My finches have got me at my wit’s end, at this point. 
I just had to separate one bird from the flock (a total of 4, all males in a large cage.) because they kept pulling out the feathers on his back/above his tail.
This morning, I see that now 2 of the 3 boys in the cage now have bald spots on their back.
They have about 4 different types of nesting material, including hay, crinkly paper, and even soft stuff like angora fur and this stringy-material, and it doesn’t stop them.
At this point, should I just remove the box altogether? Will that stop this? I can’t imagine splitting them into 4 separate cages would be logical, but I don’t want them plucking each other bald…
They’re not moulting. I’ve had finches before, and I know what moulting looks like. They are plucking out each other’s feathers, which from what I read had to do with not having proper nesting material, but providing them with everything I can think of (and what was recommended by the breeder) is not working.
The nest was something recommended to me by the breeder, as a place for them to feel safe/sleep. They attempt to ‘breed’ with each other, but I obviously don’t want baby finches, so I went with all males.
I wasn’t trying to encourage the behavior, it was just what had been told to me would make them feel comfortable in their environment. I’m going to try taking the box out, and I really hope it means they’ll leave each other alone.
(I just don’t understand why if they have all sorts of materials to nest in already, ranging in texture even, why they are so obsessive about plucking each other?)
