2nd clutch mom being mean to babies

[FairieDust87]

This is daisy and buds second clutch there are 3 of them . Daisy keeps plucking out feathers ( tail feathers) on the babies and Bud. earlier she literally came behind one of them grabbed it by the tail and it was hanging upside down. earlier she plucked a feather and then fed one of the babies and it included the feather. really weird. I put her in the other cage with her previous babies they are over 3 months old i was seeing what would happen. she scared them too and run them off. Bud is missing a ton of feathers on the right side of his butt and its all red. I dont know if he did it or she did. im confused as to why she is acting like this, after about 2 to 3 weeks old she starts doing all this, she did last time but this time is worse. but yet she still feed them and last time and this time the smaller one she picks on a lot poor little buggar i am debating on whether i should sell her or give her away ? and try to find bud a new love thats not so mean? or sell bud and daisy and start over with the 3 to 4 month olds? or what i dont understand why she is acting like this they have a big flight cage food water millit spray even a swing sunlight and a heat lamp if it gets cold i dont understand why she is acting and continues to act like this!? also how or where can i get the things that go on there feet for id? not the metal ones the plastic ones? that you can put on at any time and why do they cost so much ? HELP :/

[FinchIndian]

Hi
I have been told this is due to lack of availability of protein. I would wait for experts to comment. What you feed them ?

[Sally]

If you sell Bud and Daisy and want to start over with the 3-4 month olds, remember that they are siblings and so cannot be paired. If you want to start over, I would keep one youngster and then try to find a new mate for it.

Are these Zebras? Zebras are often prone to plucking. As FinchIndian has said, one reason can be nutritional. Make sure that your birds are getting plenty of protein (eggfood), especially since they are feeding babies. Or she could be plucking to get feathers for nesting material. Or she could just be plucking because she is stressed. Is the cage big enough?

[debbie276]

According to Robert Black feather plucking can be from the urge to go to nest or nutrition deficiency.
The most common cause of feather plucking is done by birds that are craving a nutrient found in the living feathers. When the nutritional balance has been corrected the finch may or may not cease plucking, depending on the length of time it has been going on and the habitual nature of the problem.
Feathers are nearly pure protein with traces of minerals and fats to give them strength and color. Though the lack of adequate protein is the most common cause of this problem, it can also be the minerals that the finch is lacking. Another serious possibility is a lack of salt in the diet. Finches crave salt as much as any animal and blood and the living parts of feathers are rich in salt.
Robert Black recommends offering a hard boiled egg mashed with a teaspoon or 2 of any commercial vitamin-mineral supplement in powder form to the egg. (I use a teaspoon of handfeeding formula because it is a complete food)

good luck

[FairieDust87]

ok. wow thats a lot of info. I took bud and daisy out for a few hours and put them back in together. they are doing fine now and feeding the babies like crazy lol i guess she was just stressed. I give them finch seed and the only thing i have they like is lettuce and eggs . they wont eat anything else i have tried but i just gave them some of that and she is tearing up the eggs. I think i got it under control because i had not had any eggs just the lettuce and they have cuttle bone 2 acctually and its a big flight cage. right now i am just trying to figure out how to identify the and make the little brand things with out paying a lot thank you all for your help youve helped me out a lot

[Sally]

For split plastic banding, here is an article at the Finch Information Center on how to band, and at the bottom, there is a list of places where you can purchase bands. You can also get pearler beads at craft stores and make your own, but I have not done that.

http://www.finchinfo.com/breeding/leg_b ... eeping.php