FINCHforum

Cadence, my female zebra, has always been a pretty messy bird. I don't know why. She doesn't seem to like to use the bath very often. I always just kind of let it go because it didn't seem to be hurting her. I've had her for almost a year now, and she's always acted healthy.

Today, I was about to clean the cage when I noticed that a LOT of feathers around her vent are missing. If she were a person, it would be kind of like she's not wearing pants. The feathers that are there are still rather messy. I have noticed that lately she has been messier down there than usual. In fact, a couple weeks ago I actually had to catch her and pull a rather large clump of poop off of her.

She still acts healthy, she hops around the cage and peeps. She eats and drinks. My male, Minuet, does not appear to have any problems at all. Should I be worried? Or should I let this go?

Update: I just noticed today that she is also missing feathers on one side of her neck. Could Minuet, the male, possibly be picking at her feathers? What would I do to stop that?

Well... you could separate them... I suspect that's Mother Nature at work...

Messy vent can idicate illness. Also some hens that sit in nest will look dirty or stains. Are the droppings oily looking or runny at all.

The feathers missing is most likey due to plucking, the male may be in breeding mode. Males can sometime pluck thighs, undersides, necks, backs of hens when they are ready to breed and maybe the hen is not ready.

I gave them more nesting materials to use, because I had read on another thread that someone had a similar feather problem and a male had been picking feathers for materials. I'm hoping it works. I'll be keeping a close eye on Cadence's feathers.

As for her messy rear, I'm not really sure what to do. As I said, she's always been at least a little messy there. Money has been really hard for me lately, and I am literally completely broke right now. If she does have a problem I need to be concerned about, I have no idea what to do to fix it.