birdie's bums plucked bare!

anita · Post by **anita** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:19 am

Hello
I think my zebra finches are crazy. I have a mom, dad, and week old fledgling. I've read about the males plucking feathers off the other birds, so I have given them a lot of nesting material hoping to interest them in something else. They are now trying to build another nest in the food dish, but the mom birdie and baby birdie both have bare bottoms and they seem to be getting more and more "exposed". Could this be the male finches doing? I haven't actually caught him red-handed but I think that since his bottom is still fully feathered he must be the culprit.

Is there any other explanation for the baldness that seems to be occuring behind their legs?

Thanks. I am a brand-new finch Mama and am learning a lot from reading the posts in these forums.
Anita

Post by **Sally** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:04 am

The male is most definitely feather plucking. He needs to be moved to his own cage, or he will continue till they are so plucked that the feathers may not grow back. Check out the info at the Finch Information Center, linked at left, dealing with aggression.

Post by **Hilary** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:16 am

Agree with Sally! Zebs are funny little birds, but they do love to pluck....

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:57 pm

Some of my zebras had there tails and some feather plucked out and one of them is starting to grow back and the other still looks the same, hopefully they grao back. i dont know who the plucker is i have a lot of zebras and its hard to see who is doing it. Well, i hope they get all their feathers to grow back.

HepburnShoeMee · Post by **HepburnShoeMee** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:50 am

This happened to my female. I had to remove her for sure - I felt bad doing it but I think that it saved her life. I put her back in once her feathers were back. Good luck.