FINCHforum

Is it normal for a finch to lose all or most of its tail feathers during a molt or does that mean something bad has happened/is happening?

I'm sorta worried for my little guy...

Loosing all the tail feathers before new ones grow in is typical of being plucked.

There's still one or two left and I can see some of the new feathers growing in.

I don't think anyone is plucking his feathers, they all seem quite friendly with each other and he certainly doesn't pluck any of his own feathers, at least I don't think so d:

These are also young birds, probably less then 8 months old. Don't know if that matters or not...

~

However, if his tailfeathers are being plucked, how would I stop that?

i have had this before with some zebra finches, just have to wait and they will grow in no time. With mine every time they have grown back they've been fine after. But, if they are being plucked and keep getting plucked you need to find the culprit.

hi
sometimes when they are not very old and maybe just out of the nest (fledging)thier tail feathers get very dirty because of all the poo in the nest and the ammonia in the urine rots the ends but they do grow back but if they have been out of the nest for a few months then you have a little plucker in there and you need to find it!

ken

I really don't know D:

I watched him and his cagemates for quite a while but there was no agressive behaviour or pulling feathers of any sort.

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Another somewhat related question.

I have a society finch that has no tail and really short wings. They were like that when I first got him and I was told that they'd grow back. That was 5 months ago, and they never did.

The wings are so short that they look like they'd been clipped, but they're actually full featherd, just short. The tail has zero tail feathers whatsoever and only has some short curly bits of fluff. He actually flies quite well, he just has to flap a lot quicker then some other birds to keep himself airborn...

Any ideas?

My guess is that your society finch was badly plucked when u got it,
and have never regrowed its feathers.
And your other finch is being plucked as well.
Maybe they behave very well when you are looking at them
but when you are out of the room they turn into little monsters

I agree. It sounds like they are plucked feathers and need time to regrow away from those who are plucking. I'd put the two in a cage together, away from the others and see if they get better. Sometimes, if you have too many in one cage they pluck to mark their territory.

UPDATE.

All the tail feathers seem to have grown back, wow that was fast.

So that brings me to another question, are all the tail feathers supposed to grow back at the same time? I really never noticed before, I thought they grew in one by one...

hi
they usually all grow at the same time,so when the wing feathers grow they can fledge when they want to otherwise they would fly round in circles if they didnt all grow at the same time

ken

wow, that was fast.
lou

hi
come to think of it thar was pretty fast for feathers growing back,did you rub them down with compost

ken

haha lol~
It was like, one day they weren't there and then suddenly a whole row of them appears the next day x3

they usually all grow at the same time,so when the wing feathers grow they can fledge when they want to otherwise they would fly round in circles if they didnt all grow at the same time

Also, this isn't a baby bird, the finch I'm talking about is nearly a year old d:

It's just that I usually see wild birds missing one or two tail/wing feathers and they grow back one at a time, right?

hi
usually its the wing feathers that grow back one by one as they need to fly all the time,but tail feathers and others tend to grow all at once ,but usually not that quick


ken

One of my two finches is a perfect example of "tail mystery". He had normal tail for very long time, then he lost it. He didn't have the tail for a long time, a couple of months I guess. He was ok, eating, singing, just no tail. And suddenly-bam- there is a tail!! He had it for a month or so, and then it disappeared. The other finch isn't plucking him. Recently he regrew it, lost it and now I can see that 2 new feathers are growing again...I think it's just like that with my finch, nothing abnormal. I even made a few pictures of him WITH a tail because it's a rarity.The other one has a nice tail, like a fan, pretty.