# Momma and baby losing feathers



## cj255 (Feb 14, 2009)

Hey everyone! I posted a couple months ago with concerns about my female cockatiel...turns out she had a cold, and she and her two babies ended up being fine. 
Well now those babies are about 5 months old and she's got another little 5 week old baby. Not a normal looking baby though. It has feathers on its back and tail, but its head, neck and entire front side are completely bald, with just a few little quills dispersed and some fluff on the stomach. Momma is also starting to lose feathers around her ears and right behind her crest.
I read in a few different articles that female cockatiels can lose feathers around ears and behind the crest from over-preening by the male. 

Is it possible that the male is plucking feathers off the baby too? The baby seems very skiddish and avoids being next to the parents most of the time. They are feeding it, but only after it complains for a long time. Should I separate the male from the other two and see if there's improvement? Or could it be something else?

Thanks in advance!


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Can you post any pix's? Also check the baby to see if there are any pin feathers. If so, check daily to determine if they are being plucked out. This will give you an idea of if it is a parent bird doing this or could be a health issue.


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## cj255 (Feb 14, 2009)

There are some pin feathers on the head...
Also I meant to say the baby is 6.5 weeks old, not 5. At 5 weeks old it had a lot more feathers.

Here is a picture at 5 weeks old (with a crest), and a couple taken today. There's also one of the mom.


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

It could be plucking, I wonder which parent is doing it? if it is


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Yes...one of the parents is plucking. Has it fledged (leave or going in and out) from the nestbox? If not, this is the parents way of trying to get it to fledge...leave the box.

As to which bird is doing the plucking. The male may have plucked the females ears...but either one or both may be plucking the baby. If the parents are still feeding it I would suggest that you take it from the box and in the cage. Maybe remove or block the nestbox hole. OR...pull the baby and handfeed it.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Oh my, poor little baby. Taking it and handfeeding it from now on sounds like the best thing to do for the babys sake.. you don't want it getting feathers to only have them be plucked again.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

I would guess it was the Father since the Mom s also being plucked. It does look like a case of plucking to me. Many parent birds will pluck at a baby to get it to move on if they are getting nesty again. The male may be doing it to the hen to get her to bend to his will. You need to remove Dad to another cage. Mom can handle feeding a baby alone particularly at that age. Plus you will see very clearly if it is the male doing it if it stops.


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## cj255 (Feb 14, 2009)

Thanks so much everyone!

I will probably seperate the dad as I don't think I would have enough time to devote to hand-feeding, though I would love to if I could.

All of this makes a lot of sense....the baby came out of the box a few days ago. Mom had laid more eggs a few days before that, but I took thm away after she stepped on them and broke them. So it was probably the parents trying to kick that baby out so they could have more?


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

That's exactly it!


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

yep defiantly plucked you can see scabs 

please keep a good eye on it, I had one of my pairs kill their youngest baby because they wanted to go back to breeding.


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## cj255 (Feb 14, 2009)

I will definitely keep a good eye on it! We're rearranging cages today so we can move daddy out.

Thanks so much for the help!


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## BuddyD (Jun 4, 2009)

I hope this gets posted. I have been having trouble posting and/ or starting a thread.

However this is almost exactly what I wanted to ask about. I have never had any chick develop their flights and Tail feathers completely and not have body feathers ( not even Pin feathers. However i did notice some blood feather scabs where pin feathers had been and the Pin feathers that where developing to a crest are gone.

When I did bred some tiels before ( over 5 years ago) I did see my first hen pull chicks out the box by their crest. She had done exactly what this new hen has ( Double clutch) she laid a second clutch of 4 eggs when the sole chick from the first clutch was not quiet 3 weeks old.

I finally went back to where I used to live ( south shore of lake Pontchartrain and visit the premiere Bird Shop "Birds Unlimited " and the owner said she was all but sure the parents where plucking to get rid of the first chick to start over agin.

this chick seems healthy ( despite my fears ) and even flew last nigh when i went to hand feed it.

I have gotten a small cage and put he chick in it and will continue to hand feed it. i do 3 X a day now and the shop suggested cutting that down gradually.

The Pictures of the chick that started this thread look almost like a mirror. How long should full feathering take and now how long will in probably take to recover from the Plucking?

Charles Buddy Drago 
Mandeville , Louisiana

BTW my older male is a Gray split to pied and the new hen is Cinnamon / pearl. The chick appears to be Cinnamon. What is the probable sex of the chick ? is this a sex linked color?


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