Father plucking

[Tdogg31212]

Hi,
I am new to owning a parrot so please bare with me.
I have a 5 month old female congo african grey.
I got her from a bird pet store by my house.
I have had her, Gabby, for about 3 weeks now and the day we brought her home, she started plucking the feathers on top of her one wing. It is getting a little worse now . She has started plucking the chest.
I ran out ofthe harrisons food we had and started givimgc her just a seed and fruit mix.
She does shake or quiver a little , but I just figured she is nerveous.she really only shakes when I first go to get her out of the cage.
She is hand fed a lot as well. We have a ton of toys and have her out of the cage for at 3 to 4 hours a day.
she does seem to stop the plucking once she is out of the cage.
I am just nerveous because I did call a vet and she said it is rare that a five month old grey would do that and the better wants me to get her blood work done.
Has anyone had any experiwnce like this/
Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Tom

[Michael]

Sounds like the change in diet may have a lot to do with it. Also keeping the wings clipped increases the likelihood of plucking. Vet is definitely the best thing right now. But I would suggest getting back to Harrison's ASAP and not clipping the wings any more. Some trick training and taming can help behavioral issues as well.

[Tdogg31212]

Sounds good!
just went to store for the harrison food.
Do you recommend any taming or training posts here?
Thanks
Tom

[Michael]

I just read this again. So he's plucking your father and not himself!?

http://TrainedParrot.com/Taming
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227

[Tdogg31212]

Hahahah

[GlassOnion]

LOL- I didn't notice the 'father' plucking either until Michael pointed it out.

[dohcsvt]

Best of luck with your new family member, it sounds like you are giving her lots of love and attention...hopefully all will work out.

[Tdogg31212]

Ok, so it seems like every time we put her back in the cage she starts plucking.
is there anything we can do??????

[liz]

Does she get into trouble when she is out? If not leave her door open. My Amazons are never closed in. Rambo gets closed in only when he is causing trouble and won't listen when we say no. He only gets a 15 minute time out. Most of the time they just stay near their cages.

[Tdogg31212]

I can't do that because I have a dog. When she is in the cage the dog and her are very interested in each other but I am afraid to let then play together outside the cage