Feather plucking in a reproductively active hen

Rachu93 · New Member Joined: Jul 04, 2016 Posts: 1

Hi guys,

Back in May I bought my first bird, a kakariki.
The seller was adamant it was a cock and I thought this up until last week.
She has laid an egg every 2 days like clockwork, I have removed the eggs as advised. She has since become withdrawn and no longer sits in the window singing to the birds outside. She is eating/drinking/bathing like normal but has started to pluck feathers from her front and I'm struggling to determine if this is a maternal thing or something else and I'm unsure how to help her best so any advice would be appreciated!

She can fly in and out of her cage as she pleases so has plenty of flight space and time. I can't help but feel awful as if I'd known she was a hen at first then I wouldn't have had her and put her through this.

Thanks for reading!

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Kakariki are not prone to feather plucking.. off all species would most likely be the least likely to do so.
Loss of feathers is usually due to mites or similar.. The bird will scratch a lot. Reputable retailers and breeders will does birds for mites before selling on....unfortunately these are few and far between.
Laying eggs as you describe..
I strongly suspect this is a older ex breeding female that has reached her 'use by date' for doing so ... then passed on or something similar.
Spent many yrs in a aviary/ flight with other bird nearby, and most properly a long term mate.
In extreme cases along these lines, a kakariki may on rare occasions pluck.
I would strongly suggest the bird to be returned for another younger males as you intended, as this bird will never get close to the expectations you had.

You may like to get a male companion, but this also has implications...like the 2 birds have a good chance of not getting on, bigger cages, and if they do , then they will be far more likely to associate with each other and withdraw from interactions with you, espec the female which will be near nil