Plucking can occur with the best of parents.
Just because they pluck does not mean that they are bad parents. Over the years I have observed several causes for the plucking of babies in the nest. In addition, I also learned that if all is well cockatiel parents are not naturally pluckers.
It is disheartening when you look in the nestbox and see that a baby has been plucked. The first instinct is to remove the baby, which is normal. But, in doing this it may not resolve the problem if you do not know the cause. Therefore the same thing can occur with succeeding clutches.
The normal assumption is that you have bad parents that should never be bred again. So they are sold. In regards to plucking, it is best to try and find the reason. Many people just sell the birds and pass the problem off to someone else. This resolves the problem for the breeder, but not the bird. The bird is the loser because if the root cause is not determined then it just goes on. And, in doing so may reinforce this behavior in the bird/birds.
I have found that there are several things that can contribute to a parent plucking the babies.
1...Jealousy
2...breeding birds programmed (imprinted) by the breeder or prior breeder
3...Nutritional deficiencies, specifically sodium
4...Parents want to go back to nest.
5…An ectoparasite problem
1...A jealous parent, Jealousy
I have learned that if one of my parents was a hand tamed pet, and if they were used to getting attention they can get jealous of the babies and react by plucking. If the parent is a pet make sure that you give the parent some attention and scratches/petting first when checking the nestbox. Praise them and then quickly look at the babies to make sure they are alright. Do this each time you check the babies. After giving the parents attention you can then spend more time with the babies. If the baby is big enough, take both the parent and baby out together for socializing.
2...Programmed/Imprinted by the breeder or prior breeder
The birds can get used to our schedules. If they are used to the babies being pulled at a certain age they can come to expect this. They will get confused and/or frustrated that the babies are still there and either not feed them or start to pluck or even become abusive parents. When buying adult breeding birds I have learned that it is best to ask the prior breeder what age they pulled the babies from the nest. For example if the babies were regularly pulled at 10 days of age this gave me a time frame to start checking the nest and watching the babies to make sure they were being fed and cared for. Some pairs will simply stop feeding. If this happens the babies can be assist fed with hopes of the parents resuming feeding within 24 hours or less. In doing this the parents are being retrained to care for their babies past 10 days of age. If the plucking is limited to just the feathers and no skin injuries or biting I will leave the babies in the nest, keep an eye on them, and assist feed, until the parents realize that they are not going anywhere.
3...Nutritional Deficiencies
If the parents are plucking when the babies are just starting to pin feather many times this can be due to a sodium deficiency. The pinfeathers contain blood which also contains sodium. When plucking is noticed make sure that the parents are not abusing the babies.
A good site that lists foods Sodium and other nutrients: http://www.health-alternatives.com/vegetables-nutrition-chart.html
Way back when I started breeding I was told to NOT provide the birds with any food that contained salt (sodium). At the time I was also having quite a few pairs that were plucking their babies. I started researching and reading and found an obscure statement somewhere that it could be from a sodium deficiency. My birds loved honey wheat bread so I toasted some and lightly buttered it, actually used margarine. Margarine has salt, but it also contains *lecithin* as a binder/thickener. The lecithin also contains minute amounts of choline, inositol, and linoleic acid which aid the birds system. Lecithin also works against obesity by emulsifying fat build-ups.
I gave some of this daily when they had babies. It was interesting to note that the parents that were known to pluck did not pluck their babies.
You're now thinking, why would they be plucking the babies? The new emerging pinfeathers are rich in blood. There are trace amounts of sodium in the blood, and just enough to help satisfy the birds craving. How could the birds, namely the hen, be sodium deficient if it is in the diet? When the eggs are layed there is trace amounts of sodium in the white part of the egg. If the diet had minimal sodium content then what nutrients in the diet used for making the egg would have been depleted. The hen would wait until the baby was pin feathering to replenish this.
