# Feather Plucking



## Nayrose (Jul 17, 2012)

Hi I have a family of cockatiels, right now we have the mum the dad, a daughter and a son (there is another one but she isnt related) Anyways, when the mother and father were looking after them as babies the father plucked them as babies, we put him in another cage and he started plucking himself (it was too small but we had no choice). That was a few years ago and now he is still plucking himself a little bit but not the babies because obviousy they are older now. Anyway we have just put a nest box in there hoping the son and the bird thats not related would breed but knowing that the mum and dad probably would try and they did so what i am worried about is him plucking the babies if they have them now. Does anyone have any tips? should i take them out and hand rear them? I have no experience in that and so it is not ideal, i can learn though i have a best friend who is a bird breeder i could learn from. Or should i give them a chance also a few questions if i do have to take them out: When (like how many weeks old) should i take them out and start hand feeding them and how often would i have to feed them?? Sorry its so long but thanks and advice would be really good


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

plucking is normal with parents, if its minimal plucking then its fine...

what is their diet like? sometimes some parents pluck if they have a deficiency


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## Nayrose (Jul 17, 2012)

Okay thank-you there diet isn't great actually they dont eat pellets (Do you have any tips on getting them on to them?) i wish they did but I was alot less experienced when we first got them so they were not brought up on them (hopefuly i can bring any babies up on them) They dont really have that much fruits and veges but im working on giving them more. Is there anything else i should be giving them or anything that they should have while breeding? (we gave them egg and biscuit when they were last breeding). Oh and I dont remember much of the pucking this was about 3 years ago i have a few photos were the feathers are gone off there head and back but there are pin feathers, i really dont remember how bad it was I will ask my family if they remember though. Thanks!


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

a good diet in small birds like cockatiels is seeds, pellets, and vegetables (leave out the fruit, tiels dont eat it) but pellets should only be up to 20% of the diet. 

try sprouting the seed to make it even healthier  if the birds wont try pellets, nutriberries and avicakes work really well too and most seed junkies like these.

do they have a cuttlebone and mineral block?


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## Nayrose (Jul 17, 2012)

Okay, I will try some sprouted seeds and i found that they dont really like fruit anyway except apples. Can you explain to me what avicakes and nutriberries are, i have never heard of them. Yes they have cuttlebone, mineral perches and i am going to get them some mineral bells since only one of them really eats the perches.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

theyre by lefebers, and theyre great

here's their site

http://lafebercares.com/

the avicakes and nutriberries are listed on there

and an easy direct to the page with the avicakes and nutriberries

http://lafebercares.com/bird-food-and-nutrition-products-2/


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Breeding-related plucking is sometimes caused by a sodium deficiency. You can add sodium-rich vegetables like celery and chard to the diet if he'll eat them. Otherwise you can provide whole-grain bread with a small amount of salted butter on it, or one of those salt wheels made for rodents:


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## Nayrose (Jul 17, 2012)

Thank you both but the lefebers brand is american only and i don't live in america. They sound great though i am going to try and find something similar at my local pet shop, im not sure if they are going to have anything though I have never seen anything like that before just the seed blocks (which are just seed stuck together with honey). Do you have any other tips/advice about their diet? 

Thanks for the tip about the sodium deficency i will definetly keep that in mind, I will probably just stick with the veges and bread for now though.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

You can try and just place a bowl of pellets in their cage, since they're breeding it may get them to try it. Since they aren't on pellets yet, egg is a good source of protein and definitely good to give to breeding tiels.


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