Parents pulling babys head feathers.

Question
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for the hand feeding/Socializing help that you gave us. Our 3 baby Cockatiels are about 4 1/2 weeks old now and doing well, we get them out once a day in the evenings and play / cuddle with them. We had to remove mom cause she started pulling there back head feathers (is this common?)Today I had to move the babies and dad into a larger cage because the babies are really moving now. I also put a pearch low to the cage floor and they love to step on it. They are starting to nibble on millet now and of course dad is still feeding them. Just today awhile after the move dad started after there back heads, we are concerned this is a problem. Please let us know if this is common (grooming?) or should we do something different.

Also we just can't beleive that mom has laid 5 more eggs in which 2 are already fertile, she is a egg machine, this must have happend while there were both feeding these babies, needless to say we didn't expect this.

Thank you Sarah hope to hear from you shortly.

Gregg & Cindy

Answer
Hello Gregg,

Sounds like the babies are doing great, and you're doing an awesome job!!!

In regards to plucking, this is "common", but it isn't a good thing. Most pairs who pluck their babies, were plucked by their parents. My only proven pair plucks their babies if I don't pull them from the nest by 2-3 weeks of age, they get frustrated and want the babies out of the nest. That's only because the previous owner pulled the babies at 8-10 days of age. Now, it probably isn't hurting the babies too much, and they will be weaned within the next 2 weeks so you will be able to place them in a different cage on their own. It was a good idea for you to remove the hen, or rather remove the dad and babies.

There are quite a few hens who lay and lay and lay. So after this next clutch if you decide to let her raise it, then I would suggest you find some way of getting her out of the mood, either that you can get some fake eggs and place them instead of the real eggs and allow her to sit until she becomes uninterested, then remove them.

I would keep an eye on the plucking, the feathers will grow back, but I wouldn't want the parents overplucking them. Are they actually pulling out feathers?? Or just preening them, removing the sheaths from the feathers. If they aren't actually physically pulling feathers out of their heads or body, then they are not plucking them, and you have nothing to worry about. If it is plucking, then keep an eye on the babies just to make sure the dad doesn't pull out a blood feather and leave half of it intact. Then the baby will bleed quite a bit. Doubtful that will happen, but just as a precaution.

Keep an eye on them and let me know in a few days with some more detail as to what the dad is doing to the babies and how the babies look. Soon enough they'll be moving around enough to give the dad a good whack! lol.

Take care!
Sarah