SEVERELY plucked CAG, help!

[Porkemon]

My uncle's 5 years old CAG is severely feather-plucked, tail and wing feathers all gone, from head to tail, all plucked.
Even my family calls it a bald chicken, it's something like the one you see in the supermarket. It's that severe (except there are a few really tiny feathers on the wings)

Being the only person who researched on parrots in my family, I decided to try and help the poor CAG, I went to his house a few weeks ago to visit and managed to get along with his CAG, my uncle asked me if I want to take his CAG home since he knows I want to try and help, I agreed.

Some time later, it stepped on my arm, crashed onto the ground (hard, I could hear the "THUD" when it fell) because it does not have any tail feathers for balance, I tried to picked it up because it was struggling, it bit me and lost trust with me afterwards.
My father told me that if I really wanted to take his CAG home, the CAG will have to stay in its cage and not come out because he is also worried it might fall down again.
I decided to not take the CAG home because I was worried that I might injure it more..

There aren't a lot of toys in the cage, probably 2 ball and 1 hanging toy in fact. It is currently on all-sunflower seeds diet (with occasional almonds). My uncle actually has 3 parrots, 2 hahns macaws and one gray but the gray is the only one that is feather-plucking and he seems to give more attention to his two Hahns Macaws.
Even though it lost trust with me, I am still willing to help it gain a better life and its feathers back although I will be quite saddened to see both my uncle and his gray separated since they had been together for 5 years.

Is there any way I can try and stop the feather plucking so that I can bring him out once he gain his tail and wing feathers back if I brought it home? I know it is very hard to stop feather plucking but I am willing to try.

[Pajarita]

My dear, the problem with this bird is not its plucking, it's much more serious than that! His liver is most likely damaged from the awful diet (no fruits, no veggies, no leafy greens, high protein and high fat) and he must be suffering from all kinds of avitaminoses (no vit C, no vit A, etc) as well as a hypocalcemia (most likely cause of the imbalance issue). This bird needs a good diet, sunshine, supplements, liver cleansers and tonics, and to be paid attention to or he will die.

[Wolf]

So with what pajarita has just told you the very fist thing to do to help this bird is a visit to an avian vet to get him fully checked out. This will help to get him on the proper vitamins and such to save his life, I hope. Pad the gage bottom so that he doesn't get hurt if he halls. Then take him home with you and get him on a proper diet and spend a lot of time with him and make sure that he doesn't get too hot or cold, because without his feathers he cant control his body temperature .
This is not an easy fix and if you can pull it off it is going to take a lot of time and commitment on your part.

[Porkemon]

My dear, the problem with this bird is not its plucking, it's much more serious than that! His liver is most likely damaged from the awful diet (no fruits, no veggies, no leafy greens, high protein and high fat) and he must be suffering from all kinds of avitaminoses (no vit C, no vit A, etc) as well as a hypocalcemia (most likely cause of the imbalance issue). This bird needs a good diet, sunshine, supplements, liver cleansers and tonics, and to be paid attention to or he will die.

Oh no..that's even worse than I thought!
I know this is silly, but Is it possible to care for him without going to the vet? The vet here in Singapore is really expensive and my parents' business isn't going so well this month and I am still 13 so I don't have a job yet, I will need to ask my parents if I can bring it to the vet, which is most likely it's a no since they couldn't afford it now.. Does the liver cleansers and tonics found in the health stores work for birds too? Is the sickness contagious from bird to bird? I'm worried that if I brought him home, my IRN will get affected.

[Wolf]

No, the Grey's condition is not contagious. I understand your situation and in most cases there are herbal means to treat his problems. Pajarita is the best bet on how to treat this using herbal means, I just don't have enough knowledge at this time.
So' I would start by padding his cage to prevent injuries and bring him to my home where I could take care of him as well as get him on a proper diet and give him the interaction that he needs.

[Pajarita]

Well, in reality, we don't know what is ailing this bird. Best case scenario, it's just dietary and environmental but it could be beak and feather for all we know so although the first thing you need to do is bring this poor bird home with you, please make sure he (and whoever handles him) has no direct contact with any other bird in the house (if you are the one that cares for the other birds, then wash your hands THOROUGHLY and make sure you have no poop of him on you when you go to do the other birds).

As to what you can do, I can only help with dietary and environmental issues, not with disease because you need diagnosis and prescription medication for that. But the first thing is to give him a better diet:

- eliminate sunflowers and all other oil seeds for now

- feed him cooked whole grains (wheat, barley, oats, millet, brown rice, kamut, etc) mixed with cooked vegetables (corn, peas, carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, pumpkin -there should be 50% grains and 50% vegetables) with a different raw fruit everyday -this should be his breakfast and, for dinner, he should get just a bit (a bit less than 1/4 cup) of a good budgie or cockatiel mix (like this one: http://www.birdsafestore.com/ProductDet ... uctads.com) with a single nut (one almond or two cashews or half a walnut, like that -no peanuts),

- add a vitamin/mineral supplement to his water (and add a bit of fruit juice to it: orange, apple, white grape -don't add anything that will change the color to dark or he won't drink it) for the next month. And put large size cuttlebone in his cage (if he could go outside to get a bit of sunshine would help a lot but don't put him under the direct sun but in a place where there is a bit of shade or he can get sunstroke)

- make his drink 2/3 filtered water (with the vitamins) and 1/3 aloe vera juice and add a dropperful each of liquid, non-alcoholic milk thistle and dandelion root extract - like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Answer-Al ... tle+liquid

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Answer-Al ... oot+liquid

- Add half a capsule of methionine to his soft food (the cooked grains) like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Country-Life-L-Me ... methionine (the one I posted as an example also has vit B6 which is needed for liver repair, too)

With any luck, the problem is just his diet and, if it is, he will get better. He might not stop plucking completely (I think he is too far gone for that, the poor thing!) but he will get better.

