Well And Truly Plucked

[Dave_McMinn 0]

Wow - she really did a number on them didn't she?

 

Scary

[**KAZ** 0]

Wow - she really did a number on them didn't she?

 

Scary

Yeah :happy-dancing: Poor little blighters..................could have been worse I guess...they could be dead. Happy to report they are fed in their new foster nests and the angry red skin is settling a little.

[renee 0]

Wow - she really did a number on them didn't she?

 

Scary

Yeah :happy-dancing: Poor little blighters..................could have been worse I guess...they could be dead. Happy to report they are fed in their new foster nests and the angry red skin is settling a little.

 

Is there anything you can put on the raw skin to help soothe and help recover? :ohmygod:

[**KAZ** 0]

Wow - she really did a number on them didn't she?

 

Scary

Yeah :happy-dancing: Poor little blighters..................could have been worse I guess...they could be dead. Happy to report they are fed in their new foster nests and the angry red skin is settling a little.

 

Is there anything you can put on the raw skin to help soothe and help recover? :ohmygod:

Most things have a smell to them and make the bedding and seeds stick to them.

[**Liv** 0]

Aww the poor little babies. :happy-dancing:

Hope they fully recover too. It's always scary as some follicles may get damaged and then the feathers dont regrow making the bird look scruffy for life. Fingers crossed all recover as well as the first lot.

[**KAZ** 0]

Aww the poor little babies. :ohmygod:

Hope they fully recover too. It's always scary as some follicles may get damaged and then the feathers dont regrow making the bird look scruffy for life. Fingers crossed all recover as well as the first lot.

The first lot are good, so fingers crossed for these guys :happy-dancing:

[Finnie 0]

I feel really sorry for those poor plucked babies. I'm so glad you were able to rescue them, Kaz.

:happy-dancing: along with everyone else.

[Kate 0]

Wow - she really did a number on them didn't she?

 

Scary

Yeah Poor little blighters..................could have been worse I guess...they could be dead. Happy to report they are fed in their new foster nests and the angry red skin is settling a little.

 

Is there anything you can put on the raw skin to help soothe and help recover?

Most things have a smell to them and make the bedding and seeds stick to them.

 

 

Yikes!

Have you heard about Arnica gel? It's very soothing for humans, is nearly odorless, and disappears quickly without stickiness. A little on a q-tip? Or aloe gel...

Edited September 24, 2009 by Kate

[Richo 0]

Another plucking disaster !!! Different hen different nest...between last night and this morning the hen savagely plucked all five babies. Would have called her a perfect hen before this as she was so good !! But not now.

 

 

 

 

 

I put two chicks in a foster nest and the other three in another foster nest.

 

 

 

 

2nd shot, the blood on the wall, get rid of 'em, if they ain't good parents what's the good of 'em?

[Jodie 0]

OH MY!!! That's terrible I thought mine were bad, exsept it was the cock who plucked them out of fustration of not being able to mate with the hen, they had blood on them too.

 

I do hope they get better I was so shocked when I saw the images.

[anne101 0]

- This thread proves a point to me....that I should always have a few pairs breeding at the same time.....if you didn't you would have to hand raise them......

 

Poor little babies......I hope they all recover Kaz....

[**KAZ** 0]

- This thread proves a point to me....that I should always have a few pairs breeding at the same time.....if you didn't you would have to hand raise them......

 

Poor little babies......I hope they all recover Kaz....

Very true...having more pairs breeding gives you opportunity for fostering.

[GenericBlue 0]

that it does also putting birds down on same day and then stagering a few cages gives opatun for new hatched chicks to be saved also eg un fed or discarded ect i save my first chick from a lovley pairing yesterday by having a nest of infirtile eggs ready to hatch on same day i just take a egg replace with new hatched chick and replace taken first chick with second hatched from another nest due on same times then when chicks all safe and fed and more hatched and fed replace to original nests no mixing as size of two day old and 4 day old clear and chicks look diffrent also so u just remember a certain caricteristic

more pairs the merryer

[mysixbabies 0]

OH no KAZ I hope they recover as well as the others

[**KAZ** 0]

The babies are looking better in their foster nests...the redness has gone from their skin and new fuzz is already beginning to appear where they lost their feathers. They are being very well fed with new foster parents too.