Sodium is made out to be bad for birds, thus over time in our avoidance of certain nutrients, we unwittingly can contribute to other health issues. For example hens and egg-binding, Salt/sodium aids in the muscle contractions. When there is a deficiency, there can be a loss of muscle tone to expel the egg. Or digestive problems: Salt/sodium is also beneficial in birds with digestive disorders, such as passing whole seeds. It is necessary for the production of hydrochloric acid in the proventriculus (gizzard), and the muscle tone for grinding foods. Here is an illustration I have made up of some of the foods and products I have used for sources of sodium.
Just because they pluck does not mean that they are bad parents. Over the years I have observed several causes for the plucking of babies in the nest. In addition, I also learned that if all is well cockatiel parents are not naturally pluckers.
It is disheartening when you look in the nestbox and see that a baby has been plucked. The first instinct is to remove the baby, which is normal. But, in doing this it may not resolve the problem if you do not know the cause. Therefore the same thing can occur with succeeding clutches.
The normal assumption is that you have bad parents that should never be bred again. So they are sold. In regards to plucking, it is best to try and find the reason. Many people just sell the birds and pass the problem off to someone else. This resolves the problem for the breeder, but not the bird. The bird is the loser because if the root cause is not determined then it just goes on. And, in doing so may reinforce this behavior in the bird/birds.
I have found that there are several things that can contribute to a parent plucking the babies.
1...Jealousy
2...breeding birds programmed (imprinted) by the breeder or prior breeder
3...Nutritional deficiencies, specifically sodium
4...Parents want to go back to nest.
5…An ectoparasite problem
1...A jealous parent, Jealousy
I have learned that if one of my parents was a hand tamed pet, and if they were used to getting attention they can get jealous of the babies and react by plucking. If the parent is a pet make sure that you give the parent some attention and scratches/petting first when checking the nestbox. Praise them and then quickly look at the babies to make sure they are alright. Do this each time you check the babies. After giving the parents attention you can then spend more time with the babies. If the baby is big enough, take both the parent and baby out together for socializing.
2...Programmed/Imprinted by the breeder or prior breeder
The birds can get used to our schedules. If they are used to the babies being pulled at a certain age they can come to expect this. They will get confused and/or frustrated that the babies are still there and either not feed them or start to pluck or even become abusive parents. When buying adult breeding birds I have learned that it is best to ask the prior breeder what age they pulled the babies from the nest. For example if the babies were regularly pulled at 10 days of age this gave me a time frame to start checking the nest and watching the babies to make sure they were being fed and cared for. Some pairs will simply stop feeding. If this happens the babies can be assist fed with hopes of the parents resuming feeding within 24 hours or less. In doing this the parents are being retrained to care for their babies past 10 days of age. If the plucking is limited to just the feathers and no skin injuries or biting I will leave the babies in the nest, keep an eye on them, and assist feed, until the parents realize that they are not going anywhere.
3...Nutritional Deficiencies
If the parents are plucking when the babies are just starting to pin feather many times this can be due to a sodium deficiency. The pinfeathers contain blood which also contains sodium. When plucking is noticed make sure that the parents are not abusing the babies.
A good site that lists foods Sodium and other nutrients: http://www.health-alternatives.com/vegetables-nutrition-chart.html
Way back when I started breeding I was told to NOT provide the birds with any food that contained salt (sodium). At the time I was also having quite a few pairs that were plucking their babies. I started researching and reading and found an obscure statement somewhere that it could be from a sodium deficiency. My birds loved honey wheat bread so I toasted some and lightly buttered it, actually used margarine. Margarine has salt, but it also contains *lecithin* as a binder/thickener. The lecithin also contains minute amounts of choline, inositol, and linoleic acid which aid the birds system. Lecithin also works against obesity by emulsifying fat build-ups.
I gave some of this daily when they had babies. It was interesting to note that the parents that were known to pluck did not pluck their babies.
You're now thinking, why would they be plucking the babies? The new emerging pinfeathers are rich in blood. There are trace amounts of sodium in the blood, and just enough to help satisfy the birds craving. How could the birds, namely the hen, be sodium deficient if it is in the diet? When the eggs are layed there is trace amounts of sodium in the white part of the egg. If the diet had minimal sodium content then what nutrients in the diet used for making the egg would have been depleted. The hen would wait until the baby was pin feathering to replenish this.
