Plucking at Babies

[sobkowich]

I have a concern about the behavior of the parents of a new clutch of 4 babies. The oldest is approx. a month old, and I have started to notice some bald spots on his back/rump section. I have also heard the noises coming from the nest box that indicates something is going on. It's hard to tell if it's feeding request noises, or if it's from being plucked, but it's rather disturbing.

My question however, is this:
If I pull the baby for handfeeding (1 month old), should I pull all of the babies, or just the one. And if I pull just the one, wouldn't the plucking get started on the remaining babies? There is about 2 days between the babies, and I have seen some small bald patch's on baby number 2, but not as big as baby number 1.

I have feed babies before as we had another baby from a previous clutch and he needed to be pulled because of a hobble for splay leg.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

The bald areas do not look red or inflamed, and there is no blood, but I just don't like the thought of the babies getting plucked for no reason, and the plucking just started a few days ago.

Thanks again.

[linda040899]

One of the most stubborn babies on the entire planet is a 4 week old lovebird that's pulled for hand feeding! Older babies are much less accepting of hand feeding than younger ones. Been there, tried that!

What you have is not uncommon and the plucking/picking usually stops by the time the babies are 5 weeks old. Since there is no blood (not even little dots where the feathers were removed????), it sounds like the feathers might be chewed or preened off rather than plucked. What you might try doing is removing mom and see if the behavior stops. Even after 48 hrs, you can return her to her family if need be. In her absence, dad will feed the little ones and, hopefully, the plucking will stop.

If the nest has a feather lining under the babies, two guesses where those missing feathers are going!

[sobkowich]

The babies don't have their feathers on their backs yet, the oldest is just starting to get his on his wings, and just a little bit on his back. The area's are not red, and I don't see any down or feathers under the babies. The only feathers in the nest are the same color as the mothers tail and the mom does have a bald spot on her breast where here brooder would be.

I'm pretty sure about the age, as I noticed the first of the babies (and we checked every day), on boxing day, the last one hatched on Jan 3. So just about a month (Monday will be 4 weeks).

Also, last time there was a plucking issue, it was mostly the dad who was guilty. He was shameless in the plucking, and would pluck even after he was pulled and invaded the babies new home. Mom did pluck also, but no where near as much as Dad.

[linda040899]

If dad is doing the damage, leaving the babies with just mom might be an option. I, personally, don't take babies for hand feeding until I run out of potential options. However, taking the babies to feed yourself would sole the feather plucking problem.

[personatus]

I find the parents pluck if they dont have enough nesting material and/or enough room. I experimented with it this year. I had 2 pairs plucking, 1 very mild, the other very serious.

For the mild case, i offered them more nesting material, these kept the parents occupied and it stopped. For the serious case (lots of blood) i removed the chicks from the nest and placed them in a larger box which double the space. Plucking stopped 100%.

I look in the nest of 5 chicks and wonder how the parents fit into the chamber with the chicks taking up all the space. I personally feel many people, including myself, use nestboxes that are too small sometimes.

[sobkowich]

the plucking is still going on, so I'm not sure if I should pull one, two or all of the babies. the oldest guy is just over 4 weeks old, and probably would be okay if he was pulled, but the little guy is only 18 days (hatched Jan 3), and I would like to leave him with mom and dad for a while yet, but not if he's going to get plucked in place of his siblings.

I've up loaded some pics I took last night, please examine and see if there is enough reason to pull them, in your opinion.

I though about isolating them from mom and dad by putting them in a new cage right next to the parents cage, but I think the bars are too close together to let mom feed them. I also was thinking about a container with slits in it to allow feeding, but if the holes are too big, then mom will just pluck through the holes.

anyway, I'm open to suggestions.

FYI, the nest box is huge (I thought too big for them), and they have plenty of nesting materials, lots of paper to shred and other sources that they discover when out. Also, a wide variety of food in addition to their crumble, and cuddle-bone, including peas, brocoli, green beans, carrots, etc... essentially, what ever I have, they have a sample of. vegtible wise anyway.

Anyway, here are the pics. These are not the best quality, so if anyone wants a better pic or a specific shot, let me know.

Plucked babies 1 (http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j470/sobkowich/December%2026%20-%20Jan%203/?action=view&current=plucked3.jpg)
Plucked babies 2 (http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j470/sobkowich/December%2026%20-%20Jan%203/?action=view&current=plucked2.jpg)
Plucked babies 3 (http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j470/sobkowich/December%2026%20-%20Jan%203/?action=view&current=plucked1.jpg)

Thanks for any and all advice.

[linda040899]

Oh my gosh. I've seen much, much worse! Looks more like mom/dad are chewing off the feathering rather than outright plucking. I've had chicks that quite literally have not even down and small blood spots where the feathers were forcibly removed. This one is going to be your decision but I still think that parent fed/human socialized is still very important. Should you want to try side by side cages, perhaps removing one cage bar might allow more feeding access room.

[personatus]

That's nothing at all, don't worry about it!

[kimsbirds]

I agree 100%...I'd leave them all alone...plucking/chewing looks extremely mild at this time. I only ever changed living arrangements if plucking caused blood spots.

I miss having lovie babies!!!!