bald cockatoo diet??

[Melon]

hi everybody,
i own mini sulphur yellow crest cockato from rescue,he is 2 years old,feather plucked.the reason:lack of attention(the owner must to live him too long everyday because his dad is in hospital n he dsnt have enough money to pay anymore)
he is very bald now.n i can see there is a blood track on the skin,i will go to vet this sunday n take the exam.
anybody knows what food is the best for feather plucking?n any food i need to avoid??thanks a lot.

[laducockatiel]

hi everybody,
i own mini sulphur yellow crest cockato from rescue,he is 2 years old,feather plucked.the reason:lack of attention(the owner must to live him too long everyday because his dad is in hospital n he dsnt have enough money to pay anymore)
he is very bald now.n i can see there is a blood track on the skin,i will go to vet this sunday n take the exam.
anybody knows what food is the best for feather plucking?n any food i need to avoid??thanks a lot.

Hiya there.

The best food for a Parrot is Pellets. They are very healthy and will soon make your birds feathers flourish. The best brand of pellets is Harrison's, it is organic and the most healthy. You can pick it up in an online parrot supplies shop. Another food to feed that is very good for feather growth is kale. It is a green leaf and is very helpful for growing feathers back.

Stay away from these foods: Avacado, Rhubarb, Chocolate, Greasy foods, Foods with salt, Foods high in sugar.

Regards,
Laducockatiel

[Michael]

Not sure as much about foods but I'd suggest not clipping wings, foraging toys, trick training, and just a lot of mental stimulation to keep attention away from plucking the feathers.

[pennyandrocky]

hi melon, congrats on new bird i hope you read the websites felix suggested. you also need preening and foraging toys, you should get a cone or a sweater to keep the injured area protected. if you see him pluck ignore it, if you make a fuss over it he'll be encouraged to do it more. mine is a feather chewer and was bald from her neck to tail feathers now she's almost fully feathered with just a line going down and we've only had her since june.

[GlassOnion]

HUGE cage, lots of foraging and chewing toys, training, veggies, fruits, pellets, lots of love.

Keep him busy remember, cockatoos are extremely, extremely smart and boredom kills them!
They constantly need to chew, it's a necessity not a luxury.

And seriously, please thoroughly read www.mytoos.com

[Melon]

hi,
thanks for all the advice,he seems really uncomfortable for his fur,he keep pulling n pulling it,the vet only able to give him medicine n guarant me it will grow full a month(the vet said its new special medical for cockatoo) but how the fur gonna grow if he keep pulling it???

he dsnt have interest in pellets,fruit,veg n i contact the owner n he said to me to give the bird rice,is it ok??he never eat anything but rice!!when i show him vegie he look at me like to say:"whats that??i dont want to try it!!"

[Polarn]

I'd say it is a hard balance with the diet when it comes to birds who arnt fully healthy (mentally, atleast i presume it is menatal illness that causes his featherplucking). You want to keep the bird as happy and occupied as possible, at the same time you want the bird to eat healthy for the long run... I'm not sure how much rice you can have in a birds diet for a period of time, I do know it isnt harmful to give to your bird on occations... but if osmeone know how much rice you can actually feed a bird during a convertion period. meaning converting him from the foods he currently eats and to a diet you want it to eat...
usually when you have birds only eating seeds you need to mix it with pellets, and keep replacing parts of the seeds for pellet every day until you no longer put seeds in the bowl. And if it were a seed diet he was on I would probably say it would be okay to keep him on a seed diet for some time while still leaving fruits and veggies and pellets in the cage...
You might be able to produce a mash that he eats, consisting of mixed veggies and pellets (toss em in a blender) and then mix it in with rice, see if he touches that... if he does try remove the rice completely and see if he eats the mash of veggies and pellets... if he does, great then he is on the diet you want him on, except it is mixed (was the only way i got pellets into my lil fella when he first got here.....)

[liz]

Rice has very little nutritien. It is used as a filler in a meal like potatoes and pasta are. It is carbohydrate only with no vitamins or protien worth counting.

Give him pellets free choice and some sunflower seed to add oil to his diet. Eat in front of him and give him a plate that looks like yours. Show him how much you enjoy your food. Say mmm a lot.
If you have eggs and toast for breakfast give him some egg and toast.

These guys are flockers and will copy what the others in the flock (you) do and eat. I got 2 wild cockatiels who only ate seed. My Sweetie showed them the food she was eating and now they try anything I give them. Myrtle came to me only eating seed. She copied Rambo then wanted to try anything we put in our mouths.

[allirho]

These guys are flockers and will copy what the others in the flock (you) do and eat.

liz has some great advice there!
My budgie wouldn't touch anything but seeds a week ago. I couldn't get him to try anything!
Then I started eating fruits and vegetables in front of him, making lots of 'Mmm!" and "yumm!" noises. I would eat the food with my budgie on my finger, watching me.
Then I would offer him some of the food and he would start to nibble on it because I was showing him that the food is tasty and safe to eat.

But don't expect your bird to love the food right away and eat the whole thing. Most likely he/she will nibble it at first just to see how it tastes. Just keep offering it to your bird everyday and eventually they will start to eat it on their own!
Good luck!

[Melon]

hi guys,
i just find out he is SHE. the vet told me he is female,not male.
she start to eat some seeds n 2 small pieces of apple,but thats it.her body is really small n thin,poor my baby she is uncomfortable with the broken feather.she tried to be energic to explore all my house n broke my cabinet she often asked me to preen it but im not sure how to do that.i give her preening,n seems she ask to do it more n more.he only ask for 1 place,under her wings,which is the worst one.should i preen her or its make the skin more bad??
oh ya,i just wonder why she is so small compare cockatoo that i ever see before.she even smaller than timneh grey.is it normal?the vet dsnt tell me anything about her body size,i just wondering why she is so small?
thanks for the answer