Posted October 22, 200915 yr I have a nest with 3 chicks in it and over the last few days I have noticed that they don't seem to be as feathery as they should be. Their pin feathers have been coming through for about 10 days, when I went out this morning one of the chicks has got a bald patch on top of its head and a bald back, and the other 2 have just got bald backs. So my question is what can I do to stop this and how do I know who is is doing it Mum or Dad? :fingerscrossed:
October 22, 200915 yr Its almost always the mother. Put some millet sprays in the nestbox for her to chew on, sprinkle budgie seed liberally in the box, so she has something to do in their. Its usually the overattentive mothers that "overpreen" their babies. If its just the down she preens that fine and they mostly stop and dont do pin feathers. BUT some go further than that and you are going to have to watch carefully and make a decision based on how far it goes.
October 22, 200915 yr Author Its almost always the mother. Put some millet sprays in the nestbox for her to chew on, sprinkle budgie seed liberally in the box, so she has something to do in their. Its usually the overattentive mothers that "overpreen" their babies. If its just the down she preens that fine and they mostly stop and dont do pin feathers. BUT some go further than that and you are going to have to watch carefully and make a decision based on how far it goes. Thanks Kaz, and no its not only the down feathers she has stepped it up and it seems she has started to pluck the actual pin feathers.......I will try to take photos later. I have already got seed in the nest box, as she was not feeding them well so I put heaps of seed in the nest box hoping she would feed them better (it worked) they always have full crops when before hand they never used to , I guess I wil just keep and eye out to make sure it doesn't get any worse. :fingerscrossed:
October 22, 200915 yr Author Can you foster the babies into another nest ? I only have one other hen on babies at the moment and she has got 4, 2 big and 2 smaller ones and my Ino is in that nest so I don't wanna risk my Ino getting flattened by bigger babies other wise I would move them right away. I have been looking for Ino budgies and havn't been able to find any in our area, now that I have bred one of my own I don't wanna have it squashed :fingerscrossed:
October 22, 200915 yr Breeding a few pairs at once helps in situations like this. Pity you have no other options. How old are the babies ?
October 23, 200915 yr If she is plucking pin feathers, you need to get her out of there, simple as that. If the young ones are old enough, Dad can raise them. If not, and you cannot foster, you might have to rely on a combination between Dad and yourself with feedings, plus some type of heat lamp to keep them warm.
October 23, 200915 yr If she is plucking pin feathers, you need to get her out of there, simple as that. If the young ones are old enough, Dad can raise them. If not, and you cannot foster, you might have to rely on a combination between Dad and yourself with feedings, plus some type of heat lamp to keep them warm. Agreed....now how old are they ?
October 23, 200915 yr If she is plucking pin feathers, you need to get her out of there, simple as that. If the young ones are old enough, Dad can raise them. If not, and you cannot foster, you might have to rely on a combination between Dad and yourself with feedings, plus some type of heat lamp to keep them warm. Agreed....now how old are they ? Probably the same age as they were when your previous question did not get a response I check on here mutliple times a day - I am addicted, i know. Why doesn't everyone else? I do agree with Kaz though, age is a very important here. So the question again... How old are the chicks?
October 25, 200915 yr Author If she is plucking pin feathers, you need to get her out of there, simple as that. If the young ones are old enough, Dad can raise them. If not, and you cannot foster, you might have to rely on a combination between Dad and yourself with feedings, plus some type of heat lamp to keep them warm. Agreed....now how old are they ? Probably the same age as they were when your previous question did not get a response I check on here mutliple times a day - I am addicted, i know. Why doesn't everyone else? I do agree with Kaz though, age is a very important here. So the question again... How old are the chicks? So sorry for not replying...I had to go away for a few days and only just got back tonight. They are 2 weeks 5 days old today. The plucking seems to have stopped although not before nearly completely plucking their heads. I can actually tell what color they are now Normal sky blue, Sky blue Grey wing, Sky blue spangle.
October 25, 200915 yr Did you remove mum, or give her something else to nibble on like millet, or a block of wood? Tell me that when you had this problem you did not just do nothing but go away for a few days.
October 28, 200915 yr Author Did you remove mum, or give her something else to nibble on like millet, or a block of wood? Tell me that when you had this problem you did not just do nothing but go away for a few days. No....I did not "Just go away for a few days", I had my mum checking my birds 3 times a day for the 2 days I was gone, and yes I put in some Millet and some chunks of bark which seems to have done the trick, and as I said she has stopped now and the chicks are getting all their pin feathers regrowing.
October 31, 200915 yr Author Wonderful news thats its all working out. Can we see some baby pictures I will try and get some pics today but, they are pretty bald babies around their heads and necks . I have a fair idea on what colors they are but then I have gotten the colors wrong lots of times on here Wonderful news thats its all working out. Can we see some baby pictures I will try and get some pics today but, they are pretty bald babies around their heads and necks . I have a fair idea on what colors they are but then I have gotten the colors wrong lots of times on here Here are some pics of some of the babies. I will post other pics under my journal. Edited November 2, 200915 yr by maesie
October 31, 200915 yr They are pretty things despite their lack of feathers....dont worry they will grow back faster than you think.
November 2, 200915 yr Author okay so it seems one of my other hens has decided she is going to be a plucker too, only this time this hen has waited until all the pin feathers have well and truly started to come through then plucked them.......I am wondering could it be the hot weather? does the hen think that the chicks are getting too hot or something to that affect and plucking them thinking it may cool them down? I know this is probably not the cause but I can't think of any other reason. :WobbleSign:
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