Need some advice on a feather picker?

[Kell27]

Hello, I just joined & Im looking for some input on an issue with one of my conures.I've had my black cap conure just over 8 months I would think, & from day 1 she chewed her tail off. Within her first month home she also chewed off most of the primary & secondary feathers on her left wing but hasn't touched the wing since. At our newest vet they examined her closest & discovered at some point ( most likely around weaning time ) her wing had been clipped past the secondary feathers & might not grow back.

I've followed the vets advice & have gotten her VERY interested in foraging (she spends around 45 minutes a day foraging which is a huge improvement) Along with just keeping her busy & a slight change In diet (more pellets & less chop). She's a lot happier, & still nibbles her tail/over preens but she's doing better. My main concern is her feathers though. What can I use to help the secondary feathers grow back?? She over preens the clipped secondary's constantly. She's very touchy about her wings being touched as if the secondary feathers bother her to the touch?

I've tried aloe & water, it doesn't help much. I've also heard of avicalm, featherriffic & rescue remedy helping..?

[Wolf]

I have a Grey who is a plucker and I use the aloe and water. It doesn't help a lot but I take it. The biggest problem with plucking is that most if not all will continue this behavior for the rest of their lives, although they may improve, it seems that they don't ever really stop. You need to be prepared for this possibility. Even with this possibility, you will need to always try to overcome this problem.
It appears that the key to reducing this behavior is to keep you bird happy and healthy and to not let it get bored ever. This for my Grey means almost constant companionship with me, and even though I am Disabled and am at home nearly all of the time it is difficult to balance this need and my getting anything done at home, or to go shopping, or to keep my doctors appointments. but we do the best that we can, and she has improved a lot. Also it takes a long time before you will even be able to see the results of all of your hard work.
This is not a natural behavior, it is caused primarily to poor diet, abuse and/ or neglect and can be caused by anyone or more of these. The biggest is that they are flock animals and were never meant to be alone and, in their natural environment they never are alone, this leads to boredom and then that escalates to plucking.

[Pajarita]

I think that, in your bird's case, I would use a e-collar on her to see if allowing her primaries to grow will stop the behavior and whether the secondaries follicles are really damaged. Your other bet is for both your birds to bond... that could help but, of course, it's not up to you or me, it's entirely up to them.

PS: I don't agree with more pellets and less chop, especially for a Pyrrhura which are mainly fruit eaters in the wild. 99% of AVs recommend inadequate diets for parrots but I think that's because they don't study avian nutrition at all or have a clear idea of what different species eat in the wild...