FINCHforum

Wonder why the female cordon bleu will die and with head featherless. Seem Like the male peck on it. I try with another female cordon bleus, but still died. I put them in aviary of mix with zebra and socitey finches.
any reason to it ????

I personally do not keep cordon bleus, but I hear that they are a very sensitive finch... How big is the aviary that they are in? Do you provide nests?

She could have been sick with something you could not see, perhaps she was eggboung, old age? It could be anything really. Zebra finches can be aggessive, so it could be that they were picking on her?

Cordon Bleus are very passive finches, so if they are in a flight with Zebras, the Zebras may be plucking the feathers. I have two pair of Cordon Bleus, and have never had an issue with them featherplucking each other, but I have never housed them with anything but other passive finches (the CB pairs each have their own cage).

The size of my cage is consider quite spacious in Singapore context, where many birds owners keep them in a 1.5ft all round cage. I felt those owners are not bird lovers. I don't know whether this is still too small for them.

Your cage size is very spacious, I don't think the size is the problem. It still could be the Zebras--how many do you have in with the Cordon Bleus, and how many Cordon Bleus?

Cordon blues = 2.
Society = 4
Zebra finches = 6.

Well, I don't think you are overcrowded, though the FIC says that size cage will hold 7-10 birds. I still would suspect the Zebras. Can you put the Cordon Bleus in their own cage, to see if that helps? If you have a cage at least 30" long, say 30x18x18, that would be large enough for them. If the feather plucking continues, then you will know it is the male CB. If the feather plucking goes on for a long time, the birds can become permanently bald, or die, as you have experienced. I have a Strawberry finch which had been severely featherplucked when I bought him, his head feathers never grew back, and he looks like a tiny red vulture!

I have three pairs of cordon bleus and the males pluck the females heads when they are in the breeding mood. With the right kind of food, lots of animal protein, the feathers have so far grown back. I did have a rosy rump that never grew her feathers back. It was the Zebras that plucked that one. I have had zebras pluck other birds for the nesting material too. I have kept my cordon bleus separate from other types of birds with more room than other finches need. This gives the females room to get away from the males who are plucking them.

thanks, and happy and bless new year 2008.

I think I will expand the cage by another 1ft width and 2 ft length.