Help! My hen is being plucked!!

[koux33]

I have a male/female pair that currently have 3 chicks, the first chick fledged yesterday. Yesterday I noticed that the mother has 2 bald spots on her thigh. It's just above her leg, below her wing on either side of her vent, and it's on both sides. I haven't seen any plucking going on, so I don't know if she's doing it to herself, or if the male or possibly one of the babies is plucking her. I would just take her out of the cage, but she's still feeding the babies and I'm not sure the male would be able to do it all on his own. What can I do? There is plenty of room in the cage for all of them, the cage size calculator says it can hold 5-7 birds.

[ac12]

I have seen that where the male will pluck the rump of the hen. He probably wants to mate again.
All you can do is to remove the male to stop the plucking, and let the hen take care of the chicks herself.

[cindy]

these are the signs someone else in the cagge is plucking another bird

missing tail feathers
missing rump or vent feathers
back of the head, thighs, in between the wings on the back
sometimes the chest area

Signs they are doing it to themselves
chest and stomach area

Chances are the male is doing this, chicks rarely are the ones to do this, if anything the chicks are usually plucked by a parent or other cage member.

The male most likely wants to mate and they will pluck a feather either out in the open or in the nest to line the nest for a future clutch. If you see them do it in the open, one of them will take the feather usually up into an area where they want to nest.

The male could start plucking the chicks as well. Try this especially if the male is helping to feed the young...try putting a little nesting material cut very small in a container in the bottom of the cage to distract him and keep him busy or remove the male so the female can tend to the young.

If you remove the male he and the female may call back and forth and get distracted from caring for the young...keep an eye on this. If this happens you may have to put him back in the cage for the sake of the chicks or be prepared to handfeed.

[ac12]

When splitting the parents, to even the workload I have also split the chicks between mom and dad.

I have also done this when one of the parents is plucking a specific chick. Example mom was picking on a pied chick, so I separated the parents and put the pied chick w dad.

BUT this is on the condition that dad is not a plucker.
If he is, then mom takes care of all the chicks.

[cindy]

Can you also tell us what you are feeding the birds..sometimes birds pluck other birds if they need a supplement in their diets.

[koux33]

Thanks for the info, I wouldn't be surprised if they are wanting to breed again already (even though all the chicks arent out of the nest yet). They've been super eager to breed ever since I got them.

I'm feeding them a seed mix every day, and I switch off between fruit/veggies and eggfood (ex: chopped carrots and spinach one day, boiled egg w/ commercial eggfood the next, so they always have one or the other). I also throw in eggshells a couple times a week, and they always have a cuttlebone. Since the chicks hatched i've also been supplementing with a Prime vitamin powder 1-2x a week.

I'm going to try what Cindy said and put some nesting material in first, then if that doesn't help I guess I'll have to take the male out. I hope it works, I hate seeing her like this! I feel so bad!

[cindy]

Kim, also try a bit of Zupreem Fruit Blend Pellets for canary/finches...it has vitamins, minerals, proteins...etc finches need.

[ac12]

Just so you know you are not alone.
I have a male who is a PLUCKER.

He will feed the chicks just fine. BUT...at a certain point, while the chicks are still in the nest or after they fledge, he changes and starts to pluck either or both the hen or the chicks. At that point I have to remove him, as he will just pluck.

With one clutch he badly plucked his mate (her back was totally plucked and her rump was almost totally plucked) while the chicks were still nestlings. I removed the hen so she could regrow her feathers, and he took good care of the chicks in the nest. But once the chicks fledged, he started plucking them. ARGH. Out he came and mom went back in to finish weaning the chicks.

[koux33]

I removed him a few days ago, and the mom and babies seem to be doing well without him. They've now completely fledged, so I removed the nest (I'd like for them to wait a while before breeding again). How long do you think I should keep him separated? Our quarantine cage is pretty small, I feel bad for him being so cramped in there. Do I need to wait until the chicks are gone, or would a week long break be enough to stop him? It was quite an ordeal catching him (we had several babies AND the hen escape in the process, and still couldn't get the male! He's sneaky), so I'd rather not have to get him out again once we reintroduce him to the cage. Any advice?

[ac12]

Do not put him back until the chicks are weaned. My feeling is that will want to mate and he will pluck the hen and/or the chicks. Then you will have to deal with the problem again.

Also, do not put him back until mom has regrown her feathers. You need to feed her a LOT of egg food, to help her regrow her feathers.

He may not like it in a small quarantine cage, but he will survive a few weeks there.

I don't know how big the cage is, but you may have to move the kids into their own cage. Mom and dad may not want them in the same cage when they are doing their next clutch. If you do not want more chicks, you need to separate the boys from the girls in separate cages.

I also suggest that you band the parents with split plastic bands. This is simply to be able to identify the parents from the kids. Once the kids molt into their adult feathers, you may not be able to tell them apart from the parents.

[Vargur]

this can/will happend (the pluck thing)
if the nest is kept in the cage after
the chicks are out of the nest,
or shortly before they leave the nest,
then the parents could start to pluck each
other or the chicks, to start another brood.
So next time you will know you will have to remove
the nest right after the chicks leave the nest.
They do not need to sleep in it.
The nest only encurage the birds to breed again.