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Question: My birds plucking feathers out?

(Posted by: elainechaee on 2010-03-09 16:55:43)

I have 4 finches. 1 of them, Bird, had been seperated for about 4 months now because he had an injured foot Bird got all better and so last week i put him back with the other 3 birds however, when i cheked again today, the feathers on the top of Bird's head had been plucked out by all the other birds and i had noticed that before when i had just put Bird in the cage, two of the male birds kept on singing at him and flying on top of him (like what male finches do to the female birds when they're mating) and then at night, when all 4 finches were in their nest, all of a sudden there would be screeching and two birds, Bird and another would fly out of the nest why are Bird's feathers plucked out? why did the other birds do that? WILL THEY EVER GROW BACK ? do i have to take him to the vet?

Posted by: ES on 2010-03-09, 22:46:34

Unfortunately, judging by how agressively the other males attacked bird, I would HIGHLY reccomend keeping him seperated. my zebra sounds just like him. When I got my zebra his back was picked entirely clean under his wings by the other zebras he was housed with at the petstore. I'm currently keeping him paired with another non-agressive finch species, and it's working great. He was so stressed, he was picking out his feathers. you unfortunately have a non-agressive male. There's nothing bad about that, he just needs some special housing on his own or with a female. If he's eating, drinking, and acting normally I see no reason for you to take him to the vet. But what you should do is go to the petstore and ask for some vitamin powder (I use PRIME) and sprinkle it on his seed. When I got my zebra, I did this, and his feathers all grew back within two weeks of him being with the other finch, rather than the agressive males he was with. He's currently happy and working well with the other species of finch, and I would suggest you housing him on his own or with a female, as he obviously can't be housed with other males. If he IS not eating right, being active, and not drinking, I would take him to the vet. But if he is acting fine, there's no need to think he is sick, he's just being picked on by the others. My male would chew everything, until I got him something called a "bird pacifier " it's a really cheap toy that can help with agressive males, as they will take out their energy/ agression on the toy, rather than the other birds. It completely solved this problem and he now only chews the pacifier. Good luck!!! (:

Posted by: {øEmpty Setø} on 2010-03-09, 17:09:08

This is a sign of sickness. I saw your other question, and the tail is bobbing up and down? Another symptom...And since he has injured his foot before, it will impact him when perching or something. Other birds will do that when they are stressed out and bored. Have you been playing/ interacting with your birds? The feathers will grow back, unless they keep plucking! Take him to the vet immediately before he gets sick! Hope this helps!

Posted by: Dave R on 2010-03-10, 07:38:59

Finches will pluck at a weaker finch when the cage is over crowded. You can separate the weaker one from the others and put his cage next to the others, so it still has a way to socialize.