Quakers

Subject: Quakers Fri Jul 15, 2011 7:48 pm

OK all you breeders out there...
Is it possible that Bucky has been feeling his "hormonal oats" even though he's only about 1 1/2 years old at this point? Could that have contributed to his plucking and increased orneriness for the past couple of months?

Guest

Who knows, Quakers are nuts LOL. I'm pretty sure my breeder said they are older then that, are you sure of Buck's age?

Subject: Re: Quakers Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:34 pm

Yes, we're sure of his age. From what I've read, they reach sexual maturity between one and two. What makes the difference and how do you tell? Anyone know?

Subject: Re: Quakers Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:58 pm

VickiNumbers wrote:: OK all you breeders out there...
Is it possible that Bucky has been feeling his "hormonal oats" even though he's only about 1 1/2 years old at this point? Could that have contributed to his plucking and increased orneriness for the past couple of months?

Yes and yes. Odd that the plucking did coincide with the worming.

VickiNumbers wrote:: Yes, we're sure of his age. From what I've read, they reach sexual maturity between one and two. What makes the difference and how do you tell? Anyone know?

Who knows. It's like menstruating. One girl starts at 11, another girl starts at 15. Birds are different like people are different. I have a 3 year old jenday hen that has no indication she has any sexual desire at this time.

Subject: Re: Quakers Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:02 am

Like PDB said and years of captive breeding outside of their native habitat has put them off their natural cycles,also parent raised birds tend to mature quicker than hand feed babies.About the plucking,i'm not as sure as roz that it's caused by maturing.If Buddy was a girl plucking her brood pouch then yes,but on the back, I'm not sure.

Subject: Re: Quakers Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:46 am

henpecked wrote:: About the plucking,i'm not as sure as roz that it's caused by maturing..

I should have been more clear - Yes, it "could" be due to maturity. I mentioned the worming because I'm more inclined to think the plucking's associated with that. I'm not super familiar with quackers, but supposedly things like worms can trigger plucking and mutilating in them.

Sometimes the pissiness is because they don't feel well; in this case, if it does have something to do with the worming, then maybe he's not feeling well so he's more cranky - maybe sore follicles from the plucking, etc. Wow, that's a long, improper sentence.