Please help with female bird plucking the male

[jordi]

Hello, please help with this problem.

I have 2 cockatiels grown by hand. The first one that we had is a female. When she was 5 months old we bought a male that was 1 month and a week old. After 1 week she plucked all the feathers of the cheeks. We separated them some months, and when we put them again together, she plucked some feathers of his crest.

Now they are 9 months old (the female) and 6 (male). From time to time (1 week and a half maximum) she plucks some feathers from his crest, and we have to separate them.

We have tried with Bitter Beak, they have a good diet (fresh food, vegetables, seed and pellet, and mineral blocks). They sleep from 10 to 12 hours daily.

Separating them in 2 cages is not a solution for us, for lack of space and a conditioned room.

When we separate them, they call each other and some neighbours have complained.

If we don't solve this we will be forced to give away the female.

How can we solve this? How can this behavior be stopped? Is this due to their age?

[atvchick95]

it is possiable its due to age

how about one cage with a divider in the center - won't take up any more space then One normal cage - But they're still Side by side ?

Everything I've read about a bird plucking another bird, is they won't stop and not to house them together and only allow supervised play time

But there are exceptions to all rules

[jordi]

I don't understand. Is it due to age or it won't stop? Because if it won't stop, I must find another owner for my pet. I can't divide the cage because of its shape.

[atvchick95]

I don't know if it will stop, Some times they do sometimes they dont its possiable the bird doing the plucking just doesn't like the other bird and in that case no it won't stop unless by chance the feelings changed.

you couldn't purchase a cage with a divider?

There are a lot of factors to do with pluckers - most do it to their self, They learn it in the nest as well and Most of the time the one plucking ends up plucking any babies they have But not all the time - every bird is different

[jordi]

Did you had a similar case?

They seem to have a good relationship. In fact, the female chose this bird and fed the male in the 1st day like it was his baby, giving him food from the beak.

She seems to have sexual desire, but the male is too young. But she keeps plucking his feathers.

Another thing I wish to know is if behavior changes with age. For example, she screams a lot. Were your birds more noisy when younger, or plucked other bird's feathers?


I have seen some birds without feathers in shops when young, but no adults.

[sweetrsue]

Still lack of calcium could be a factor. Try adding a Cuttle bone as some birds don't really go for a mineral block. A preening toy might also help. Something that they can shred. Re-arranging the cage might help because it would be less her territory.

[jordi]

She already has 1 mineral block and a cuttle bone. She eats both all days, plus pellet, fresh vegetable, egg biscuit and seed. She also has preening toys made of rope and threads.
The male is much more territorial, she shares food and toys and obeys him when he wants to eat first or play with her toys.
Again, were your birds more noisy, violent, restless or aggresive when young? What is the normal cockatiel behavior: quiet and calm like one sees in adults in shops, or restless and always running and screaming like she does now?
Thanks!

[Bea]

When i bred two of my tiels the male got into the habit of plucking the back of the females head. I separated my tiel flock into males and females for a few months and by the time i put them back together Bailee had gotten over the habit. Very occasionally he'll accidentally pull a feather when giving her a head scratch, but it's definitely not a problem or a habit anymore.

To answer your other question, my females noise levels didn't really change with age, but i found them to be more mellow when they were young and then behave in more "proper" ways once they grew up, so not quite so all over me all the time and more dignified, lol. I don't think plucking is something that a bird will grow out of, you just have to try to break the habit by keeping them separate for a length of time.

[sweetrsue]

the fact that she fed this young male indicates that she considers him a baby. When adults do it it is usually the male feeding the female to help get her into breeding condition. Often when parent raise young and they get to an age that they consider old enough to be on their own they will pluck them in an effort to get them to leave the nest. Or in her case I think leave the area. 'tiels will also pluck thier cage mates if they are too crowded. I don't know what the dimensions of you cage are but 18" X 18" is considered a minimum size for a single bird.

[jordi]

Thanks Bea and Sweetrsue.

Bea, how old was your male and female when they had the plucking problem, and what age did they have when you saw it disappeared? Knowing this would be of great help.

I also don't understand well your other answer. Sorry I am not a native English speaker. Are birds more calm when older or not? At what age? My female was very calm until 4 months old, then she is very nervous. Sometimes turns again to be calm but other times she is nervous again.

Swetrsue, my cage is 18''x18'' and 33'' tall. Here's a photo:

http://usuarios.lycos.es/ancientgames/fotos/jaula.jpg

[Bea]

Thanks Bea and Sweetrsue.

Bea, how old was your male and female when they had the plucking problem, and what age did they have when you saw it disappeared? Knowing this would be of great help.

I also don't understand well your other answer. Sorry I am not a native English speaker. Are birds more calm when older or not? At what age? My female was very calm until 4 months old, then she is very nervous. Sometimes turns again to be calm but other times she is nervous again.

The plucking started when i bred them, which was when they male was about 15 months the first time and close to 2yrs the second. The plucking was a problem the first time they bred, but in the 7-8 months between clutches i was able to mostly break the habit. I do not think that plucking is age related, i think it is hormone related. Like i said before, i highly doubt that your birds will stop the plucking as they get older. I think it's going to be a habit you have to break for them by separating them.

I also don't think that birds get calmer with age, i think that calmness comes down to how they're raised and what their personality is like.

Something that might help with the plucking in your case is a larger, or rather more suitably shaped cage. Height is essentially wasted on birds as they don't fly up and down, they can't. An ideal cage is wider than it is tall, or at the very least a good width that almost matches the height. I wouldn't have anything narrower than 30" for two birds.

[jordi]

Thanks for your advice. Maybe if I don't find a solution I will change the cage. But please, what was the age of the female?

[Bea]

The female was 2 and 2.5 years old when she was bred, but she didn't start the plucking, it was all from the male.

[jordi]

Thanks, I see.