Plucky Plucky Naughty Pants

[MiaCarter]

Agh. SO frustrated right now.

So, my zebra finch hen Ivy randomly started plucking her mate a while back. Nothing changed. She's lived with the same birds her entire life. So there was no apparent cause or stressor.

She just didn't quit, so I moved her out to another cage to give the pluckee, my beloved Molly Sue, some time to regrow and recuperate. He did and he was looking lovely.

I had Ivy in with her son, daughter and another hen. They all got along beautifully.
More importantly, there was no plucking.

This morning, I moved Ivy back home.
Ivy seemed content and she was clearly very happy to be home with her family.

I just checked in on them and to my horror, this is what Molly Sue and Elvis look like:



Molly Sue is in the front. It's a bit tough to see with the shadow, but the entire front half of his back and the edges of his wings are plucked clean.

Elvis is in the rear right. His back looks just like Molly Sue's and his chest got plucked too.

SO frustrated!!!!
Now Ivy's back to plucking and now, she's plucking two birds instead of just one!
Inexplicably, she didn't touch Squeepers or Priscilla.
She hasn't plucked herself either.

This isn't about nesting material. They've got plenty. They're a bunch of builders in that cage, so they stuff and un-stuff, then re-stuff the nests.

I'm at my wits end with her right now!
I've put her back in the other cage where she behaved herself. I guess she'll stay there for the forseeable future. I'm just so bummed as Molly Sue clearly misses her. He sits in the corner of his cage, singing to her. He's old. I don't like him being unhappy, but his wifey is being a nightmare!

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Oh dear....
You know, that's one of those crazy things, that once they start, it's just about impossible to get them to stop. My Peanut (lovebird) did that all of her life, her mate, her kids, herself. No matter what I tried, she never stopped doing It for any period of time.

Could she simply be bored? I don't know. Mayeb make her a fake bird out of an old stuffed baby sock, with feathers stuck into it, so she'll have something else to concentrate on...

Good luck.

~Elana~

[finchmix22]

MiaCarter
That is so interesting as my Society hens started to pluck one of the hens who is fawn pied. They all got along fine for two years now, but lately they plucked her back and neck severely. I put her with another female, after changing the cage around, but they plucked her too. Then, I put her with other finches in a large flight (no other Societies) and she was plucked even worse by those finches!! I wonder if they sense when something is wrong or another finch is weak? My only guess is my hen is four years old now and maybe doesn't seem as strong or dominant anymore? Not sure if that helps you, but I've never had Society's pluck each other in the past, even in crowded cages.

[MiaCarter]

finchmix22 and lovezebs

Boredom is one thought. It's certainly possible. I'll make up a fake birdie for her to see if that helps.

Deborah, that's an interesting thought on targeting weak birds. I don't think it's the case here, only because there's a much weaker bird in that cage -- Priscilla. But she wasn't touched.
Squeepers is the strongest, most dominant bird in the cage, but he wasn't touched. She's picking on the middle class.

It's not apt to be stress, especially since she doesn't pluck in this new cage. You'd think she'd be more stressed than ever getting moved in with a new crew.

She's the closest to her plucking victims relationship-wise. I'm not sure what that indicates.

I'm usually quite good at birdie psychology, but she's left me befuddled in a big way!

It's a bummer as Molly Sue is sad and that makes me sad. Squeepers too. They're both in the far corner of their cage talking to Ivy. Ivy is in the far corner of her cage, facing them.

I'd hoped to breed her and Molly Sue one last time but perhaps it's not in the cards. Or maybe breeding would fix it as it would give her something to do other than plucking!
Can't do anything for now, as we need to let those feathers grow back. Grrrr....It makes me so mad to see my babies plucked to high hell!