Feather Barbering

[Chikoo]

My girl is barbering her feathers. Nothing dramatic, but everyday she makes some progress at barbering her new feathers that are growing in. I got her and she wasn't fully feathered, and had a history of plucking. I'm pretty sure her plucking was largely hormonal stress, and she doesn't seem to be doing it, at least in the past month or so. She barbers instead.

Is it useful for me to pull out the barbered feathers for her, to stimulate growth of new ones? I'm getting her a play gym too, so that should help keep her more occupied.

 

[BirdSquawk]

It might be benificial to help her remove the sheaths on the new feathers that have been in a while in places like the back of her head or back, giving her lukewarm water baths or showers can also help.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

A mister/bath spray called rain is really good, it's only water with a little aloe and very soothing to the skin. Also humidity will do wonders.

First off though make sure she's on the right diet, that's often the root of many problems. When I got my Galah she had organ failure and would pluck and chew her feathers, now that she's on a much better diet she rarely does it anymore, it took a awhile though, around 8 months to make a significant difference.

 

[Chikoo]

Her diet is definitely good. I live in Hawaii, so its naturally quite humid, so that shouldn't be an issue for her. I've been bathing her daily for some time now.