Moulting, Sick, or Feather Plucking?

[hailee]

Hello,

I am still in my first year of owning zebra finches and have not experienced anything like this yet. I have 7 zebra finches, mommy, daddy, and five babies, 1 boy and 4 girls. This last week the mom has lost a bunch of her feathers. My zebras have always been some of the most beautiful zebras I've ever seen until this happened and I have been so worried! All of my zebras usually have very sleek shiny coats. I have attached pictures of what the mom looks like now with her feathers missing, I have noticed that almost all of the zebras look a little "dried" out, and wasn't sure if this is just them beginning to molt or if something more serious is going on. I haven't changed anything, they are still bathing and eat a diet of pellet food/seeds/millet/spinach/carrots/eggs & shells. Mom is still active and jumping around and beeping, but she looks so sad with her feathers half fluffed and some missing! Can someone please tell me whether it looks like she is molting, sick, or if it looks like someone has plucked her feathers?

Feathers missing behind and around neck and look very dry.

Feathers fluffed under wing and some missing.

Thank you for your help!!!

[Lisa]

Hi Hailee

This is similar to how my african silverbill hen looks when sitting on eggs. I've always assumed that the male is getting a bit boisterous and taking some of her feathers for the nest. She seems otherwise healthy but it always seems to coincide with eggs.

[hailee]

I watched the pair last night during their nightly cuddle/cleanig routine when they pair off and noticed that you are right! The male is more aggressive than usual and is pulling her feathers in return to her cleaning him, in which she responds with a hard peck on the head and hops away. What can I do to stop this? I have removed all nesting materials to give the pair a break, is this what is causing the male to do this? Is there any way to help her feathers grow back quickly? She has even less feathers today.

[ac12]

Some will stop mating/laying eggs w/o a nest, others will sill mate/lay eggs even w/o a nest.
When my birds are not breeding, I separate the M and F, to prevent unplanned/unwanted breeding. With zebras, removing the nest will not always stop them from mating and laying eggs.
HOWEVER, even in FF or MM cages, the dominant "buddy" could pluck the other bird, sometimes REAL BADLY.

To help feathers regrow,
1 - Separate them, so the hen can regrow her feathers w/o the M plucking them out again.
2 - Feed her chopped up hard boiled eggs. The protein in the egg helps the feathers grow. I feed egg 2x a day.

[waxbill lover]

I found when I had zebras, the males would get a little over-zealous when preening, and this always seemed to happen when the birds were not nesting. I think its mostly the males (Sometimes females) who get frustrated at the lack of breeding opportunity and they start plucking. Its a bad habit. I tried to get rid of the birds who did this more than the others, as if to weed the gene or behavior out of my stock.

[hailee]

This evening I moved the mom to her own cage so that she can regrow the feathers she lost. The dad was continuing to pluck, and the other female girls were being very aggressive, plucking and biting her. I didn't want her exposed skin to be cut. So I moved her and she is now directly across the room in another cage, within view of the others. I initially tried moving her and the male to see if that would change anything, but he started plucking at her again in about 5 minutes. It's been about half an hour now and she has found the food dishes and is eating now, so hopefully she has adjusted quickly.

Will she be alright without a companion during the time in which she grows her feathers back? I don't want her to become depressed while she is in there alone.

My husband and I are working on building an indoor aviary since the 7 zebras have outgrown their cage now that the babies are full grown. Could the cause of the aggression/plucking be that they have outgrown the cage? I would really like to keep all 7 together in the aviary, or are there still issues with aggression and plucking even in the largest aviaries?

Thank you!

[Lisa]

Will she be alright without a companion during the time in which she grows her feathers back? I don't want her to become depressed while she is in there alone.

I think it would be more depressing for her to continue to be the target of abuse by the others. She's probably enjoying just being left alone for a bit. Plus, she can still communicate with them and hear them.

Could the cause of the aggression/plucking be that they have outgrown the cage? I would really like to keep all 7 together in the aviary, or are there still issues with aggression and plucking even in the largest aviaries?

Yes, although zebras fight amongst each other easily. In a large aviary where each can have his/her own space away from the others, I bet things will improve dramatically.

[tinysparrow]

Hi Hailee,
I have some zebras that are really bad pluckers! In fact, I just separated some of the culprits today. Well, to be honest, its a trio that constantly plucks one another I think, as other members have said, that it is a bad habit, and some birds are just notorious pluckers.

Plucking drives me nuts , and I have spent many hours trying to figure out why it happens. With my birds, I haven't found that its exclusively males who pluck, as I have a zebra hen who is about one and a half years old, and she is my worst plucker!!! She plucks both males and females, and not just zebras either. She will just sit there and cuddle up to another bird, looking all cute and fluffy... and then whammo, will pluck out a beak full of feathers, usually on the back or on the neck. I wonder if its learned behaviour from her parents (she was not bred by me), or if she learned this from another cage mate, or if its somehow instinctual.

Anyways, it sounds like you have done the right thing by separating your birds for a while The feathers will grow back pretty quickly and she will be back to normal in no time

[hailee]

Thanks for the help everyone! I have just a few more questions on the topic. Mom has regrown all her feathers, I moved Dad in with her today since I had noticed all plucking behavior had stopped with Dad and the children over the last two weeks since Mom has been on her own. He was so excited to be back with her! They mated in 30 seconds of being back together, he had been trying to woo her from the other side of the room.

Unfortunately, one of the daughters had claimed Dad as her mate over the last two weeks, thankfully she is not yet laying eggs, so I moved Dad back with Mom to avoid any inbreeding. She is now calling at him across the room, and seems so sad!

Should I go to the pet store and find her a new partner? She used to pair with her sister, but went for Dad once Mom was moved. I believe that is what they used to fight over. I have 5 in the cage she is in, 4 girls and one boy.

Will they be fine on their own across the room? Or do I need to even out the numbers. Two of the girls are a pair, and the boy seems happy being the 'lone wolf' in the group.

Thanks!
I am in the process of building an aviary with my husband, and my ultimate goal is to house everyone together since there will be much more space.