Feather picking/overpreening in a quaker

[LaManuka]

Hi all. By now many of you will be aware of my baby Quaker ScoMo. His name is a bit of a "working title", I bought him while there was a political coup d'etat going on here in Australia (again!) and I "temporarily" named him after the guy who is our new Prime Minister, Scott (Sco) Morrison (Mo), I guess you could say that's his gangster name

Anyway I meant to take ScoMo and his roomy Fang down to the vet about 2 weeks or so ago but my father-in-law was hospitalised after having had a stroke so unfortunately those plans were delayed. In the intervening 2 weeks it seems ScoMo has developed a bit of an overpreening problem with the feathers on his back at the top of his wings. First the left side which started about 5 days ago, and this morning he has started on the right. This has prompted a call to our bird vet this morning who will see him tomorrow evening.

I am well aware of feather plucking and even quaker body mutilation syndrome being a problem but I must say I am surprised it has started this soon as he is probably only about 4 or 5 months old at best! He came to me with severely overclipped wings and cannot fly - my wooden floor is covered with blankets and towels and pillows etc etc to try to break his fall but accidents sometimes do happen and he overshoots them.

He was one of 2 quakers for sale when I got him, and he was the quieter of the 2 which made me feel kind of sorry for him. He and his brother were being poked at and picked up off their playstand by everyone who came into the shop, his brother seemed to enjoy the attention whereas ScoMo was much more shy. I felt bad leaving one of them behind but I couldn't quite justify the price of both! He is not exactly a snuggly bird and doesnt like head skritches, not yet anyway. He doesnt seem to mind my holding him close though, he beak butts my face and will try to preen my face and hair. He stepped up like a little champion from day 1 and is also doing quite well with potty training. No biggie if he gets it wrong but plenty of positive reinforcement when he gets it right, ie when he poops ANYWHERE but on me! He eats a pellet diet with lots of supplementary fresh veg and since this whole feather picking thing started I've been cutting eucalypt/bottlebrush branches for him to chew and climb around on which he seems to enjoy. I suspect it's a reaction to my going to work and leaving him caged during the day, but thats only 3 days a week, otherwise there is almost always someone here and he is out for the majority of the time.

I am so worried about this feather picking thing I cannot tell you! He will be seeing who I believe is one of the best CAVs in the country tomorrow and I'm happy about that, but if anyone has any experience/tips/advice/words of general encouragement or moral support in the meantime we would both be very appreciative!

 

[LaManuka]

And here's a picture!

 

[Scott]

Picking/plucking is one of the more vexing traits of parrots. There may be multiple triggers, and at some point the bird normalizes such behavior. If the follicles are picked to destruction, baldness in the area occurs.

One of our beloved former moderators began a thread with exquisite description of the issues and resources to help mitigate or end plucking: http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

Good luck with the CAV visit, hope there are more answers than questions!!

 

[LaManuka]

Thankyou for your response Scott. We have only had ScoMo for a few weeks and the environment where he came from was, to my mind at least, less than ideal. He's only a baby but has had a severe wing clip. The store we got him from had him and his brother on a playstand about 1.5 metres tall,maybe a bit higher. They were exposed to a lot of foot traffic in and out of the shop and were pretty much poked and prodded by everyone who went by. This may only be speculation on my part but, judging by the way he launches himself in my home trying to fly, I imagine if he was doing that in the shop on those bare concrete floors he may have hurt and/or stressed himself. Things are certainly a lot more calm on the home front here, but he does strike me as quite a sensitive little soul (maybe speculation again!) He is with me on my shoulder as I write this to you and he says "hi" and "thank you" too! And he isn't picking at the moment!

I have read Allee's work with rescue quakers and her information about plucking and mutilation, her writings are very informative and helpful and I do follow them - like I say I've never had a plucker and I thought it was only something that would impact an abused or neglected bird and mine certainly are not!

Anyway he has an appointment with a very good CAV tomorrow (they'd just had a cancellation when I called so happy about that!) so I will post an update when I have some more news.

Thank you again and let me just say I've learned more about parrots in the few weeks I've been with your forum than I have in years! You have some extra-ordinary people who contribute here and I am grateful to each and every one of you!

Very best regards,
La Manuka Scarlette

 

[LaManuka]

Now I’ve seen everything! I noticed that when ScoMo ate his pellets he appeared to almost try to embed each one in those feathers he’s been picking at in his back. He seemed to be simultaneously eating the pellet, crunching away as he did so, and picking at/overpreening the feathers. So I switched the food in his bowl to some lightly steamed then cooled and chopped broccoli and corn to see what he’d do with that and hey presto no trying to eat it out of his back! Then not long before bedtime he was on my shoulder in the kitchen and I handfed him a couple of pellets and he went straight back to trying to embed them in his back feathers - bizarre behaviour! Cannot wait to tell the doc about that one!

 

[Laurasea]

Hi, he looks young! Like mine did at eight weeks....maybe they forced weaned him? That could lead to behavior issues in one so young. I'm glad you have a good vet and can't wait to hear what they say.. misting seems to help my older rescue along with offering daily bath bowl, and time outside in the sun/shade. Good luck!!!!

 

[Laurasea]

Also being clipped before they fledge causes some behavior issues. I read up that because mine was clipped before fledgling

 

[LaManuka]

I thought that too, and that he may have been too young to have been sold. He was fine until I had to leave him and go to work, maybe it’s God’s way of saying I need to be a stay-at-home mum! But he will be seeing one of the very best CAVs in this country today so hopefully we can stop this developing into something really nasty!

