FINCHforum

Hi! I work in a pet shop, and one of our male finches had all his head feathers plucked by another male two nights ago. We have a cage two cages with finches, one with just males, and one with males and one female. That is where he was. I removed him from the cage the minute I saw it the next morning and examined him. He had a few scratches and seemed somewhat exhausted from the harassing. He is in a separate cage at my place while the scratches are healing, because we were concerned that he would be harassed again if we put him back with others as he had been plucked so recently. He is healing well, but when is it safe to bring him back to other finches? Is it better for him to be introduced to the all-male cage, or will they bother him because he is new to that cage? Should he go back to the cage he was in (this does not seem like a good idea to me)? How long will it approx. take for the feathers to grow back?

Hello and welcome to the finch forum! Poor guy, your male finch was plucked because when you have multiple females and males in a cage, an alpha male develops who basically wants to control all the hens. I would definitely recommend that you keep the affected plucked male separate until the vast majority of his feathers come in and any physical wounds healed. If you introduce him into a flock prior to his feathers growing in, others may pluck him further due to this unkempt disheveled appearance.

You made a good move by removing him from the cage the moment you saw him. He was probably very stressed from the physical harassment. As said, I would recommend on keeping him separated until he regains his feathers and strength. When you do introduce him into a cage, I would recommend that you do so into the all-male cage. I would also recommend that you re-arrange the perches in the all-male cage so that if there is a male(s) who has a territorial "spot" or place in the all-male cage, there will be a new arrangement for them to territorialize again. Depending on the damage and level of being plucked, it may take anywhere from two weeks to a month for new feathers to come in. To aid in feather growth, I would provide additional protein via egg food (dried or fresh - minced hard boiled eggs) and fresh greens (romaine or any dark lettuce, greens like collard, kale, etc). If you need any clarification or any additional help, please do not hesitate to ask. Good luck and again, welcome.

Kudos to you for taking that bird home. You have gotten some really good advice from bugaboo5. The only thing I would add is that if there is any way you can move that one female to a cage by herself, or with one male of the same species that you can pair her with, that will remove the incentive for the males to be aggressive. Birds are just like people--you have one female in a crowd of males, and the males all try to outdo themselves getting her attention!

Thanks for a warm welcome and good advice. Sally, we actually sold a few finches yesterday, so now there are only one male and the female in the cage where the unlucky bird was. Thanks for the knowledgeable advice bugaboo5! I will keep it in mind when I reintroduce him to the other males, and share some hard boiled eggs with him tonight. He seems to be gaining some strength already. Currently he enjoys some time out of the cage, and just returned to it by free will as I write.

Update:
The unlucky finch in all healthy and feathered again, and was introduced to the two all-male cage this morning. I followed the instructions provided by bugaboo5 on introducing finches, and all seems to be well. I will pay extra attention the next few days, but I think he can handle himself now. He seems fit, has lost some weight, and is now much slimmer than the finches from the shop. I assume it is because of the extra exercise he got at my place from being out of the cage all the time. He has been flying a lot, and I have not noticed any loss of appetite.
Thanks for the good advice guys. I think we can call this a happy ending. Now he just needs to charm an owner in the shop. I will probably be back with more finch related questions later, as I keep on learning about birds.

Wonderful news, best of luck!

Glad to hear he is doing so much better - congrats! I hope we continue to see you around on the Finch Forum.