[Porkemon]

No, the Grey's condition is not contagious. I understand your situation and in most cases there are herbal means to treat his problems. Pajarita is the best bet on how to treat this using herbal means, I just don't have enough knowledge at this time.
So' I would start by padding his cage to prevent injuries and bring him to my home where I could take care of him as well as get him on a proper diet and give him the interaction that he needs.

Glad to know that the condition isn't contagious.. the Grey is able to stand on his perches in his cage with no problem at all just like a normal full-feathered bird, but stepping up on the arm (or maybe with a perch that I hold) is the only problem I'm facing when I am trying to get along with the Grey since it couldn't balance.

My uncle did not bring his Grey out for a few years because the Grey's feathers are gone and he is worried that if he brought his Grey out, his Grey will fall down and get injured like what happened when it stood on my arm (happened to him a few years back).. so I guess that is why the Grey is a little hesitant when I opened the cage for it to come out for the first time in a few years.

Should I interact with it on the floor instead? And how can I make my IRN and the Grey get along with one another and give equal attention to both of them? My IRN gets jealous whenever I pet other animals near him, and I've never had two feathered kids dependent on me before.

[Porkemon]

Well, in reality, we don't know what is ailing this bird. Best case scenario, it's just dietary and environmental but it could be beak and feather for all we know so although the first thing you need to do is bring this poor bird home with you, please make sure he (and whoever handles him) has no direct contact with any other bird in the house (if you are the one that cares for the other birds, then wash your hands THOROUGHLY and make sure you have no poop of him on you when you go to do the other birds).

As to what you can do, I can only help with dietary and environmental issues, not with disease because you need diagnosis and prescription medication for that. But the first thing is to give him a better diet:

- eliminate sunflowers and all other oil seeds for now

- feed him cooked whole grains (wheat, barley, oats, millet, brown rice, kamut, etc) mixed with cooked vegetables (corn, peas, carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, pumpkin -there should be 50% grains and 50% vegetables) with a different raw fruit everyday -this should be his breakfast and, for dinner, he should get just a bit (a bit less than 1/4 cup) of a good budgie or cockatiel mix (like this one: http://www.birdsafestore.com/ProductDet ... uctads.com) with a single nut (one almond or two cashews or half a walnut, like that -no peanuts),

- add a vitamin/mineral supplement to his water (and add a bit of fruit juice to it: orange, apple, white grape -don't add anything that will change the color to dark or he won't drink it) for the next month. And put large size cuttlebone in his cage (if he could go outside to get a bit of sunshine would help a lot but don't put him under the direct sun but in a place where there is a bit of shade or he can get sunstroke)

- make his drink 2/3 filtered water (with the vitamins) and 1/3 aloe vera juice and add a dropperful each of liquid, non-alcoholic milk thistle and dandelion root extract - like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Answer-Al ... tle+liquid

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Answer-Al ... oot+liquid

- Add half a capsule of methionine to his soft food (the cooked grains) like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Country-Life-L-Me ... methionine (the one I posted as an example also has vit B6 which is needed for liver repair, too)

With any luck, the problem is just his diet and, if it is, he will get better. He might not stop plucking completely (I think he is too far gone for that, the poor thing!) but he will get better.

Thank you so much, I doubt he has Beak and Feather disease though, his beak looks fine and no signs of sickness too, but I will try to save up enough for a check up soon. I asked my mom to ask my uncle if he can send me a picture of his African Grey, it might be heartbreaking to look at the Grey.

Is it possible to feed him pellets for his breakfast but the whole grains, fruits and vegetables for lunch and dinner? My school starts at 7:20am and ends on 2pm+ most of the days.
Another problem is, how can I bring him out of the cage to get some sunlight? He isn't good with stepping up on arms and will fall down.

[Wolf]

while it is possible to feed him in the manner that you propose it is not the way to do it. he is more likely to eat the grains, fruits and vegetables in the morning when he is the hungriest and the higher protein in the pellets will do him better in the evening. And especially since this bird is dangerously sick we really should be doing everything that we can that is in his best interests and not our convenience, don't you think?
As for getting him some sun just take him out to a shady spot in his cage, until he is stronger. Also you can sit and talk to him and reach into the cage if it doesn't upset him, at this early of a stage and as sick as he is the reassurance from you being there and talking to him will help him a lot and will also start him on a path of beginning to trust you. I would not house him in the same room as your other bird and would wash before interacting with the bird that you already have.
All birds need to go through a 30 day quarantine period before coming into contact with birds that we already have. This is to prevent the spread of disease, some of which the new bird, while not being sick from, may be a carrier of.
It would still be best to take the Grey to an avian vet to be sure that we are dong the right things to make him healthy.

[Porkemon]

while it is possible to feed him in the manner that you propose it is not the way to do it. he is more likely to eat the grains, fruits and vegetables in the morning when he is the hungriest and the higher protein in the pellets will do him better in the evening. And especially since this bird is dangerously sick we really should be doing everything that we can that is in his best interests and not our convenience, don't you think?
As for getting him some sun just take him out to a shady spot in his cage, until he is stronger. Also you can sit and talk to him and reach into the cage if it doesn't upset him, at this early of a stage and as sick as he is the reassurance from you being there and talking to him will help him a lot and will also start him on a path of beginning to trust you. I would not house him in the same room as your other bird and would wash before interacting with the bird that you already have.
All birds need to go through a 30 day quarantine period before coming into contact with birds that we already have. This is to prevent the spread of disease, some of which the new bird, while not being sick from, may be a carrier of.
It would still be best to take the Grey to an avian vet to be sure that we are dong the right things to make him healthy.

Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately, my mom just told me today that we're not bringing home the CAG anymore..