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Re: Feather Lumps
Posted by Denise on 2/28/06

Michael,

Thanks for your response. I do think my hen is showing the
beginning of the problem, as that is just how it started with
the other two. I absolutely won't breed her, and I don't plan
to buy any more birds from the person I bought her from. I
just wanted to know if there was anything I could do for her
to minimize the cysts. Since it's just starting, I wonder if
the feathers that stick out and are thick at the bottom should
be removed, as that is where the cysts will form. But that
might be a lot of feathers.

Do you know if this condition causes the birds to die? I lost
one today, only a few years old. I took her out of the flight
cage to ensure that she didn't have to compete for food, and I
tried to remove the cysts when I could without hurting her.
Now I wonder if I should have just left her alone, but the
cysts would get very large.

Is this problem related to breeding a soft feathered bird to
another soft-feathered bird?

> Denise,
> > To my knowledge there is no known cure for these cysts and
> they are heritable and can be passed on to future offspring
> of the birds that are infected with them.
>
> As far as your red factor being used as a breeding bird, I
> would wait to make sure that whatever is making her feathers
> stick out is not the start of cysts. You would pass this
> along with her offspring and regardless of how beautiful she
> is, it wouldn't be worth it in the long run.
> Good luck with her and I do hope that it isn't what you're
> thinking.
>
> Michael L

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Feather Lumps, 2/28/06, by Denise.
• Re: Feather Lumps, 2/28/06, by Michael L.
• Re: Feather Lumps, 2/28/06, by Denise.