Plucking

[willist]

My Greenwing, Auggie, 6 years old has suddenly plucked out almost all his feathers, his entire chest ,his legs and most of his back. I took him to an avian vet 2 weeks ago. I'm still waiting for his lab results which she told me today she still won't have until sometime next week. She is suppose to be one of the best avian vets in my area. I'm not very happy with how long this is taking. She has Auggie on antihistamines, 2 types of omega oils and some other drug which is downstairs and I can't remember what that one is. She also got me to change Auggie over to a pellet diet which he took to with no trouble. I've added more veggies to his diet as well. I'm misting him every day also. One change that might have caused his plucking was the cold weather we had here in Fl. a few weeks ago and he was unable to go outside and to the beach on a few weekends. Its warmed up now and he is going outside every day now. Anyway after all that I'm wondering if anyone has any advice. Thanks for reading this I know its kind of long.

 

[ann]

hi, it sounds like you have a wonderful bird! as for the plucking, does he seem bored or depressed at all? have you recently changed any furniture, or is he scared of a new toy? i dont know too much about feather plucking but it sounds like your doing all that you can. All i can say is that they do have stuff to make them grow back. also truy to distract him from plucking sort of how when a bird bites and you distract them with a toy. good luck!

 

[jew1187]

Did you het him fit with a collar? I don't have experience with them but I have talked to others who have used them. At least using one for the time being so he can't pluck any feathers. Granted I can't imagine that it would be good for preening, but I think plucking feathers would be a bigger problem then not being able to preen.

 

[EvieWg]

Aw! Poor baby! My parent's grey is a plucker... there's nothing wrong with him, but I think the cold weather has something to do with it, actually what I mean is the heaters that we turn on when it gets cold. The grey plucks a lot during the winter, but as soon as it gets warm and we turn the heat off, he stops.

 

[MikeyTN]

Aw! Poor baby! My parent's grey is a plucker... there's nothing wrong with him, but I think the cold weather has something to do with it, actually what I mean is the heaters that we turn on when it gets cold. The grey plucks a lot during the winter, but as soon as it gets warm and we turn the heat off, he stops.

Try getting a humidifier! There was another post few days ago about the same situation!

 

[MikeyTN]

Auggie had his routine changed and he's probably unhappy!!!! Plucking can also be a serious condition so good thing you took him to the vet. Better diet will help him as well! Anything else changed in his routine or have you added anything recently? My macaw does NOT like it when we add something new to the room.

 

[wildheart]

One change that might have caused his plucking was the cold weather we had here in Fl. a few weeks ago and he was unable to go outside and to the beach on a few weekends.

I am so sorry to hear about this and it is extremely stressful on you to witness this and not be able to do something about it.

Birds, well all the animals that were born to be free goes into severe depression when we keep them inside while they are used to being outside. I so much wish that they can understand that it is not our fault but due to the weather and that WE THINK it is best for them. On those miserable days I bring ALL Sterretjie's outdoor foraging toys, swings, ropes etc. etc. in, in the hopes that she will accept staying inside. It never works, she just sit on the same spot the WHOLE DAY LONG and sulk. She hardly touches her food and bites me with so much aggression when she sees me leaving for work and realising that she will be inside for the day.

My bearded dragons turns from orange to black, does not touch their food and also stays on the same place the whole day - drooped over a rock with no will to live.

My iguana eats nothing even when it is his most favourite dish and he refuses to eat until he is outside again even if it is for weeks/months. He also becomes very aggressive during this time and will throw all his plants over in his attempt to open his tunnel door.

So, yes, keeping Auggie inside most probably caused the plucking. The question is what are we going to do when the weather are bad again?

Birdzhaven leaves his birds outside even while it snowed. Maybe he should tell us how to get ourselves to take the chance cause heaven knows I cant see myself doing it. But like I said WE THINK keeping them inside is good for them - maybe we are thinking wrong? I wonder if he does anything special to the aviary to make it a bit warmer?

We have a backyard aviary and it is amazing how well the parrots cope with the cold weather! They tougher than I am that's for sure! I posted an article about them last evening: Life at Birdzhaven | Anecdotes of living with birds

 

[MikeyTN]

My Macaw hates going outside so I don't have any issues with him wanting to go outside, he's happy to just stay indoors. He freaks out every time I try taking him out. So eventually I give up. Only time he's forced to go out is during vet visit, he was fine the first time but he learns very quickly, he hates car rides now cause he knows where he's going....He freaked out last time almost causing me to wreck. He won't go in the kennel or any carriage. So I have to have someone else drive me there since then so I can deal with him to keep him calm. I would be scared to take my birds outside during the cold weather....Someone just had one escaped outside in memphis a few weeks back in the snow storm that we had....I wonder if they ever got him back....

 

[wildheart]

It is not just outside in a small cage etc., it is outside in enrichment flight aviaries. My girl will give her wings to stay there 24/7 even after dark. Of course I do not allow this and she comes in by 5 and is inside when I think its cold. It is a struggle every day to get her to come inside and to be honest, it makes me VERY happy to see her so happy.

 

[willist]

Keeping birds outside might be great for the bird, however my neighbor kept her B&G outside until somebody stole him.

 

[suebee]

what about uva lighting for when there inside??

and seeing the bald patches grow etc is as stressfull for you as it is for the bird to do it

or worse when i get back from work and there is a little pile of chewed of coloured feathers at the bottom of her cage

some ppl put vests onto the birds, till the feathers grow back

try misting with a bit of glycerine in the water i got this idea from von (and again i cannot remember the numbers, sorry)

i do hope it all turns out ok for you an auggie

 

[wildheart]

Keeping birds outside might be great for the bird, however my neighbor kept her B&G outside until somebody stole him.

That is so wrong! Cases like that make me happy that we live in SA with 8 foot walls, electric fencing etc. What about putting a lock and chain around the gate?

I still cant see myself leaving her outside when it is cold, we dont get snow and I think our winter is about the same as your Florida winter?

 

[MikeyTN]

Keeping birds outside might be great for the bird, however my neighbor kept her B&G outside until somebody stole him.

Let someone try to steal my B&G if they want to lose a finger or have their skin peeled off by my B&G I'm very protective of my babies so I keep a very close watch on them.