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Circovirus (beak and feather)

MrPink

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Chelsea
After a year of dealing with chronic avian gastric yeast and other issues in my flock, and two finches dying months apart, we finally found an answer. The finches have a strain of circovirus that's lowered their immune systems.

My understanding is that it's similar to parrot beak and feather disease. Has anyone dealt with this scary virus?

I don't think this strain will affect my parrots but we might test for other viruses too.
 

Ember-Tiel

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Oh no... Hopefully you have been educated about this virus and know how to deal with it. If not make sure you ask others about their experiences and suggestions on how to care for them as best as possible.
Hoping for the best for your birds. :(
 

MrPink

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Oh no... Hopefully you have been educated about this virus and know how to deal with it. If not make sure you ask others about their experiences and suggestions on how to care for them as best as possible.
Hoping for the best for your birds. :(
I'm definitely working on it. I just got the positive result today. This was from a bird that just passed away last weekend. :( Its been a terrible time for these finches.
 

MrPink

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My Peep has PBFD. We've been as lucky as possible with this disease. He will be 2 in December and so far his only issue has been feather loss. Which, as you can see from his photo, has been total. I'm so sorry. It is a devastating thing.
What a sweet baby. My finch Pippa looked featherless like Peep. Unfortunately she passed away in July.

Do you have any tips for keeping them healthy as long as possible?
 

bubblelady

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What a sweet baby. My finch Pippa looked featherless like Peep. Unfortunately she passed away in July.

Do you have any tips for keeping them healthy as long as possible?
Not really. I've read appetite can be a problem but Peep is a little piggy who fills his crop to bursting point every night. The vet said a healthy diet but Peep is also a picky eater. Only recently has chosen to sample human foods, although those are pretty healthy. Dark leafy greens, watermelon, pineapple, fresh apple juice. Today he nibbled a tiny bit of oatmeal. Mostly he eats AviCakes. An occasional safflower seed or chia seeds. Vet also said to keep his environment clean but alas I'm not a meticulous house keeper. He does enjoy frequent dips
in Lake 89F95C7D-CAA2-4B27-9821-16018AE50440.jpeg 4F69F667-AA79-45C5-B26F-79679244F755.jpeg Cupped Hands at the base of Kitchen Sink Waterfall. I just love him so much! I can't bear the thought of losing him. I knowI won't have him for 14 years like my Buddy butI hope we do have several years in our future.
 

MrPink

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Not really. I've read appetite can be a problem but Peep is a little piggy who fills his crop to bursting point every night. The vet said a healthy diet but Peep is also a picky eater. Only recently has chosen to sample human foods, although those are pretty healthy. Dark leafy greens, watermelon, pineapple, fresh apple juice. Today he nibbled a tiny bit of oatmeal. Mostly he eats AviCakes. An occasional safflower seed or chia seeds. Vet also said to keep his environment clean but alas I'm not a meticulous house keeper. He does enjoy frequent dips
in Lake View attachment 358223 View attachment 358224 Cupped Hands at the base of Kitchen Sink Waterfall. I just love him so much! I can't bear the thought of losing him. I knowI won't have him for 14 years like my Buddy butI hope we do have several years in our future.
What a darling. I try to keep everyone as healthy as possible but the finches ended up with avian gastric yeast (which we now know the virus played a role in that). So I've really had to step up the disinfecting routine since they're really prone to these secondary infections.

It's hard knowing your babies are on limited time. I'm trying not to be paranoid with the remaining two finches.
 

finchly

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My understanding is that it's similar to parrot beak and feather disease. Has anyone dealt with this scary virus
Oh that’s terrible. At least you found out what it was.
I haven’t dealt with it myself, is this the one where if you close the aviary for 2 years it dies out?
 

MrPink

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Oh that’s terrible. At least you found out what it was.
I haven’t dealt with it myself, is this the one where if you close the aviary for 2 years it dies out?
I haven't heard anything about that. It can definitely be fatal but some birds seem to live with it longer than others. I guess I just have to hope for the best for my last two.
 

Birdie Mama

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so sorry to hear about your babies but glad you found an answer to the cause and hopefully something can stop it from spreading...


Excuse my ignorance here, but as this is a finch variation of the virus, does that still mean that other species of. Birds can still get it? Or is it limited to finches? I do not know much about the disease other than you don’t want your bird to have it especially if you have multiple birds.
 

MrPink

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so sorry to hear about your babies but glad you found an answer to the cause and hopefully something can stop it from spreading...


Excuse my ignorance here, but as this is a finch variation of the virus, does that still mean that other species of. Birds can still get it? Or is it limited to finches? I do not know much about the disease other than you don’t want your bird to have it especially if you have multiple birds.
I raised that concern with my vet and she doesn't think the parakeets will be affected by this strain. So that's one bit of good news!
We're testing for other viruses though since she's concerned that birds with circovirus can carry other diseases too, since their immune systems are so compromised. REALLY hoping that's not the case here.
 
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