Ointment or Cream for Bald Zebra/ Prevent plucking?

[Leel]

I've posted before. Short story I have two zebra hens house together.
Tried a lot of things, last plan is a bigger cage (yet to see results as finches are seperate whilst the plucked one heals)
Getting rid of them isn't an option.
Mother prefers to keep them.

I've been thinking (we tried plucking spray to no effect) What could I put on the plucked bird that might prevent plucking. Could I use a cream to deter the plucker/ sooth the skin?

Any other advice for over preening is loved!

[L in Ontario]

Gotta say I love your avatar - it took me a minute to figure out it's an extreme close up. Well done!

I don't know of any ointment to deter plucking/over preening. But if there are any nests or nesting material in the cage, I would suggest removing them completely until you want them to breed. Those items would only encourage nesting which is what the plucking could be all about. Other than that - yes a larger cage may be in order. What size is the current cage?

[Leel]

Thanks, The finches let us get very close now.
I'll take out the nest tonight.
I recently got a new cage:


This one is 61x40.5x43cm

[ac12]

I don't know of anything. The problem is they will preen themselves, and you don't want them injesting stuff that would prevent the other birds from plucking them, as they they would stop preening themselves.

When one of mine has gotten badly plucked, they get separated, either permanently or until the plucked one gets all the feathers back.

Unfortunately the cage you show is not a divided breeder cage.
What I would do is to just keep them separated but next to each other.

[Leel]

Good point. A divide breeding cage? I think mums next idea is to get rid of one. Would I ever be able to house the plucked finch/ over preener with another?
Its hard to get advice when I have to go through mum.

[ac12]

I have had plucked birds, that when re-paired with another bird did not get plucked. So sometimes it seems to be the specific pairing of birds that results in plucking.

Sometimes with males, it seems to be the desire to breed and build a new nest that causes them to pluck their mates for feathers for the nest. I have one that will start plucking his mate about when the chicks fledge. I once separated the hen, so she could regrow her feathers. He fed the chicks, but soon after the chicks fledged, he started plucking the chicks. He is 'normally' a fine bird. But once he starts plucking, I have to remove him from the breeding cage, because he will NOT stop plucking. In the male community cage, it is a different environment, and he does not pluck any of the other males.

[Leel]

Thanks for the reply.
So I may need to look at new cage mates...