# I have a pigeon that is losing his feathers



## Cheech (Aug 14, 2007)

I recently rescued 4 white homers. I have noticed recently and especially this morning that one of the homers is losing his feathers around his head and neck area. The floor of the loft is full of feathers. The other 3 birds are not experiencing the same problem. Now, these birds are not very tame and I have not handled them much although this past week I have had to handle them on a few occassions. I am noticing that I have a lot of bites which resemble flea bites on many parts of my body. I thought it might be my dog but she doesnt appear to have any fleas. Im wondering if one or all of these pigeons may have some kind of bug or body mites or something. Can anyone help?


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

It's that time of year when birds moult and lose their feathers. They 
could also have a feather mite of sorts. I use either Ivomec injectable (down
the throat in an oral dose) or Moxidectin (Scatt, on the skin on the back between the wings) in addition to a product called Scalex: Mite and Lice spray
for Birds on the feathers themselves. I've also used Garden Tech's spray-SEVIN-on the feathers as well. Sevin is sold at home depot and Scalex
is sold at most pet stores that also carry bird products. Keep in mind that you
also need to spray the living area for feather pest as well every 2-3 weeks
and allow to dry before replacing the birds.

I also cut the end of a sock off and use as a hood over the bird's head
to keep the spray away from the eyes, nares and mandibles when spraying. 

fp


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

They could have feather lice, the most common external parasite. As FP said, lice are easily controlled with sprays formulated pet birds. As to the bites on you, the lice that afflict birds do not live on people. Our pigeons have gotten feather lice from time to time but I've never seen one on me, let alone been bitten by one. 

Losing feathers around the head and neck and even having bald patches is common during the molt. They don't all molt in quite the same way and some look pretty awful when they are molting. But they will be beautiful again once it's completed.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Acually, I don't know in general which is more common, feather lice or 
feather mites, I have had more experience w/mites than lice. The lice
tended to leave a mess as in dead ones around where the birds roosted
and I could see these, well lets say, off-white to light brownish looking
pieces the approximate size of rice that I had no desire to boil and serve up w/steamed veggies  

I did read once (either here or maybe the NYC site) of I believe a red mite infestation (blood mite) that was in an apartment and the mites
would bite humans for want of a 'preferred host'.


*An abstract of an article on mites by Heather Proctor from this link:*

http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.ento.48.091801.112725

FEATHER MITES (ACARI: ASTIGMATA): Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution

Heather C. Proctor1 *

Australian School of Environmental Studies, Griffith University, Nathan 4111 Queensland, Australia; e-mail: [email protected]

"Birds host many lineages of symbiotic mites, but the greatest diversity is shown by the three superfamilies of astigmatan feather mites: Analgoidea, Pterolichoidea, and Freyanoidea. Members of this diphyletic grouping have colonized all parts of the avian integument from their ancestral nidicolous habitat. Whereas some clearly feed on feather pith or skin, acting as parasites, other feather mites are paraphages and consume feather oils without causing structural damage. Sexual dimorphism in feather mites is often extreme, and little is known of the function of many elaborate male structures. Abundance and location of vane-dwelling mites is affected by season, temperature, light, humidity, and host body condition. Because transmission between hosts usually depends on host body contact, it is unsurprising that feather mite phylogeny often parallels host phylogeny; however, recent cladistic analyses have also found evidence of host-jumping and "missing the boat" in several mite lineages."

*And some googled pictures/articles on & of mites:*

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...=feather+mite&type=jpeg&no=1&tt=43&fr=sbc-web

http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/news23_2/Fig-1.jpg

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...peg&no=10&tt=43&oid=a5735e400eb42406&ei=UTF-8
(this link just above is an interesting article w/lots of magnified images)

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...jpeg&no=6&tt=43&oid=13c80fb078a12344&ei=UTF-8


*Here's a link to a table listing the occurance of mites in different species
of birds:*

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...peg&no=10&tt=43&oid=a5735e400eb42406&ei=UTF-8


*Here are some pictures of Feather Lice:*

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...jpeg&no=5&tt=37&oid=d76a5e9893a21910&ei=UTF-8

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...-8&qp_p=feather+lice&imgsz=all&fr=sbc-web&b=1

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...jpeg&no=6&tt=37&oid=d5890de2333fcdcc&ei=UTF-8

http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...gif&no=37&tt=37&oid=3b878e1eb973828e&ei=UTF-8

*And the infamous and much disliked Pigeon Fly:*

http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/livestock/pigeon_fly.htm

In general, parasites that live from biting and drawing blood can pass
disease to your birds so it's best to keep them from taking that firsts
bite. The first line of defense for the birds are products containing
Carbaryl and Pyrethrin and these come in sprays and powders. Scalex
and Sevin are examples of these Carbaryl and Pyrethrin based products
and can be purchased in local pet stores or garden stores. For the garden
store products, it should say that they are safe to be used w/pets. Home Depo carries a product called Sevin by Garden Tech which is in the spray
format. I use both Scalex and Sevin sprays and prefer the sprays to the
powders, though others use the powders. I cut the end of a sock off 
and spray the underside of the bird while holding against my stomach and
get the tail, wing, tummy areas then flip and get these same areas top side.
Once every two to three weeks should do it, making sure to get the living
area as well.

Scatt (Moxidectin from the Avermectin family of medications) will also
give protection against any blood sucking parasites that make it past
the sprays/powders as the first line of defense:

http://www.birdsupplynh.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=357&osCsid=c

The parasite that bites a bird that has been treated w/either Ivermectin or Moxidectin will die after taking the bite and drawing the blood and not be able to lay eggs creating more parasites.

And of course, the third line of defense as treatment of the living space
will get existing mites/lice and deter future generations.

fp


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