Preventing feather plucking

[Crazypetlady]

So, I had an African Grey for 11 years before she died of teflon gas poisoning. Before this, she had aspergillosis which she was getting treated for. These things were a result of her environment, however.

When I took her home as a baby, the breeder schooled me in proper parrot nutrition. She told me what to get and how often to feed her these things, etc. Now that was 20 years ago so I'd imagine the general opinions on what is considered "proper" bird nutrition have changed. With the exception of aspergillosis, she was always healthy. I always kept feeding her the same things but became lax with a couple things over time. When she plucked a tiny patch on her chest one day, I quickly got on top of her diet, bought her a larger cage, and she stopped plucking immediately. (Oddly, the feathers grew back red). She lived for years after that incident without ever plucking again.

Now that I'm getting another CAG, I am looking things up and I am alarmed to read how widespread plucking is these days. It probably always has been with captive birds but I had never had a reason to research it much before.

So I'm hoping to reconcile what I used to feed Indiana with whatever is considered proper nutrition these days. The breeder I got my first CAG at has been in the business for 32 years and they were once featured by the national geographic society as a place to get healthy birds (as opposed to the black market) in one of their special reports.

I would imagine even their own diet for parrots has evolved since then.

Here's what Indiana's diet consisted of (in the 1990's)

- Kaytee exact natural pellets
- Zupreem Fruit blend
- Yellow split pees soaked overnight
- vitamin supplement powder
- monkey chow
- fruits and veggies

I bought everything from them in clear ziplock bags so the above brands are as close as I can get. At least these look identical to what I fed her back then. (I think they bought everything in bulk and rationed it out for sale to customers)

Everything I mentioned was fed daily except for the monkey chow.
The powder vitamin powder sprinkled on top of the soft split pees
Monkey chow soaked in warm water 2-3x a week.

She enjoyed all of it.

I also would give her red peppers now and agaIn but I can't say she loved them.
Once in a rare blue moon she'd have spray millet seed.

So how does all this differ from parrot's diet today?

[Michael]

That diet pretty much sounds fine. When you hear of diet induced plucking we're mainly talking about a parrot on an all seed diet. Then again the kinds of owners that would feed their parrot nothing but seed probably don't give it proper caging/attention so it may not even be the root of the problem. The only thing I would substitute from your list is those "fruity" pellets to an unsweetened/uncolored diet. Roudybush or Harrison's are the way to go. Also, if you feed at least a 50% pellet diet, there is no need for supplemental vitamins and in fact probably better not to use them. They encourage bacteria and it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

I think keeping a parrot flighted, giving it daily flight opportunity, at least reasonable diet, sufficient toys/stimulation, and at least moderate daily interaction are what is necessary to prevent feather plucking. Of course there could always be something very individualistic (possibly genetic) that even a perfectly cared for parrot could end up plucking. However, the vast majority of cases we encounter plucking, there is a pretty clear basis of negligence behind it. Which of those factors exactly are the cause or what combination is difficult or impossible to say. But owners who do all of them tend not to encounter plucking while negligent owners who done none are more likely to. Better be safe and do everything right because trying to do that later on a bird that learned to pluck may be irreversible.

[Andromeda]

I think keeping a parrot flighted, giving it daily flight opportunity, at least reasonable diet, sufficient toys/stimulation, and at least moderate daily interaction are what is necessary to prevent feather plucking. Of course there could always be something very individualistic (possibly genetic) that even a perfectly cared for parrot could end up plucking. However, the vast majority of cases we encounter plucking, there is a pretty clear basis of negligence behind it.

Michael is right, but I want to emphasize that no matter what you do there is a possibility your bird will pluck (especially with a CAG).

I have a brown-headed parrot who is a rescue. I feed him Harrison's along with fresh fruit and vegetables every day. He has a full-spectrum light. He is flighted. He has a huge cage and lots of different kinds of toys. He spends 10 - 12 hours a day out of his cage on his foraging tree and he has constant interaction (my husband and I are home most of the time).

Despite this he started plucking last October. There was zero change in his environment; I just woke up one day and uncovered him and there was a huge pile of feathers on the bottom of the cage.

He only plucks at night and never touches a single feather during the day. I took him to the vet immediately and he had a battery of tests but everything came back normal. The vet initially thought it was hormonal and he had three Lupron injections but they didn't help. I have tried, among other things, a nightlight (he plucked even worse), supplements (AviCalm, Featheriffic, Rescue Remedy), aloe baths, a sleeping cage, waking him up earlier in the morning, letting him get more sleep, etc. Nothing helped.

I try not to be sad about it but I never, ever thought I would have a bird who plucks because I try to provide them with everything they could ever want or need. His plucking has improved since I've started clicker training him but he still plucks.

You absolutely want to do everything you can to prevent it in the first place but the reality is that some well-cared-for birds seem to pluck for psychological reasons.

[Crazypetlady]

Thanks for the responses. It is kindof depressing to think that a bird could still pluck no matter how well cared for it is.

Maybe I was just really lucky with my first cag in that department?

I have read somewhere that CAGs are more prone to pluck if its cage is in a place where it has a clear view of the front door of the house and they can see people come and go from it. I can only imagine this is because they are looking at the door and anticipating someone will come and they don't. (Outta site, outta mind?)

My first CAG was never in view of the house/apartment door. But with this new guy, I have to put him where he can see the door. Makes me wonder a bit....

[Andromeda]

Thanks for the responses. It is kindof depressing to think that a bird could still pluck no matter how well cared for it is.

Maybe I was just really lucky with my first cag in that department?

I have read somewhere that CAGs are more prone to pluck if its cage is in a place where it has a clear view of the front door of the house and they can see people come and go from it. I can only imagine this is because they are looking at the door and anticipating someone will come and they don't. (Outta site, outta mind?)

My first CAG was never in view of the house/apartment door. But with this new guy, I have to put him where he can see the door. Makes me wonder a bit....

A well-cared-for bird is unlikely to pluck, but yes, it can and does still happen. It's down to the individual bird.

Certain species are more predisposed to plucking (African Greys, Cockatoos, Quakers) for some reason, but again, it's down to the individual bird.

Feather destructive behavior in general is not well understood (even by veterinarians) as it's a behavior that never happens in the wild. It's only known in captivity.

I'm sure that my brown-headed parrot started plucking for some reason, but I have tried everything to figure out what it is and I am out of ideas. At the end of the day only he knows why he'll pluck one night, and then the next several nights will leave his feathers alone---and he can't tell me the reason.

Do everything you can to try to prevent it in the first place, but realize that there is a small chance that no matter what you do, your bird will pluck.

[Andromeda]

I'd also like to mention one thing in addition to Michael's advice: some birds pluck if they don't get enough direct sunlight. If you're not able to bring your bird outside frequently you can get a full-spectrum light to hang over your bird's cage (or play area).

Most birds who have neither access to direct sunlight nor a full-spectrum light will never end up plucking, but are cases of plucking based on lack of sunlight.

[Paulsmom]

My CAG male female is bad about plucking. I do not have my male and female in the same cage because I do not want to raise greys. My problem was solved by hanging a metal mirror in the cage. This also stopped the plucking when my male began to pluck. Sometimes they get to breeding age (my male is 19 and my female is 16) and they want a mate and will start plucking. The mirror gives them the feeling I guess of having a mate, they both sleep very close to the mirror.

Not sure if that will work for everyone but has worked for me.