Unknown feather problem

[pj1001]

A new fancier in our club who has only been in the club a couple of years showed me an old hen on Monday and asked me what I thought was wrong with her as she has down feathers on her belly and vent region that resemble strings. I have never seen this before so couldn't advise him oin what the cause might be. Has anyone encountered this before or have any suggestions/ comments on it?

 

Any help would be appreciated. I have enclosed a picture of the feathers on hen in question.

[Guest]

Only time I've seen something similar was in a young pigeon injured in a hawk attack.

 

Paste I used to seal the bird's wounds was designed for small animals, and as a first-time user of the stuff didn't know that it would destroy what was left of the feathers around the wound.

[Wiley]

never seen this mate looks rare never even heard of it either

[Guest REDFOXKRAUTHS]

are they quills that havent opened upif they are put them in warm water,should do the trick!! ;D ;D

[Guest coxy]

looks like the bird has been injured m8 either by hawk or wires ect ect it will heal up and the quills will open up if not carefully cut the quill downwards to cut throught the protective layer and it will open up sooner becare when this will hapen or it might turn into a blood quil

[pj1001]

I would have said that she was injured also only she is a stock hen and has never been out other than in an avairy.

 

The feathers themselves are like pieces of string and wetried running warm water over them to see if they open up but with no luck. To me its a strange one ok, have never come across it before. The fancvier in question took his birds to a pigeon health day taken by Armand Schaers last week and he wastoldthathis birds where in perfect condition. ( needless to say he never took this hen out of embarassment)). I tried to convince him that he should take her as there is no point getting well birds analysed its the sick ones that baffle us we should get checked out. But to be fairif she was our hen i probabaly wouldn't have taken her either again due to embarassment.

 

PJ

[Guest REDFOXKRAUTHS]

i will look it up in my book

[Guest]

Reckon feathers have opened OK but the barbs are gone so the feather doesn't knit together, just sort of hangs like a curtain from the quill [which is shortened].  

 

Pic also appears to show signs of a tear injury on bird's breast.

 

If the likes of Armand Sheer was there, this bird would have been first on my list ... why take healthy birds to a vet and leave an unknown problem at home?    :-/

[pj1001]

That would have been my view also Bruno but when its not our birds we can't make anyone do what they don't want to, I guess.

 

Like you say we don't go to a doctor if we are well only when we are ill, so if a bird is sick the vet should be the place for it.

 

PJ

 

[Guest]

Just a thought PJ, has the bird been talloned by a hawk through the aviary wires at some time

[Guest REDFOXKRAUTHS]

yer i never thought of that

[Guest CS]

Got an e-mail from Colin Walker, PJ .

 

E-mail said "Craig,

 

We see this whenever a bird can't reach and preen itself properly. This is why it occurs in short faced breeds such as Blondinettes and birds that have traumatically lost their beaks.

 

Regards,

Dr. Colin Walker"

[pj1001]

Many thanks Craig I will pass this information on to the owner.

 

I am not sure if this is the cause or not though as the hen is a biggish longed necked pigeon and her head and beak looks fine. She is of Brasspenning bloodlines and has bred a few decent pigeons in the past and has won a good few  handling and eyessign shows in the past .

 

She is being housed in a large 12 feet x 10 feet aviary with a perspex roof. Perching is via poles in the middle of the aviaries during the day if the birds decide togo out into the avairies. The aviary is always open so the birds can go in and out from loft to aviary when they want so I would doubt that she has been attacked by a bird of prey as the birds are at the closest about 4 feet from the wire grill sides. Thanks for the suggestion though Linda, as I honestly don't know what the cause of this is. I thought it might be a health fault as the hens skin is scaley and has a slightly orangy tinge to it but I don't honestly know what could be causing it.

 

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions though.

 

Regards

PJ

[Guest]

I referred your info & pic to Gordon Chalmers earlier last week. He contacted me last night to say that he wasn't sure what it was and has referred it to Wim Peters for his opinion.

 

Will get back to you.  

[Guest]

Good morning Ian:  Here is a reply from Wim Peters in S Africa.  As I have

no experience with this situation, I'd defer to Wim's opinion on this one.

Regards, Gordon.

 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Dr Wim Peters" To: "Gordon Chalmers"

Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 12:13 AM

Subject: Re: Feather problem - opinion please

 

 

Hi Gordon

 

First thing I would look for is a mite infection.

 

The mites are very quick-moving and are not seen at first glance.  One has

to keep parting feathers to catch a glimpse.  The feathers tend to clump

and I guess this is caused by the egglaying of the mites and the pigeon itself

nuzzling the area as I'm sure they can feel the mites moving.

 

The mite make 'nests' of feathers and possibly the follicles are involved.

This could also result in abnormal down feather formation.

 

Have recently seen it in a few birds and funnily enough all were hens.

Whether that has any significance I cannot guess.

 

Otherwise I do not know.  Plse keep me informed.

Regards

Wim

 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Gordon Chalmers" <gacdvm@telus.net>

To: "Wim Peters" <wpeters@iafrica.com>

Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 1:01 AM

Subject: Fw: Feather problem - opinion please

 

Wim:  Could you comment on this photo and description, pls?  Thanks very much.  Gordon.

 

[pj1001]

Many thanks Bruno and Craig for going to so much bother in contacting such well respected and regarded avian/pigeon vets throughout the world on this matter.

 

I checked the bird out today again and lice and mite wise it is completely clean, which is what I would have expected as the fancier that owns this hen is very meticulous when it comes to loft hygiene and sprays out his lofts religiously once every month.

 

I have told him he should try taking the hen to a vet here to see what they think but as there are no real true pigeon/avian vets in Northern Ireland I don't know if visiting a vet will shed any more light on the problem or not but its worth a try.

 

 

Thanks again everyone for your help on the matter and if I find out anything I will post on the forum.

 

 

Best wishes for Christmas and the 2007 season.

 

Regards

PJ

[Guest REDFOXKRAUTHS]

hi i have now got it on one of my old 98 hens who has not been out for 5 years

[NANCYVIEWLOFTS]

could be that she as laid an egg and the egg broke under her and if she did not get a bath for a couple of days it would go as hard as iron and she would then have a job to preen herself properly  

[jimmy white]

a shot in the dark,,,,could the bird in question not be clinging to the wire of the aviary , as a habit ,and rubbing the feathers off , repeatedly, that they are growing in like this ,, pipey,or faulty,, as i say never seen this , but has to be some reason ,, maybe keep us informed p,j

[pj1001]

I spoke to the fancier earlier in the week again and he has told me that this hen hasn't laid for the past couple of years from him. So maybe this has something to do with her laying/ reproduction system. This is only a hunch but the feather condition might be in relation to this problem.

 

Her owner plucked these feathers out of her and new feathers are growing now to replace them but they look exactly the same as the feathers in the photograph. Her feathers look and feel like small strips of string. The hen has been in a quarintine pen in his corn store jimmy for the last 3-4 weeks so I would have rule out the possibility of the feather disfigurement being caused by hanging on the avairy walls.

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, keep them coming as they are all useful and helpful.

 

Best wishes to everyone for a happy, relaxing and peaceful Christmas and great racing in 2007.

 

Regards

PJ

[jimmy white]

it would be nice to get to the bottom of it,,[pardon the pun ] but it would be good to find out , as its a real strange one that , still keep trying  

[mosslands1]

hiya ive seen this problem with the older birds it happens because there hormones are changing . a bit like the wiskers you see on your grannies chin  ok funny but true lol

[mosslands1]

extra calcium in the diet helps