What should I do? She is not bleeding, but is really taking a liking to the cuttlebone. I will offer boiled egg shortly. What else should I give her? Will her feathers grow back?

They were there. I do not think the canary ripped them out, since there are no feathers surrounding the perimeter of the cage or the cage itself. I do not offer nests, and I give them two food dishes of the same formula and a large water dish so they will not fight, I also hang millet and place baths in the tank often so the aggression for food will be reduced even more.DanteD716 wrote:Hm, wierd? They were there when you got them back you say? Could the canary have ripped them out? I know that when you have multiple birds, some birds rip on the other birds tail feathers to pull them away from the food if they want it.
I have a well-bonded pair of zebras, will they pull their feathers even if they are peaceful towards each other?flrancho wrote:I had Zebras that would pull all the tail feathers out of my poor Societies once.
Honestly, I never did much for them. If you know you have a bird that's being an aggressor, separate him from the ones he's picking on and time will see the regrowing of your finches' tail feathers.
I do not offer nests, as there are three birds in the cage and I believe in pair only enclosures for breeding.flrancho wrote:Are there any nests in the cage that they could have pulled the feathers out to line a nest with? Or, perhaps the male wanted to breed and got frustrated if the female wouldn't and decided to pull her tail feathers out?
Maybe it was just a dominace display...ruler wrote:im no expert on birds but ive watched this tail plucking several times while it was happening. from what i see it appeared to be a dominance or territorial thing. maybe the bird was in a place that was of great interest to the bird who plucked out her feathers or maybe the plucker was trying to show who is boss in the aviary. of course i could be wrong but it would explain it. nobody 'really' knows what a bird is thinking and can only make asumptions but i'd go with the obvious. tomorrow the plucker may have no interest in that part of the cage/aviary or may no longer wish to be the dominant one as birds change their minds faster than the wind.
just my two cents worth
I use the type of food dish that has its own special door, the ones attached to the cage. They are accessible from three corners, though the most comfortable the frontwards corner. I already offer two of these, but getting a few more won't hurt.cindy wrote:Tail plucking is sometimetimes the result of crowded conditions at a food/water/treat dish. Or even a mate getting the attention of a female, his wanting to mate and the female is unwilling.
Question....what type of food dish or cup do you use. If using a cup and it is set in a way that two, three birds can not get to it someone may yank on the tail of the one feeding to move the bird out of the way. Add an extra feeding station or enlarge the cup/dishes. I found if this was the issue adding an extra feed station helped.
Your males beak is pretty red, looks like he may be in breeding mode.
Also you may want to move the canary out, the male may view him as threat and pluck the female. I personally would give the zebras their own cage. I am not real big on mixing zebras with other birds. I raise all kinds of zebras and often even in a flight there is plucking and territory issues amongst themselves.
How big is the cage?