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Has anyone had experience with their canaries losing feathers abnormally? I have 4 in a flock of about 30 that have lost head and body feathers and the feathers haven't grown back. The condition started in some with a loss of neck feathers. It's not a molt. I took them to an avian vet recently. She said they had no lice and no mites and no other parasites according to a stool sample. All she could suggest was overcrowding, poor diet, or stress. I can't speak for stress, but I doubt that the first two items were the cause. The birds are well fed and have roomy flights.

They range in age from 1 year to 3 years. Three are hens. They behave normally in all other respects, except that I haven't bred them, of course. The remaining birds in the flock are unaffected.

I'd appreciate any theories or remedies you may have on this.

Thank you,

My thoughts are that the birds are being plucked by other canaries, internal parasites (you'd need several collective stool samples), or possibly a virus? Have they been tested for any viruses or illnesses?

http://members.hn.ozemail.com.au/~ailwood/baldness.htm
http://www.animal-protection.ch/tierhal ... vogel.html

I hope you can find out the cause.

Curious though, what is their diet? Are they inside or outside birds? If inside, do they have full spectrum lighting?

Agree with mfids. Usually when you see a loss of feathers on the head it's due to other birds plucking them.
Are all the birds together? How many males to females and how large is the flight?

All,

Thank you for your comments and the links.

The vet examined them and ruled out parasites. No mites, no lice and no internal parasites in their stool samples. I don't know what else she tested for in the stool samples but she mentioned no diseases or viruses.

I don't believe it is feather picking. The symptoms first became evident while they were alone in individual 24 inch breeding cages. In fact, one fits the description on the Fife Canary link -- she lost the feathers on her abdomen first while attempting to nest. I wouldn't breed her. The others look generally like they've never gotten out of the molt except more severe. Months ago I moved the hens in question to a separate flight to isiolate them. They have lived together congenially and I have never seen them peck at each other.

They are indoor birds on full sprectrum lights.

They eat Browns fortified canary seed mix predominantly with raw fruits and vegetables as diet supplements two or three times per week along with soak seed and hard boiled eggs.

The vet mentioned stress as a possiblity although I can't figure out what may be stressing them and why it should only affect them and not my others. However, this weekend I moved them back to individual cages with subdued lighting to reduce any stress they may have about being in a flight.

The three hens are in the worst shape. The cock bird appears to be refeathering.

Thanks again for your interest.

Mark

Hate to keep bothering you with questions......but...........when you say 'alone', is each hen in her own cage or they're all together but separate from the males?

When my birds had plucking problems in the past it was not always easy to find the guilty party. Sometimes I'd have to sit near the cage for an hour before I'd see the culprit, and often it was happening at night while they were roosting side by side. The fact your one hen lost feathers on her stomach makes it sound as tho she was getting ready to nest and then continued plucking due to frustration.

If you're sure it's not plucking, it may be due to genetics or hormonal imbalance........ie: baldness.

Annz,

No bother. Thanks for the interest.

The hens were together in a flight (with no males) but I have placed them into individual cages at the moment.

Could be plucking, I susppose but I'd be surprised. I've never watched them to find the culprit, however.

Regarding genetics, they are not related. The vet suggested that at first until I told her that they were from three distinct families of birds. These are American Singers, by the way.

Hormones are a possibility but I have no clue what to do about that.

I'm hope that a restful period prior to the molt with plenty of individual space and good nutrition will bring them out of it.

Thank again,

I know this post is old but wondering if you are still having prolems? One thing that was not talked about in this post is the rotating of daylight hours with the seasons. Canaries are light sensative to needing shorter daylight hours in the off season maybe 10 1/2 or so. Then when rest time is over start increasing the light till you get to 14 hrs. in a day. They need this to keep their cycle going right. If their light is not rotated correctly they do not go though a proper molt.

Rosie,

Thanks for your interest. Each of the 4 affected birds went through a molt. Note that I do adjust the lights for seasonal variation. Two of the 4 feathered out nicely. The other two regained feathers during the molt but still look a little ragged. They otherwise act normal and appear to be suffering no other issues. I returned the refeathered birds to a flight. The two with issues remain in individual cages.

Mark

Hi ya,
A common cause of that particular pattern of feather loss in canaries is generally due to iodine deficiency. One can purchase the avian iodine made specifically to address the feather loss issue but, the dilution is about one teaspoon to a gallon of water about once a week. Caution must be exercised so not to poison the canary with iodine. I generally use cuttle bones (iodine content can vary as iodine does evaporate), offer fresh mashed hard boiled egg weekly and also a slice of wheat bread (separately) .. nearly all breads have some iodine in them from the iodized sodium in the dough. So a slice of bread in 'suet feeders' in my aviary weekly with mashed hard boiled eggs to everyone once a week. A little work ... but, not as much work as trying to get them better. If it hasn't been too long and the follicles haven't dried up the canary should sprout some pin feathers before next year's molt and then molt out nicely.
Warm Regards,
Susan Kuhne