No tails on tanimbar chicks??

Is your finch sick or not well? Find out why.
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Rob
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Had 2 tanimbar chicks pop out a couple of months back who have been sitting on the ground with no tails on them. No mites etc and appearing otherwise healthy. I have had 2 more pop out after them and they are flying fine with nice tails. Any suggestions or thoughts what can cause this?
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starman
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Rob,
Tailless chicks occur in both wild and cage bred birds...I have never seen a compelling argument as to why, but it is perhaps just a developmental anomaly. I can only suggest that you supply everything they need at ground level until their first moult and then see if their tails regenerate. May be somebody else will have something more informative to add.
Sm.
Avid student of Estrildids in aviculture.
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vettepilot_6
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Mites?
The Bitterness of Poor Quality Remains Long after the Sweetness of Cut Price is Forgotten
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Craig52
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There are lots of reasons chick end up with no tails. It could be the adults trying to get them out of the nest to start again, the more the chicks try to stay the more the adults try to drag them out by the tail. Cold weather can hold them longer in the nest.
In most parrot finch young, the tail feathers are the first to moult out before body feathers and it's a very quick replacement of them over a week or two.
I don't believe it's mites or any other ailment, they will stay on the floor till their tail feathers grow as it is difficult for them to fly/steer without them imo. Craig
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Rob
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Definitely no mites. The weather and climate at the time of fledging was extra wet and humid. I also think they left the nest slightly early. Not sure if the combination affected tail growth.
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CathyCraftz
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I don't get what you mean with no tails. Can you please send a photo?
Have a nice day!
Sincerely, Cathy
“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – Albus Dumbledore
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Username1
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I think he means they don't have tails...
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Tiaris
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At the best of times their tails at fledging are extremely short anyway. Shortest of the PFs.
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