FINCHforum

I am really worried about my Bonnie, the zebra finch. She has a one week chick at the moment and I noticed a few days ago she has lost feathers undr her beak. I did not give it much thought as I thought this might be because she's been in the nest rubbing her neck to the nest for too long (I had this happen to my dog once -I knowthis is silly) but today I noticed the thing is spreading under her right eye, the skin looks reddish and it looks like she is losing feathers here too.
I have an antibiotic/fungal ointmen twhich I am going to use on her but does anybody know of anything else that I can do? Should I give her any oral antibiotics too? I am worried as this could spread to the chick and Robin, the daddy too...
I took some pictures of her tonight:





She was a very beautiful finch before this... Please help!

Could Robin be plucking her? Males will often pluck when they are ready to start another clutch, even if they haven't finished the first clutch already.

I dont know. Robin has been plucking Tink, their 3 months old chick but on her back and tail not face. And he has never done this to Bonnie before

Sometimes the males are just a bit too enthusiastic about breeding, and it is not unheard of for them to pluck their babies or their mates. If it continues to be a problem, you may consider separating him to a nearby cage, even one placed right next to the bars of this one. The hen is perfectly capable of feeding one baby by herself.

I'd move the baby to another cage. Babies often get plucked by their parents. I think it's natures way of saying "get on your way". Plucking can become severe, if the parents lay eggs and there is competition for the nest. Fights can break out. Usually this picking occurs on the back, and only the young ones. I make sure I have an extra nest available in cages with little ones, so that they can "move out". Sometimes the parents will adopt the extra nest.

I haven't seen the plucking on the face like this before....

The cream is probably your best option . I had a zebra with a similar problem this summer and used some cream , it took a while for the feather's to grow back but when they did he was fine .
Regards , Mick M.

I am keeping an eye on her and used some cream although I am not sure if that helps because Robin jumped on her to preen her afterwards and ended up with a mouthful.
I hope it is just because of her rubbing her neck on the rough edge of the nest, as she is a very worried little girl... I hope this will be sorted once the chick is out of the nest and I can change the 'bedding'.