# plucking babies



## Jes04 (Oct 31, 2014)

the father of almost 3 weeks old babies is starting to pluck What should I do should i just let the mother feed them I noticed this morning he would feed them then he would pluck them There are 3 babies I never handfed before so i'm quite nervous Can someone tell ,me what i should do Help please!!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Feathers grow back so I've never pulled the dad. A lot of time parents start plucking because they want the baby to leave the nest so that they can start another clutch. The problem with removing dad is that usually the male does most of the feeding once the babies leave the nest.


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## Jes04 (Oct 31, 2014)

well they still have pin feathers So should i let the dad still feed and watch it looks so mean I know what you mean about the dad continues feeding after they leave nest that's what he did in the last clutch but it was only 1 baby


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## ninfatiel (Jul 22, 2016)

If its not a nutritional deficiency (make sure parents have mineral block or unflavored,unscented crystals of sea-salt)then its a nasty habit,that can develop even in the best birds..I use to have beautiful cinnamon pearl cock-who started little by little but eventually plucked all the feathers on all the babies,they use to look like plucked chickens,all naked. If you are planning to sell the babies-while ''normal'' baby can go at 2 months-plucked will take an extra month to re-grow feathers and can be sold at about 3 months. 
Basically I put up with moderate pluckers because over wise they do their job at caring for the babies and I strongly dont recommend separation of the couple and removal of plucking parent cause the chances are babies gonna get abandoned (tried it many times and ended up rearing them myself). However I did sell that cinnamon cock cause he just went too far. (His new owners have no intention of breeding him) I noticed parents may also pluck when they tired of breeding,have little break between breeding sessions,when they have large clutch,its like stress plucking.. 
I d say-keep the daddy,hopefully he wont pluck a lot and after that clutch may be give him a break from breeding and new partner


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## Jes04 (Oct 31, 2014)

thank you for your response I haven't been on the forum for couple of weeks So don't think i should take the father away? Its been very stressful going through this Two of my them are bald on top from being plucked but the father does help the mom with feeding I'm afraid she won't do a good job herself I stay by the cage when the father is in feeding and i'll shew him away if i see him going for the head but sometimes its hard cause it looks like he's gonna pluck but he goes to feed and visa versa I don't want him to keep taking a feathers out all the time I don't plan on selling them but I don't want them to be bald I hope their feathers comes back in I don't want him to ruin the follicles Its ashame that this happens


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

The feathers will grow back fine. I personally wouldn't take the father away as once the babies fledge he's the only that will feed them (hens aren't very maternal where as males are.) It may look back but it's not as bad as it looks.


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## Jes04 (Oct 31, 2014)

thank you for your response I read if they ruin the follicles it won't grow back the two babies are bald on top I'll see if i can figure out how to send pictures


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Click to to advanced and you should be able to upload images from there. But I don't think we would be able to tell follicle damage. You'd have to wait and see if the feathers grow back.


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