Sodium is made out to be bad for birds, thus over time in our avoidance of certain nutrients, we unwittingly can contribute to other health issues. For example hens and egg-binding, Salt/sodium aids in the muscle contractions. When there is a deficiency, there can be a loss of muscle tone to expel the egg. Or digestive problems: Salt/sodium is also beneficial in birds with digestive disorders, such as passing whole seeds. It is necessary for the production of hydrochloric acid in the proventriculus (gizzard), and the muscle tone for grinding foods. Here is an illustration I have made up of some of the foods and products I have used for sources of sodium.
NOTE: If the parents are aggressive pluckers they could seriously injure or kill the baby/babies. Remove the babies from the nest ASAP. You have two options; either foster them to another pair or hand-feed them.
4… Parents want to go back to nest
Ideally you would like the box to be a 12" cube, with at least 3' deep bedding. When the box is smaller and there are allot of babies in the box as they grow or gets crowded in there and the parents get frustrated to try and get some to fledge to make more room in the box. This usually occurs at about 3 weeks of age and older. So if the plucking is being done once the babies are fully feathered this may be the cause.
Ideally you would like the box to be a 12" cube, with at least 3' deep bedding. When the box is smaller and there are allot of babies in the box as they grow or gets crowded in there and the parents get frustrated to try and get some to fledge to make more room in the box. This usually occurs at about 3 weeks of age and older. So if the plucking is being done once the babies are fully feathered this may be the cause.
How I had broken some of my plucking parents from doing this to future clutches was to leave the baby/babies with the parents. I would let the parents wean out the baby. Usually by the time it is weaned it is fully feathered again. The downside of this is if the nestbox is still up the parents will start another clutch. The upside of this is if they do they will recruit this baby to help incubate eggs and feed the next clutch. If you plan on holding this baby back as a future breeder it will make an awesome parent.
Shown is something you can try
Shown is something you can try
5... Ectoparasite problem, Red Mites
Red mites thrive on blood and pinfeathers are a rich source of blood. Many times if mites get on a baby the parents will frantically pull the pinfeathers to take away the mites source of food. The crest is a rich source of blood. If the babies do not have pinfeathers yet then mites will attack/feed at the major arteries’ that are located under the wing, and the ankle, and top of the head.
Red mites will only nip the tips of the pin feathers. Here is an illustration to show what to look for:
For more info on Red Mite attacks and prevention: https://web.archive.org/web/20171123040543/http://www.justcockatiels.net/red-mite-attacks.html
Red mites thrive on blood and pinfeathers are a rich source of blood. Many times if mites get on a baby the parents will frantically pull the pinfeathers to take away the mites source of food. The crest is a rich source of blood. If the babies do not have pinfeathers yet then mites will attack/feed at the major arteries’ that are located under the wing, and the ankle, and top of the head.
Red mites will only nip the tips of the pin feathers. Here is an illustration to show what to look for:
For more info on Red Mite attacks and prevention: https://web.archive.org/web/20171123040543/http://www.justcockatiels.net/red-mite-attacks.html
Yes.... the feathers do grow back...
If they have been severely abused they do heal very quickly. Shown are babies that were attacked by another bird trying to take over the nest in a colony breeding situation.
These are things I can quickly think off the top of my head. It is best to observe to determine the cause of the plucking. Most tiels are good parents and they do not pluck unless there is something not to their liking or a contributing factor from housing or diet.
I have not found that just because a baby was plucked that it will go on to be a plucker when it is an adult with its own young.
I have not found that just because a baby was plucked that it will go on to be a plucker when it is an adult with its own young.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced and/or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission by this author.
TERMS OF USE: Use of this work is subject to the following terms except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store or retrieve on copy of this work.
You may not decompile, dissemble, re-mix or reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon your own re-wording, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense this book/work or any part of it without Susanne Russo’s (email ask.noodles@outlook.com )
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