Baldwick the Silverbill

[Acelin_Wolf]

Hello everyone!

I'm new here xD

I have adopted quite a few finches from my work (Petsmart), ones that are 'unsellable' for whatever reason. Less than a year ago I took in a little african silverbill finch that had been plucked bald by a cutthroat (this was before I learned about finches and apparently no one else thought the cutthroat was a bad companion for the silverbill). His feathers started to grow back in his new home, but he never fully regrew them. Now it seems that hes losing some again....I'm hoping it's just molting. No one seems to be bothering him.

Anyway, is this normal? If plucking was the cause of the feather loss, shouldn't all the feathers have grown back? Or is it possible that the prolonged plucking led to permanent feather loss?

Thanks for any input!

[Lisa]

That was good of you to take him in. Typically the feathers will grow back in a few weeks to a month or so.

If he's in with other finches, it's likely that he is being plucked again. Sometimes this can happen even without you being aware of it. Common reasons are a breeding pair that wants nesting material but has none so gets creative and decides to use another bird for his feathers! I see you have several zebras - zebras can be very aggressive and pushy, I would suspect them first if they are housed with the silverbill.

Can't wait to see pictures of your crew... you have a colorful bunch

[debbie276]

If it was an extreme plucking the feather folical could have been damaged and no other feathers will grow there. If feathers grew back and now they are missing again I would suspect plucking. Usually when birds molt the only clue will be feathers on the floor and seeing a few pin feathers.

Welcome to the forum

[lyzzyjayne]

Welcome!

[Acelin_Wolf]

He is housed now with a lone society finch, a spice finch (who thinks she is his mate actually lol; she was another adopted finch because her wing feathers were torn up by other finches) and 2 waxbills. He had a temporary zebra finch friend but when I began to notice some more feathers missing, I did suspect her and move her (the society was missing a few butt feathers as well so lol I figured it was plucking again).

Some patches of feathers (the ones on the back of his neck) never grew back (in about 5 months) so I'm guessing there was feather folical damage in addiction to this new plucking, as was suggested above. Poor little guy! At least his name will always fit...lol

Also, thanks! And thanks for the comments on my little flock xD they are quite the bunch!

[Ginene]

Welcome . So good of you to rescue those finches. Would live to see pics...

[Acelin_Wolf]

I'll post more pics of Baldwick and the others. I posted a few in another thread (in the introductions forum).

HOWEVER, I just saw my spice finch actually pluck my society finch's butt. Is it possible she is also plucking the silverbill (Baldwick), even though she acts like hes her mate? I feel like that's a stupid question and lol I feel stupid not not having noticed this behavior before! She's a sneaky spice finch!

[Acelin_Wolf]

Here we go! The pics sorta show his his neck/throat/back of head and shoulders has missing feathers. The throat ones grew back. But his shoulder/back of head never really did. Poor guy! [He's the one sitting closest in both pictures.]

Also, how should I best deal with the spice finch plucking him if thats whats going on? I thought it was the zebra, but not I'm not sure. I provided them with hay for nesting material (they have a shared nest). Or should I just take away the nest all together?

Thanks all!

[Lisa]

HOWEVER, I just saw my spice finch actually pluck my society finch's butt. Is it possible she is also plucking the silverbill (Baldwick), even though she acts like hes her mate? I feel like that's a stupid question and lol I feel stupid not not having noticed this behavior before! She's a sneaky spice finch!

Aha! You may have caught the culprit for both!

Oh my, his back looks pretty bad. If it were me, I would remove the nest immediately. I would also buy some Feather Fast to mix in with their food to see if that helps. You may need to separate the spice and possibly the zebra so the two that are plucked have a chance to heal up. It seems once a bird is plucked, it's like he's marked to the rest of them as the target of bullying. Once they heal up, you can try reintroducing them (you'd have to mix it up pretty good in the cage to reset territories) and perhaps then they can hold their own. It could also have to do with the size cage they're in (can't really tell from your pics) as the smaller the size of the cage, the more likely territorial issues will arise. Adding things like foliage and visual barriers sometimes helps alleviate some of the tension also, but I'd still let the two plucked ones to recover fully. Aggression rarely stops once started and birds can and will pluck each other to death, given the chance.

[Acelin_Wolf]

I feel just awful right now. I caught Baldwick to give him a look over and he looks as bad as he did at Petsmart! I don't know what caused Malt to turn on him and the society finch, but I separated her from them so they can heal up.

Also, the back of his neck is red and seemed to have a bump. I'm terrible at finch/bird anatomy but is a lump in the neck normal? Is that the crop? Omg don't judge me: I'm so dumb. Well, more like I've not seen many bald birds!

[Acelin_Wolf]

Also! Here's the rest of my reply (just got done rearranging Baldwick and Gumball into their new home together. It's a 24Lx12Wx24H (inches). Not very big but it works for a recovery home. They're already nesting together, snuggled up. Malt is now in a 30''Lx18''W18''L with two orange-cheeked waxbills. Originally all 5 were in there together. I know: too many. I'm working on getting them an indoor aviary. Anyone have suggestions on cost efficient self-made ones or sites with decently priced ones? I want something 5 feet long plus at the very least! Links or giant posts about how to make one lol. I'll take any and all advice! I know a few handymen xD

[Acelin_Wolf]

Oops! Another post. SORRY. I keep forgetting to say everything. What is feather fast? I have some feather conditioner I used on him a once (seemed to help the aggravated skin).

[Nerien]

Quick and easy way is to take two of those 30" cages and flip an end up on each, then zip tie or wire them together, instant 60" cage.
Here's mine:
http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... 02&start=0

There was also someone who took four 30x36x18 inch cages and joined them all together into a ten foot long aviary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC0lioJk4aY

and the discussion on this site about it:
http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... +make+this+

Just go into the Housing section and start looking at anything with Aviary or Flight in the title. All kinds of options and creations in there.

[debbie276]

Adding hard boiled eggs to their diet will give them the added protein they need for beautiful feathers along with many other vitamin and minerals. Glad you have figured out the problem and have separated them out.
best of luck

[Acelin_Wolf]

Oh my gosh. Thats so clever! Lol. I'm going to look into that more after work. Thanks so much!

Also, I bought some of that Feather Fast. I'll make some egg today. They haven't had any in over a week.

All such good advice. Love this site! Baldwick thanks everyone lol.