Aggressive Female Zebra Finch

[Naltuk]

Here's the story I got four zebra finches a few weeks ago, 3 female and 1 male. I have never owned birds before (apart from my chickens) but my son has a huge interest so we picked these as we were told they were a super easy beginner bird and sociable with each other. I did my research, or at least I thought I did, the cage is 3foot long by 2foot wide, 5 high and I thought everything was going well. One female (aka fluffy) was being pushed around a little, nothing major, I figured it was just common pecking order stuff.However last night the female (now named cranky feathers, previously feathers lol) who bonded with my male (Tweety) laid an egg and all hell broke loose this morning. She went crazy and was chasing poor Fluffy constantly around cage plucking her feathers, it was completley relentless. So I went out and got a small second cage, by the time I got back she had balded Fluffy's head and legs, who was extremely stressed at this point. Cranky feathers is now temporarily in a seperate cage and I dont know what to do, she had pulled a few feathers from my other female Chickalita but nothing major. Cranky feathers seems to despise Fluffy, help please

[Sally]

Zebra finches are a great beginner finch, but they can also be a bit on the pushy/aggressive side. With an odd number--3 females to 1 male--there was bound to be fighting between the females over who was going to get that one male. For some reason, finches also do better with either just 2 birds or 6 or more. With 3, 4, or 5, there can be territorial issues. You may have to rehome some of the birds, keeping only females, or two male/female pairs, though you still would have that number (four) that may not get along.

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care and compatibility. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier for members to help you locate supplies, etc.

[Naltuk]

Fluffy has been really chilled from the start, if someone says move she goes. Chickalita is actually really small in comparison to the others and preens the male and Cranky feathers isnt bothered by that at all. Fluffy is the biggest finch in there and actually Im a bit concerned that the stress of it all has affected her badly, shes still quite puffed up and sunk down low on the perch, plus she seems to be struggling to keep her grip and readjusts her feet quite a lot. I could get rid of Cranky feathers but then will I end up with issues again being left with three. I dont think my cage is big enough for 6 birds and not sure it will solve the problem of cranky feathers. everyone told me zebra finches were easy, its only now Im looking further Im finding the horror stories. They seemed like such cute little buggers.

[Stuart whiting]

Fluffy has been really chilled from the start, if someone says move she goes. Chickalita is actually really small in comparison to the others and preens the male and Cranky feathers isnt bothered by that at all. Fluffy is the biggest finch in there and actually Im a bit concerned that the stress of it all has affected her badly, shes still quite puffed up and sunk down low on the perch, plus she seems to be struggling to keep her grip and readjusts her feet quite a lot. I could get rid of Cranky feathers but then will I end up with issues again being left with three. I dont think my cage is big enough for 6 birds and not sure it will solve the problem of cranky feathers. everyone told me zebra finches were easy, its only now Im looking further Im finding the horror stories. They seemed like such cute little buggers.

Hi mate, welcome to the forum

In reality zebras are an easy bird to keep in general but when it comes to breeding a beginner naturally becomes afraid and nervous as there not really to sure in what to do and expect but don't panic my freind,

This is quite normal with zebras and other birds can be far worse when it comes to territory etc and will seriously harm other rivals.

In truth a lot of it boils down to just basic common sence,

The bird that got badly scalped I'd obviously keep separate, perhaps put the other hen in with her if they seem OK together

The cock bird and hen that layed the egg just keep these together and hopefully things maybe ok,

It may pay to purchase a 3rd small cage and then by watching the birds you can then react accordingly as you'll have the cage space to move the birds about until you and the birds are happy

[Naltuk]

I really dont want to go to multiple cages and neither did I want to encourage breeding especially if mother is that aggressive. When they started cuddling up in the seed bowls, I switched to tube feeders but then they found a cosy spot squished up on top of one the fake plants. Thats where the egg was laid but I have actually removed it. At the moment female that was bullied is with smaller female and male in big cage, no issues. Aggressive female is in separate cage but its too small long term. These are my sons pets and they were meant to see did he retain his interest in birds, so I dont really want to invest more money into it this early on. So im thinking reducing numbers to two may be only viable option but nobody will take fluffy in her currently baldified state. Think I will have to sleep on it unless anyone has more insight?