 

 

 

By The Way the yellow chick seems to be a lutino as I first thought and not a lacewing.

Edited September 27, 2009 by KAZ

[GenericBlue 0]

The babies are looking better in their foster nests...the redness has gone from their skin and new fuzz is already beginning to appear where they lost their feathers. They are being very well fed with new foster parents too.

 

 

 

By The Way the yellow chick seems to be a lutino as I first thought and not a lacewing.

 

looking better already kaz

the little yellow one i thought his dad was split lacewing it is split lutino okay same same as far as sex linkage goes its still a hen

lute nice should be well worth looking at when it feathers up cant wait

[splat 0]

I have had a lot of feather pluckers this year but dofferent than you Kaz mine have been plucking as they get their down and once they grow their feathers they seem to leave them alone BUT I have had a couple of hens who want to go down again attack their young like yours. It's a pain. I have a hen that I was planning on taking to the shield and the night before selection the hen plucked her silly but know blood.

I have been soaking their silverbeet in a hand full of salt in a bucket of water over night before giving it to them the next day, I do this every three weeks.

[renee 0]

I have been soaking their silverbeet in a hand full of salt in a bucket of water over night before giving it to them the next day, I do this every three weeks.

 

Why do you do that Splat?

[splat 0]

Because the breeders from our club like Geoff Gardiner who is a very experienced breeder does it. When a hen plucks they think it is because they have a lack of salt in their diet.

When i say pluck I mainly mean picking the down or what ever you call it. My hens are picking right up until the feathers come through the babies look like bald eagles.

So Geoff told me to soak the silverbeet in a bucket of water with a hand full of salt every 3 weeks and it seems to be working.

I also put a teaspoon in their wet food twice a week.

[Daryl 0]

Because the breeders from our club like Geoff Gardiner who is a very experienced breeder does it. When a hen plucks they think it is because they have a lack of salt in their diet.

When i say pluck I mainly mean picking the down or what ever you call it. My hens are picking right up until the feathers come through the babies look like bald eagles.

So Geoff told me to soak the silverbeet in a bucket of water with a hand full of salt every 3 weeks and it seems to be working.

I also put a teaspoon in their wet food twice a week.

 

Haven't heard this theory before but it may be on the money. In the 3 years since I've been breeding budgies again I have not had a single case of feather plucking. Not one. Until I read your post I thought perhaps it was just good luck. However now I think it may have something to do with the abundance of cuttlefish I supply which, being from the beach, is high in salt. I wonder........

[**KAZ** 0]

I am sorry, I do not believe that hens pluck due to lack of salt or any other vitamin or mineral. My firm believe is stress or boredom.

[Daryl 0]

I am sorry, I do not believe that hens pluck due to lack of salt or any other vitamin or mineral. My firm believe is stress or boredom.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention, each of my breeding cages has pay TV installed and hardwired to the Discovery channel WAY too much excitement to pluck!

[splat 0]

That could be the case Kaz but any other year I would have one or two feather pluckers and they did it every time but this year I had every nest do it which I don't blame stress or boredom as these are normally good mothers that have never plucked before.

Since the salt they have stopped almost 100% . Every year up until now I have always put in a salt and mineral lick block with molasses that cows lick which the birds seem to love and this year I i haven't so I do believe the salt has something to do with it.

[**KAZ** 0]

I am sorry, I do not believe that hens pluck due to lack of salt or any other vitamin or mineral. My firm believe is stress or boredom.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention, each of my breeding cages has pay TV installed and hardwired to the Discovery channel WAY too much excitement to pluck!

[splat 0]

I am sorry, I do not believe that hens pluck due to lack of salt or any other vitamin or mineral. My firm believe is stress or boredom.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention, each of my breeding cages has pay TV installed and hardwired to the Discovery channel WAY too much excitement to pluck!

 

 

I will have install that for them