Hi all,

 

Went out to check our chicks this evening and discovered three of the five in one nest had almost completely bald heads and some bald patches on their shoulders/wings.

 

The oldest baby hatched on September 29 and the youngest on October 6 so they all have the beginnings of feathers. It was only they oldest three which had been plucked.

 

They are colony bred (don't judge or berate me, I have been doing it for 7 years and have had my fair share of mishaps, however i do take out the known trouble makers at the start and keep an eye on them. I am well aware of the opinions of many here, however I stand by the way i manage my birds)

 

Due to the colony breeding we have had several double hen partnerships. We currently have one now which also involves one or more cocks, as some chicks have characteristics which could only come from one hen and some only from the other (one is split for recessive pied from the mother who is the only recessive pied in the aviary and two are spangle from the other mum, the only spangle we have). These two hens and their various cocks have successfully raised three clutches before without a problem.

 

What could suddenly have prompted feather plucking and how do i avoid it in the future and how should i manage it now? If i need to take the chicks out and hand raise them I am more than happy to, i have done it before and will do whatever is best for the chicks right now.

If they are all in one nest, do you have other nests with chicks? Maybe I'd look at Mum or Dad from plucked nest. Mum might be ready to lay second round. Have you seen any other birds hanging around the nest box?

As to why or how to deal with it more experienced breeders could maybe give you better advice. Keep us posted.

Thanks Robyn, I have previously put neglected or bullied chicks from other clutches in with other hens who have similar aged chicks, however there is currently only one other hen with a chick at the moment. It will be her only chick (she laid four eggs and three were obviously infertile) and it only hatched on October 11 so it is quite a bit younger than the other chicks, especially the oldest ones.

 

I can't see that either hen wants to lay again right now, neither of them have dark brown ceres anymore but I do appreciate it still may be the case... any further light to be shed on the subject would be very helpful.

doesn't matter about their ceres now they are in the middle of breeding mode and will continue to breed while the conditions are good (and as pet birds they are always the best) don't quiet recall the tips for stopping plucking. If you can see which parent is doing it you can remove them - however it is normally the hen so you will have to judge if the chicks are old enough for dad to be helping with feeding.

Thanks Nerwen I can't tell which Mum is plucking them and they don't let any boys near the nesting box so the Dad feeding option is out :/ (even if i knew which the dad/s were!!)

 

I don't want to leave them in there if they will continue to be plucked because we have a weero from our neighbours that was plucked as a baby and now had permanent bald patches years later and i don't want the babies to have no wing feathers or anything like that. Is there any other way to stop the plucking or will i need to take them out?