# Help! Finally caught Mother Plucking the Chicks! What do I do now???



## anne0125 (Jul 3, 2011)

I finally caught my mother bird plucking a baby. I wasn't sure it was her until today. She was in the nestbox with them and when I opened the top she looked up at me with my cinnamon baby's feathers in her mouth. They have alot of feathers missing(all the back of their heads, down their neck and back and also on their chests. What should I do? The first baby of the three is 3 1/2 weeks old. Should I put the mother in a separate cage and let the father feed the 3 babies? I am not handfeeding but just handle them everyday and am letting the parents wean them. Thanks


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I would separate mom out and only let her in for visitation to feed the babies a couple times a day where you can monitor her. Dad is going to take over most of the feedings once the babies fledge anyways.


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## mitch2006 (Jan 15, 2011)

yes like Roxy said dad does most off the weaning process of babies so it would be ok to remove mom and only let her feed them when you can watch her feed them .she does this because she wants another clutch and wants babies to fledge the nest so she can start again...so only option is remove mom and give only visitation rights while you watch on her with these babies.dad can raise a clutch of 3 til weaning if he has to though..


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## anne0125 (Jul 3, 2011)

I took mom out of the cage two days ago. The dad does feed them but their crops never feel full at all. However, they are not crying for food all the time. The oldest is 26 days old. Do you think I should try to help handfeed? And would the babies being this old, even take to handfeeding anymore?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's natural for babies to eat less at this age. They're getting ready to fledge and they can't fly well with a huge crop weighing them down. If they aren't crying for food then they ought to be OK.

When a baby starts spending a lot of time looking at the outside world through the nestbox door, they're thinking about coming outside. It will be several days before they actually do it though.


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