My approach to Perjo's feathers chewing

[DRB]

I figured I would post what I am doing for the chance it could be helpful for someone else at some point. We all know getting to the bottom of feather plucking, barbering, chewing etc is the most difficult thing to do b/c we have no way of knowing for sure what causes it if it is not a medical problem.

So someone offline sent me some links they found, and it hit me that I am looking at what I am not doing more so than what I am doing with Perjo. So I am starting with diet.

Perjo's diet has always consisted of Roudybush pellets, and a decent variety of fresh veggies and fruits. I do use some treats, usually cashews, Karen's dried veggies, almonds, sunflower kernels (this is the most common) and wheat pasta elbows. My thought is maybe something she is eating is triggering a reaction and causes her to chew feathers (and remember these are ONLY wing flight feathers), with an occasional red tail feather. She doesn't pluck them she chews them, there is a difference for those that are unaware.

So starting on July 13th I am removing cashews, wheat pasta and sunflower kernels from her routine. I will update this thread as regularly as I can with my analysis of how she is reacting.

My goal is to get her to stop chweing, but during this process I am hoping to find a food item that is a cause and hopefully notice significant reduction in chewing and then over what I hope is short term reintroduce an item to see if it reignites her chewing. Then I/we will know.

Feel free to chime in, but I'm doing this publicly as a way for many people to read along and see results if there end up being any.

 

[Billdore]

Just a thought what if it's not what your doing as far as food but something else going on in Perjos world that's possibly upsetting her. Maybe also try adding some new types of toys, foot toys and different things to destroy. What about switching the types of pellet she eats. I don't have any experience with this stuff just trying to give you guys some different ideas. Good luck I hope you get it all figured out soon.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Wish you luck and hope for some positives with your experiment.

Parrots - Feather plucking in parrots - Learn causes and remedies for feather plucking and feather chewing.

Link for info. Have you had a full CAV work out, bloods? Do your best to ensure her diet is balanced and maybe thought should be given to changing your pellet. Be interested to hear how it goes.

 

[DRB]

I've had a full workout from avian vet. I'm starting with a couple simple things first, and going one at a time. No sense of subtracting this and adding that all at once, would never know what had an impact or not.

Update - day 2 of no cashews or sunflower kernels or wheat pasta, I have her paying less attention to her under wing feathers.

 

[DRB]

4 days in (eliminating the treats from her routine) and Perjo seems to pay much less attention to her feathers. That's not to say when I am not in her presence she hasn't, but I can only go by what I see (I don't have any cameras set up at the moment). An interesting note, that her mood hasn't changed despite no treats. She's still as friendly and playful and "talkative".

 

[LordTriggs]

sounds good! Who knows, maybe the reason will remain forever another of the many birdy mysteries

Good to know Perjo is a friendly bird!

 

[DRB]

5 full days and Perjo has done little feather chewing from what I have witnessed. She is on calcium supplements and she is drinking antibiotics from her water bowl daily, and I have removed the aforementioned treats from her routine. I think I will go another two days and reintroduce some of the treats one at a time while she is still taking the supplements and antibiotics.

 

[mh434]

Our CAG Reno arrived with nothing but down - he'd chewed off all his feathers right to the roots (thankfully, he hadn't plucked them), as he'd been doing consistently for 10 years before we got him. The lady who had owned him didn't allow him to interact with her much (occasionally, he was allowed to stand on her knee, but that was it), and his cage was kept behind closed doors in a small room, where he couldn't watch the goings-on in the house.

What seemed to work for us was to immediately integrate him into our flock, give him lots of attention (as well as watching the other birds getting attention), and being firm with him about the things we didn't want him to do (like, the several holes he chewed through our new leather sofa...). His cage is in the living room, with all the other birds, and he really seems to enjoy the stimulation of watching their antics.

Now, a couple of years later, he is the "poster child" for a fully & gloriously plumed CAG (he's also gained a bit of weight!). He truly is spectacular, and hasn't attempted to chew a feather in 2 1/2 years. Just some ideas, anyway...

 

[DRB]

Just over a week of this approach and today I saw her with a feather in her mouth, doesn't looked plucked, but I highly doubt it just fell out and she picked it up off the floor. She probably played around with it and pulled it out just not sure if she is 100% finished with her recent molt. All in all she has been fidgeting with her wing feathers less. She's going to the breeders to stay two nights tomorrow so that should also give me a good idea of how she is mentally and behaviorally when I pick her up Tuesday. Will have a whole new slew of chew toys for her and start introducing some treats back into her daily routine.

Thanks for all info and suggestions.