thanks again! _________________ Amber
Mum of 3 daughters, a dog, a cat, a guinea pig, 8 chickens, a yellow-sided Conure, an African Grey parrot, and 2 Kakariki boys!
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