My canary has just had a chick hatch and is sitting on it as she should. Ever since then, since she’s spent most of her time on her nest, when she takes a bath, she doesn’t seem to have any feathers on her upper and lower chest. But when she is dry, her feathers completely cover her. I’m a little concerned, since this is my first time breeding a canary.
Hi Batz,
This is normal. Their feathers do not cover every inch of the body. Birds have feather tracts, which is areas of skin where feather do grow. They have a lot of bare areas, but the feathers overlap and cover these areas. When a bird is wet, the bare areas are more visible. So you are just seeing more skin because she is wet from bathing. Plus she fluffs her feathers away from her bare skin, and warms the chick with her bare skin, not with her feathers.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
