Plucked Parrots

[pchela]

I read a study somewhere that stated that adding Essential Fatty Acids had improved plucking issues in some birds so I gave it a try. Worth a shot right?

[Pagez]

Thought I'd give this a bump. Anyone find any "cure"?

[SpeedyNyC]

Hi Kim,

I understand that her cage came with lots of toys, but does she actually play with those toys? She may not be interested in the toys that her cage came with. My macaw prefers toys that have really thin pieces of wood that she can easily shred. She just ignores the the toys with the big pieces of wood. One of the main reasons why birds pluck is because they are bored and have nothing better to do. Maybe you should try experimenting with different toys of different sizes and textures until you find the one that your bird likes the most. A bird that's not able to entertain itself for long periods of time is very likely to develop psychological problems and start plucking; Think about it, how would you feel if you were stuck at home all day without tv, internet, radio, or anything else to entertain yourself with? Even if you have a buddy with you, there's only so much you can talk about or do throughout the day. Eventually you will be bored to death. Also, your bird should be bathing at least once a week. In the wild, these birds live in very hot weather and they bathe very often. Otherwise their skin gets really intchy and so they pluck. As mentioned above, their diet could be a reason why she's plucking. Make sure your bird is eating a well balanced diet.

Good luck!

[Grey_Moon]

Has she had a full vet work-up? If so then my next suggestion would be diet and look at yourself.

If this is causing you stress and negative emotion she will pick up on that---and pluck because you are feeding her energy/attention about it and because she feels you are stressed (and that somehow the flock is in danger) and it will make her anxious.

Also, if you're the kind of person constantly watching her or fretting stop that (I have a bad habit with that with Jacko who also plucks). Just stop. Pretend like its not even happening and you dont even care. Reward her when she plays or vocalizes or does something other than pluck.

I'd look at her diet and see if there are allergies or triggers. I'd also add Red Palm Oil to her diet (does wonders) and spray her with aloe vera--no doubt the picking has irritated her skin which only causes more plucking. The one thing that really, really helped Jacko was the aloe vera.

Good luck, and I think the important thing with our pluck ducks is to love them nekked or not

[Sunny]

although i don't have pluckers my cockatiels came to me with tons of feathers missing under the wings and HUGE bald spots. i started using aloe vera (once every three or so days) and unrefined palm oil (once a week, a few tiny drops mixed into their food), and it did wonders for them. the patches under their wings are completely gone and the bald patches have gotten considerably smaller. when i was sick i couldn't do that for them for a little more then a week, and i noticed that their baldness grew until i started using it again.

also try getting preening toys, there are some real nice ones that can be shop bought but i read once online that a couple bought a mop head (100% cotton one) for their cockatoo to preen, which worked for them. my birds love palm leaf shredders, tissue and newspaper, so you could try making a "mop" out of a mixture of those. also coconut hair, which is often incoperated into toys, can be great toy, and good for them apparently.

word of warning though, the palm oil ... do NOT buy the ones that are sold for pets unless there is nothing else available. i searched dozens of pet sites and ebay and found nothing that charged me under £6 for one jar then i popped down to the asian section in my local ASDA (uk's walmart) and found one for £0.94.

hope it helps