FINCHforum

Good morning! I adopted two female Zebra finches from the SPCA two weeks ago. After being here a week, we noticed one of them had picked a substantial amount of feathers out from under her wing. I was able to get her in to see vet about four days after first noticing the missing feathers. He found that some of her wing feathers were broken completely off and a few others were damaged. The night before we noticed the patch of missing feathers, we heard a lot of commotion in the cage and found this female sitting on the bottom of the cage. She still eats and drinks and is very active physically and vocally. The vet feels that she plucked her feathers out due to the damage her wing sustained. I'm a first time bird owner so this is all very new to me. My questions...is this a common injury for these little birds?? Is there something I can do to prevent it from happening again? The vet ruled out mites and said they are very healthy otherwise. He feels she'll heal up and be fine. I'm concerned because it seems she is still plucking her feathers in that area. They have a nest which they sleep in, vitamins in their water, good quality food and a cuddle bone. They don't appear to fight and I've caught the injured bird picking herself so I don't believe they need to be separated. Any advice would be great. I really want to do what's best for these little sweeties. They are such a fun addition to our family. Thank you!

I would take out the nest. Nests are not needed for sleeping by Zebra finches. Instead, they are used for breeding, so having one available encourages breeding behaviors. Since the vet gave her a clean bill of health, I would assume that she is plucking herself for nesting material. Once she molts, she will get new feathers.

I put the nest in there after she plucked herself as suggested by the vet. Wouldn't this keep her from continued plucking if there is a nest available? The original area she picked at looks like it is growing back in but she's moved on to other spots in that area. I got some egg food I'm going to start tomorrow but I'm at a loss now that she continues to pluck. She's acting completely normal otherwise.

She may also have anxiety (just like ppl have different temperments, so do birds) do to being re-homed or whatever and is plucking her feathers( I have a male who does this every time I am away for the whole day) its like how a person bites their nails, same thing. I know u mentioned the cuddle bone and egg food which is great, another thing which I personally found helpful is calcium drops- from morning bird- calcium is a natural relaxer for them/ good for the nervous system, u will usually see results instantly, if this is the case. Best wishes to you!

Molly G

I tend to agree with the vet.

She is probably picking at the spot where the injury occurred because it's irritating her . If there are new feathers growing in , then it might be itchy.

Offer some hard boiled eggs as a good source of protein to promote feather growth. You can also purchase Featherfast on line, which will help with goid feather health.

Offer a good varied diet of goid quality seeds, fresh greens and veggies, and daily baths of tepid water in a shallow dish.