 

[wrench13]

Can I suggest something. May sound crazy. Buy a bunch of popsicle sticks and let him play with them. Quakes have strong nest building urges, stronger in some individuals. He may put the sticks in his feathers, but who cares. He may also build a nest in his cage that you will have to dismantle every now and then.

 

[LaManuka]

Thank you so much for your suggestion Mr Wrench I will try just about anything at this stage no matter how random! Isn’t he too young though to be doing nesting type stuff? I’m supposed to go to work today but I’m thinking of blowing them off for the day! Do you think he’d do the same thing if I cut down those eucalypt branches into paddle pop stick sizes? Any and all suggestions welcome THANK YOU

PS We call popsicles “paddle pops”
in Australia

 

[LaManuka]

Thank you again Mr Wrench I will try ScoMo on the cut up eucalypt branches today - don't have any popsicle sticks handy

 

[noodles123]

Have you adjusted lighting and sleep? That can sometimes help. My bird likes to fidget with c-links sometimes (instead of preening)..

 

[LaManuka]

Thanx for your response Noodles123. Sleeping is pretty much he gets up at sunrise and goes to bed at sunset. He really doesn't like staying up late and gets a bit fractious in the evening if we don't put him to bed right on sundown. So therefore that's when he goes to bed, what the bird wants the bird gets (which is more than I can say for the humans in the household!)

 

[noodles123]

LOL. Amen.
I will also add that my bird is less interested in preening wet feathers (sensation isn't the same I guess)---I don't spray to punish, but when the temp is okay, I will spray to bathe and if there is an area she is very interested in, I do pay more attention to it when spraying.

 

[Scott]

My hunch is your Quaker has multiple ingrained behaviors that are less than optimal. Once the vet assesses overall health you'll have a clear path towards behavior modifications.

I recently brought a Goffins to the vet due to various symptoms including sudden plucking of his chest. Turned out he had an infection, and the CAV mentioned belly-related illnesses can trigger picking. Now that he is clear of illness, the plucking stopped and the feathers have largely replaced.

 

[LaManuka]

Thanks for your moral support guys!! I am an anxious parent as I guess we all are here, my CAV usually offers me what he likes to call "client Valium" I get so bad. You should've seen me when Baci had what was described as background level psittacosis - the anxiety levels were off the charts!! I am aware ScoMo may pick up on my state of nerves to I have been desperately trying not to show him or make any kind of a fuss about it. I think I've caught it pretty early though and our CAV has already gone into full overdrive in response before we even get him down there so I know they will take it seriously whatever it is. Only problem for me is because I'm stuck at work all day my long-suffering husband will be the one taking him in. I've given him a full list of symptoms/behaviours/instructions etc etc ad nauseum so you can just imagine it! Mr Wrench gave me some interesting insight into a possibility of nesting behaviour too, although I would've thought he was too young for that, (ScoMo that is, not Mr Wrench ) Anyhoo I will post again once I have a better idea whassup.

Thanks everyone for your continued ideas and support, I very much appreciate it!!

 

[LaManuka]

ScoMo’s doc says it’s not feather plucking, more to come - film at 11!

#phew!

 

[LaManuka]

Ok one huge sigh of relief, doc does not believe its feather plucking/mutilation, but he's just a bit bored when we are at work and its just "what he does". He doesn't believe that it will degenerate into a plucking problem, but of course just keep an eye on it. He has been wormed and blood tests sent away, results back tomorrow. If he has some kind of medical issue that may also have initiated the picking but again we will hear once the test results come back.

Overall he was pretty happy with his condition considering where he came from (not a fan of the dealer we got him from) but he is a bit underweight. Doc was happy with his diet and conditions he is being housed in (I should think so too!)

Due to the severity of the wing clip he has suggested we get some feather implants to circumvent future psychological issues, which we will have done asap. Poor little guy took another tumble this morning and it must be very frustrating for him. Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly right?? So that will be a bit of an adventure and I will keep you posted.

I'm kinda reporting all of this third hand cos my poor LSH (long-suffering husband) was the bunny who was tasked with taking ScoMo to the doc as I was stuck at work all day. I think he was suffering from information overload after the first 10 minutes!

Meanwhile may i say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed their ideas and assistance. I am going to go and have a stiff drink now and a nice lie down....

Love you guys! :smile015::smile015::smile015:

The Scarlet Manuka, signing out!

 

[Laurasea]

So glad to hear good news on Scomo!!!!! Did his fecal come up positive for worms?? Did your doctor give you an estimate on age? It will be interesting to read about the flight feather help. Are you planning to harness train? Good luck in blood work. I think Neptune and Scomo are brothers from another mother! He will be flying soon.

 

[LaManuka]

Thank you thank you thank you I was so happy it wasn’t plucking, that would have worried me soooio much! Doc would’ve done a fecal test but hubby didn’t tell me about the results of that I think it was lost in the barrage of info he was hearing. As far as age doc says lots of breeders “double clutched” in the last year here due to favourable weather so he’s either 4 or 9 months old - personally I’m leaning towards 4 months due to various factors and because he just acts so baby-ish. In which case yes ScoMo & Neptune could be long distance brothers, that’d be nice maybe they can be penpals!

Flight feather imping will be fun. I love teaching my babies to fly but it’s usually once the feathers grow back naturally so much more gradually whereas this will be an instant transformation! I think it’s worth doing though due to the psychological payoff. I don’t harness train my guys, they tend to become strictly indoor birds once they’re flighted but I make sure they get plenty of exercise. Nothing nicer than when they learn to fly & they choose to fly over to you for the first time, it shows how much they want to be with mum & I think that’s such a privilege Is Neptune flying yet?

Anyway I will report back regarding blood work & feather imping & flight training school. So many new adventures coming up for ScoMo, he won’t know what hit him.