[Stuart whiting]

I really dont want to go to multiple cages and neither did I want to encourage breeding especially if mother is that aggressive. When they started cuddling up in the seed bowls, I switched to tube feeders but then they found a cosy spot squished up on top of one the fake plants. Thats where the egg was laid but I have actually removed it. At the moment female that was bullied is with smaller female and male in big cage, no issues. Aggressive female is in separate cage but its too small long term. These are my sons pets and they were meant to see did he retain his interest in birds, so I dont really want to invest more money into it this early on. So im thinking reducing numbers to two may be only viable option but nobody will take fluffy in her currently baldified state. Think I will have to sleep on it unless anyone has more insight?

Easy option is to get rid of the bully hen,

it normally takes about 6 weeks for new feather growth to come back but if it doesn't grow back in that time the bird will grow it back when it moults

[Sally]

If you don't want any breeding, I'd rehome the male and the aggressive female. Keep the bullied hen and the other small hen. They will be enough to keep your son's interest, and those two hens will probably get along just fine. As Stuart has said, the feathers will grow back. See how your son does with this, I agree that you don't want to invest any more money into this hobby until you are sure that your son will retain his interest.

If you get rid of the aggressive female but keep the male, you will soon have problems again, as trios rarely work in the finch world. The male will pair up with one of the hens, and then both of them most likely will pick on the odd one.

The hen that was picked on is stressed, she could benefit from the warmth from a heat lamp. This doesn't have to be anything fancy, any old desk lamp with a 60w bulb aimed at one end of one perch will do. Heat is like magic with sick finches. Another thing you can do is offer some egg food. This can be a simple as hard-boiling an egg, mashing it with a fork, and offering it to them. This is really good for the scalped hen, as the protein in the egg helps grow feathers back, but if you let the aggressive hen and the male have some of the egg, it also stimulates breeding behavior, so I would not give it to them.

[Naltuk]

Thanks for the responses, i will let you know what ends up happening. I will forgo on the heat lamp as Im in cordoba and weather is in the high 30's, low 40's (degrees Celsius) and I dont want to cook the bird.

[Naltuk]

Ok changed cage around and put in nesting boxes and nesting materials. Put crazy feathers back in. Thankfully she is no longer super crazy but Im sure that wont last. I am downsizing tomorrow to just two birds, we are going to stick with small female and male, as nobody seems to like poor Fluffy the bullied one, so I dont think she will do well with either of the females.

[Stuart whiting]

If you don't want any breeding, I'd rehome the male and the aggressive female. Keep the bullied hen and the other small hen. They will be enough to keep your son's interest, and those two hens will probably get along just fine. As Stuart has said, the feathers will grow back. See how your son does with this, I agree that you don't want to invest any more money into this hobby until you are sure that your son will retain his interest.

If you get rid of the aggressive female but keep the male, you will soon have problems again, as trios rarely work in the finch world. The male will pair up with one of the hens, and then both of them most likely will pick on the odd one.

The hen that was picked on is stressed, she could benefit from the warmth from a heat lamp. This doesn't have to be anything fancy, any old desk lamp with a 60w bulb aimed at one end of one perch will do. Heat is like magic with sick finches. Another thing you can do is offer some egg food. This can be a simple as hard-boiling an egg, mashing it with a fork, and offering it to them. This is really good for the scalped hen, as the protein in the egg helps grow feathers back, but if you let the aggressive hen and the male have some of the egg, it also stimulates breeding behavior, so I would not give it to them.

Totally agree Sally,

reminds me of back to basics old school stuff which I find is often the best way