Lovebird families question

[sheryberry]

Hello all bird lovers, & their fine feathered friends,
Question:
2 years ago I adopted Lilly & Marshal, 2 peachfaced lovebirds. I'm home all the time & spend alot of time with them Even though, Marshal has a bad habit of feather plucking his shoulder backs to scabs even for the previous owners before I got him. He's friendly & smart & communicative with me but he continues, & won't let me hold him or touch him. So I couldn't capture him to try and fit a cone on him. It heals sometimes then gets bad again. He's the only one who does it & he's pretty much a free bird in the house. He will fly to me when called most of the time & ride on my shoulder or head most of the day. How can I help him with this picking problem?

Lilly has since layed eggs. I have 2 friendly hand fed babies that are now 6 months old. Lilly & Marshal don't care to bother with them & the young ones often antagonize the parents. I will intervene as I give them outings of fly time in the house. They get along better but you can tell they annoy each other, & compete for my attention.
I had one more baby bird born Christmas. So I now have 5 birds. The only baby one who turned out colorful green like Marshal. I have to keep him (Kiwi) separated from the other 2 babies from the 1st batch cause they seem to get jealous & aggressive.
Marshal is a good daddy bird & hops on my hand to go upstairs & feed baby kiwi. He shows him all sorts of things, so I see they get along. Lilly doesn't like any of her grown babies.
Can I keep this family of lovebirds? Do people do this? Or is 5 lovebirds too many because they are very demanding with affection?
Please advise this bird loving lady.
Thank you

1st pic is daddy Marshal (with his scabby back) & his new baby

2nd pic is the 1st batch of babies

3rd pic is Lilly & Marshal

 

[Zara]

Can I keep this family of lovebirds?

If you want to. You allowed them to breed so the choice is yours. If you can keep them all safe and provide a good life, and want to keep them, then you should.
If the first two chicks are bonded (which they appear to be in the pic), they should not be allowed to breed when they come of age, so really they would be better with you so that you can ensure that does not happen.

Or is 5 lovebirds too many because they are very demanding with affection?

I had 7 lovebirds until recently, and we went through a patch of having to divide the birds into two groups for out of cage time to avoid fights (especially when the hens were hormonal). This last year, I was able to allow all 7 out at once with no major fights.

The main thing is that you have 3 cages; mum & dad, the first two youngsters, and the little guy will have his own cage once fully feathered.

How can I help him with this picking problem?

Did you take him to the vet? That is always a good first step.
From there you can discuss cones, supplements and other testing with the vet and figure out if there is a cause.

I had mum dad, first two chicks, then a chick from the next clutch, then a chick from another clutch. Recently the father passed away, but I still have the rest of the family (4 siblings and mum) so if you have any questions, let me know if I can help.