FINCHforum

Greetings!

A pair of my societies recently hatched a clutch of 3 chicks. They are a few weeks old now and the eldest actually fledged yesterday. The issue I have however is the youngest of the clutch seems to be afflicted by a malady or defect and is growing almost no feathers I've never seen anything like it before in any previous clutch. The other 2 babies are getting along just fine. He/she seems very energetic and is getting plenty of love and feeding from the parents. However, the poor thing is on the verge of comedy with how it looks
I am concerned because the little fella has to be cold and also unless it grows some feathers I'm not sure how it will get around much less leave the nest:





This is the oldest baby:



Thanks in advance for any advice!

I would say s/he is being plucked - a lot! Poor thing. I would probably leave him out of the nestbox and just put a heatlamp pointing at the floor of the cage so he can snuggle next to it.

I don't know where in the world you are but if the room temp is around 70*F, he should be fine (with a heatlamp available 24/7).

Thanks for the feedback! I thought about plucking; it is possible, but I have seen no indication of this - there aren't a bunch of feathers in the nest. I watched this baby as it developed and in many of the bald spots, there were simply no pin feathers that ever grew in

It's feathers just never grew in? I've never heard of that. Any possibility of mites? Though the other finches appear okay, right? Hmmm... this is a strange case.

In the book "Problems With Finches" there is a chapter on "Fledglings with Only Wing and Tail Feathers" by Robert G. Black. It says there is only one problem that the author has seen as the basic cause. That problem is protein deficiency in the diet of the finch. Feathers are mostly protein but body muscles and organs are constructed of protein also. If the protein in the diet is not high enough the nestlings body builds the muscle and organs as the priority and skips on the feathers. Usually the nestling will leave the nest late because it has taken longer to build the body. When they do leave it is usually with the barest number of essential feathers for survival, the feathers for controlled flight, the wing and tail feathers.

So wierd What do you feed?

My first thought was plucking also, but that is interesting what Robert Black has to say. Are you giving lots of eggfood? That is high in protein, and might help produce some feathers.

I was also thinking maybe for whatever reason this chick is unable to absorb the nutrients in the food or maybe not getting the same amount as it's siblings. It's strange that only one chick is effected and not all in the clutch if it was just what was being fed.

I feed a home made eggfood. It is a mixture of hard boiled eggs, some breadcrumb, broccoli, shaved carrots, a little oystershell powder for calcium, olive oil, safflower oil and then I also mix in a little Lefeber baby bird powder. The parents absolutely love it. It's always resulted in very healthy chicks.

I have the guy sitting in a home made brooder right now because its been quite cold here in PA the last few days and we don't have our heat on anymore. I have been feeding him with a syringe but putting him back in with the parents and siblings at night. The poor little guy hopped out of the nest this morning and was sitting on the cage floor looking at his siblings fly around like "hey why can't I do that!?"

Its great that you can suppliment feed it. Hopefully that will give it the extra nutrition so it can catch up to its siblings.

I am going to keep the little fella in the brooder for a few days to keep his temperature up and see how things go. Worst case, I am looking at getting creative with a "cage" for a flightless bird ;)

Here is a good link for a flightless bird: http://finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2 ... hilit=chip

here is his story:

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16801

Very touching story I am hoping for the best. I've decided to name him/her "Mr/Mrs.Beakersworth"

Wanted to provide an update. I've since moved my bald little society into a reptile terrarium, with a heating pad underneath to provide warmth:



I have paper towel laid down inside along with a food and water dish. Unfortunately, no new feathers have grown and I think it actually has less feathers now



The little guy/gal is very energetic, personable and also quite tame. I'm still trying to think of a good name, trying to avoid the obvious ones like Kojak, etc ;) I've thought about trying to rig something up inside a cage where it could maneuver around (ramps or something) but have not had much chance as we are in the middle of packing and trying to sell our home. At night, I take the little guy out and put him in the nestbox with the other societies and I can tell he is very thrilled and happy. He hops in and makes the little society mewing sort of chirp they make when hopping into a nest, sort of like "hey its me! knock knock". He will also excitedly click his beak in greeting, it is quite comical.

Will think of other options as I can but for now I just make sure he is warm and well fed and cleaned up after. Perhaps when it comes time for most babies' first molt, some may grow - we'll see.

I like the terrarium you have set up for him. Obviously you are doing the best for him and he is happy.