# Father plucking chick, need help ASAP!!!!



## The Division (Apr 7, 2016)

If this is in the wrong part of the forum, I'm sorry. I'm new here so I don't know my way around yet.

Lets start from the beginning. My tiels have finally had their little eggs hatch into more tiels, but now the problem here is the father is plucking the feathers off one chick and eating them (My guess is it's iron deficiency, he doesn't even touch any of the fruit and veggies I give him). So I took the little guy inside and have read numerous threads and pages of how to hand feed the chick and they all say "check the crop for any food inside" but they don't give any examples on how the crop should look or where the crop even is.. I was wondering if anyone here could give me the rundown on hand feeding and how to see if the crop is full or not. I gave the little guy about 3cc of food a couple hours ago, waiting until 7am to feed him again like the instructions say. I gave him a smaller amount now because I dont want to over fill his crop and have him die.. Then again, I don't want to be starving him either. So if you can help me out, please do! Really appreciate any answers to this topic. Thanks!

Also, the chick is 12 days old.. Thought that might be of some use.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I'd put him back. A little bit of plucking won't hurt him, especially if you have no idea what you're doing. I had a male that plucked and the feathers grew back just fine. 

http://www.justcockatiels.net/hand-feeding-and-weaning.html this is the best guide out there. That being said, if you don't know what you're doing this is a bad idea. The best course is to put the baby back and find a breeder in the area who can show you how to do this first hand.


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## The Division (Apr 7, 2016)

roxy culver said:


> I'd put him back. A little bit of plucking won't hurt him, especially if you have no idea what you're doing. I had a male that plucked and the feathers grew back just fine.
> 
> http://www.justcockatiels.net/hand-feeding-and-weaning.html this is the best guide out there. That being said, if you don't know what you're doing this is a bad idea. The best course is to put the baby back and find a breeder in the area who can show you how to do this first hand.


I tried putting him back and the first thing the father did was pluck the small amount of feathers he has left. Nearly all his feathers are gone so it isn't a "little bit of plucking".

I've read that thread and yes it has some good info but it still does not show what an empty crop looks like and what a full one looks like.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Have you looked at the pictures? Because that thing is full of them. The crop is the bag at the chick's throat that fills up as it eats. As I said, plucking will not harm your chick if you don't know what you're doing. Feathers grow back. It's hard to bring a chick back from slow crop. 

There's also nothing wrong with pulling dad and leaving mom to do the work. It's not normally how things are done, as dad usually takes over the responsibilities from mom once the chicks get older, but mom can handle feeding the baby by herself.


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

roxy culver said:


> Have you looked at the pictures? Because that thing is full of them. The crop is the bag at the chick's throat that fills up as it eats. As I said, plucking will not harm your chick if you don't know what you're doing. Feathers grow back. It's hard to bring a chick back from slow crop.
> 
> There's also nothing wrong with pulling dad and leaving mom to do the work. It's not normally how things are done, as dad usually takes over the responsibilities from mom once the chicks get older, but mom can handle feeding the baby by herself.


I can attest to the slow crop statement. I had chicks that bloated up and got slow crop. I took them to the vet and it cost around $100. For the visit and meds to get them set right. Lots of worry and sleepless nights. I finally got them weaned and sorted out but it was touch and go for a while.


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## The Division (Apr 7, 2016)

I have my tiels in an aviary so would I need to take the dad out of the aviary itself to have the mother notice that the father is gone or can I just put a separate cage inside the aviary where the dad can be?

Thanks for all the help. Sorry if I sounded a bit rude in the last reply, I've just been extremely worried about these little guys, I'm not getting a lot of sleep because of it.

EDIT: I tried to take the father out of the aviary but once I walked away with him from his mates view they both started screaming their lungs out, once they were in each other's view again they stopped. So I put him in a smaller cage inside the aviary.. Hopefully the mother will feed her chicks and not peck them.


