Prevention and Control Methods and Technical Key Points for Feather-Pecking Disorder in Captive Hwamei Birds

The so-called hwamei feather-pecking disorder refers to a small number of hwamei birds during ordinary keeping that, due to various causes, bite off their own tail feathers, wing feathers, back feathers and so on, one by one (sometimes called self-biting disease), so that the tail feathers are sometimes pulled until they are bare and sparse, curled and uneven, and very unattractive. However, observation shows that hwamei birds with this problem are normal in every part of the body, have no special disease, and in most cases their singing and fighting are unaffected. According to the analysis of some experts, there may be two reasons for this undesirable phenomenon: (1) It may be that the bird has not bathed for a long time, so its feathers and various body parts have been contaminated by the bird's droppings, making the bird's body itch and feel very uncomfortable, leading it to peck its feathers; or the hwamei bird's body has already been infected by parasites such as mites and bird lice, causing feather pecking. (2) It may be that the bird's feed lacks certain elements, such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium, amino acids, salt and vitamins, etc. In addition, some hwamei birds often suffer tail breakage in the cage (sometimes called brittle-tailed birds); this situation is mainly caused by the hwamei bird's fondness for jumping while living in the cage, so that the tail feathers collide with the cage and utensils and break. The prevention and control methods for hwamei feather-pecking disorder are: first, let the hwamei bathe more, and thoroughly remove the droppings and dirt from the bird's body; second, use insecticides to kill the parasites on the bird's body, thoroughly clean the cage and fittings, carry out disinfection treatment and expose them to the sun. In addition, when preparing bird feed, it must be mixed according to scientific proportions, with comprehensive nutrition, and especially trace elements must not be lacking.