# Parent Plucking



## natalier (Nov 28, 2012)

Ok so I have four beautiful baby cockatiels about 3 wks old. I have kept them with the parents in the nest box. At the end of last week I started taking them out to hand feed once a day because I noticed the youngest didn't seem to be getting enough food (Also I thought that would make things easier for the parents a little bit) Anyway today when I checked them first thing I noticed two strange behaviours 1 - their crop was completely empty so I fed them an extra portion this morning but 2 - while I had them out to feed them I let 'dad' out to observe as he typically does but instead of feeding them a little bit he started plucking out their feathers??? at first I thought maybe he was just trying to get the sheath off for them as we sometimes do but he was actually plucking the feathers completely out to the point where it was starting to bleed - very small amount as I chased him away at that point. I put them back in the nest box for now but I am not sure what this means??? Is this normal behaviour for parent once chick is a certain age???


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Parent birds pluck for different reasons. Some pluck to get the babies to leave the nest so they can start another clutch (this is called double clutching.) Others pluck because of a deficiency in their diet (I think its a sodium deficiency). As long as the plucking isn't bad, the babies should be OK. But if the parents stop feeding the babies all together you may have to take over caring for them full time. Has this pair ever bred before?


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## natalier (Nov 28, 2012)

Although this is my first clutch with them - I bought them from a couple who had had numerous clutches with them before and they never mentioned it... I know they didn`t hand feed them either because they specifically mentioned that they couldn`t with their work schedual
I think it is possible that they are double clutching but just in case it is a deficiency what can I put in their diet to help... Any suggestions :cinnamon pearl:


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Celery is high in sodium...and a mineral block would help. I know rabbits have salt licks and I think those would work for tiels as well. 

Hmm then it is weird that they all of a sudden stopped feeding. Most pairs only stop because they've been trained to stop when the breeder pulls the babies for hand feeding.


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## natalier (Nov 28, 2012)

Thanks for all the help - I just pulled them to be on the safe side 
Don`t want anyone getting hurt with the plucking plus I have everything for hand feeding just in case but was enjoying not having quite as much work  
Will be sure to give them some celery though and thanks again for all the great advice I will be sure to put it to good use


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Red chard is a good source of sodium and a lot of other excellent nutrients. Another option is to take a small chunk of whole-grain bread and spread a thin layer of salted butter on it, and let the adult birds eat it.


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