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

The Division said:


> I have my tiels in an aviary so would I need to take the dad out of the aviary itself to have the mother notice that the father is gone or can I just put a separate cage inside the aviary where the dad can be?
> 
> Thanks for all the help. Sorry if I sounded a bit rude in the last reply, I've just been extremely worried about these little guys, I'm not getting a lot of sleep because of it.
> 
> EDIT: I tried to take the father out of the aviary but once I walked away with him from his mates view they both started screaming their lungs out, once they were in each other's view again they stopped. So I put him in a smaller cage inside the aviary.. Hopefully the mother will feed her chicks and not peck them.


Good luck, I hope your chicks do well and momma feeds them. You may want to start researching what you need and how to feed just in case. I personally like a spoon and I just use a regular baby spoon, works just fine for me. Brooder temp is critical for younger and unfeathered babies, too warm can harm them and too cool can cause slow crops and all the problems that follow. Formula temp is extremely critical as to hot can burn their crops and kill them, to cool again can cause slow/sour/yeasty/bacteria crops. Never trust your lip so wrist with formula temps, always ALWAYS use a thermometer that you know is accurate.. The difference between ok and too hot or ok and too cool is only a few degrees and our skin is not sensitive enough to be accurate.
Pick is of me spoon feeding one of my current babies who just weaned.


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## The Division (Apr 7, 2016)

So it's been 3 hours since I put them back to their mother, she fed them already and there are no signs of plucking/pecking. I'll do a thorough check tomorrow to see if she is abusing them. Hopefully they will be fine with her because I have so much going on in life right now I don't think I'll be able to hand feed them. Again, thanks for all the help guys/gals I really do appreciate it.




ParrotletsRock said:


> Good luck, I hope your chicks do well and momma feeds them. You may want to start researching what you need and how to feed just in case. I personally like a spoon and I just use a regular baby spoon, works just fine for me. Brooder temp is critical for younger and unfeathered babies, too warm can harm them and too cool can cause slow crops and all the problems that follow. Formula temp is extremely critical as to hot can burn their crops and kill them, to cool again can cause slow/sour/yeasty/bacteria crops. Never trust your lip so wrist with formula temps, always ALWAYS use a thermometer that you know is accurate.. The difference between ok and too hot or ok and too cool is only a few degrees and our skin is not sensitive enough to be accurate.
> Pick is of me spoon feeding one of my current babies who just weaned.


I already bought hand feeding formula, a couple thermometers, a bunch of oral syringes, and everything else I need to hand feed them just in case I will need to do it. I hope I won't need to but I will if anything goes wrong.


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

The Division said:


> So it's been 3 hours since I put them back to their mother, she fed them already and there are no signs of plucking/pecking. I'll do a thorough check tomorrow to see if she is abusing them. Hopefully they will be fine with her because I have so much going on in life right now I don't think I'll be able to hand feed them. Again, thanks for all the help guys/gals I really do appreciate it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Store,you're formula in the freezer, it will last a long long time that way so if you ever need it in the future you have it.


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## The Division (Apr 7, 2016)

ParrotletsRock said:


> Store,you're formula in the freezer, it will last a long long time that way so if you ever need it in the future you have it.


Store it in the freezer even though it's a powder? Does the freezer prevent the growth of unwanted things in the formula? When would I need to replace the formula?


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

Yes, freeze the unmixed powdered formula. I have about 1/3 of a bag of formula left from my clutch and I vacuum sealed it then put it in the freezer, it should last a good long time that way. Yes the freezer will prevent the growth of things and prevent the oils in it from going rancid. I am not sure how long it would be before you need to replace it but if unopened it should last longer than the expiry date.


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## The Division (Apr 7, 2016)

The mother is feeding them very well and is not plucking them. So glad I won't have to feed them because I know I would do something wrong. Thanks for all the help guys/gals!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I'm glad it all worked out. Mom should be fine to handle the babies on her own.


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