Vests for Feather Pluckers?

[lplummer52]

I've seen Cockatoos wearing vests and assume it's because they're plucking the feathers in their chests? Just curious. Does it help?

 

[ChristaNL]

Usually it is at least making sure it is not easy for them to gnaw on their own flesh, sometimes it is to protect wounds and fragile skin, sometimes it is just to help keep the bird warm ...
yes, sometimes it helps, sometimes it does not.


I've had D. (my CAG who is no more) wearing modified socks for months before we had to decide there was nothing more we could do for her....
(I still have to finish wrinting her story - but I keep breaking down, it will come...)


Those "suits" are quite easy to make, just choosing the right/safe materials and finding them are a bit tricky.
(LOL trying to figure out your birds 'shoesize' is another challenge I never saw coming)
.

 

[EllenD]

At the Rescue we often get pluckers who are wearing vests, or more often they are wearing sweaters. They usually look just like a sleeveless, turtleneck sweater, where their wings come out of the arm holes and the turtleneck is there to cover the area under their chin and around their neck and high chest area. And they usually are long enough that they cover their entire belly and you can just see their legs. And except for their wings, their backs and the tops of their shoulders are also covered. They actually work very well, and honestly I've not seen any bird wearing one who even acted like they had it on, like they don't even notice it.

The only time they care about the sweaters is on "changing day", which we usually do once weekly (unless they get them dirty somehow, with food or whatever). Some of the birds have multiple sweaters, so we always make sure that they have a clean one ready to put on, and others only have one sweater, so what we do on "changing day" is take their sweater off and throw them right in the washing machine, and then while we're waiting for their sweater to get washed and dried, we let them bath or shower, whatever they prefer, to keep them occupied while we're waiting. We also will take them outside while their sweaters are being washed and dried, because this tends to keep them occupied and not thinking about their feathers. Works really well. Getting the sweaters off is easy. Getting them back on is something that you just have to learn to do quickly and get it done, and then it's over, lol.

Honestly, the sweaters I've seen work really, really well. They allow their feathers to have time to grow back in, in some cases fully. And in some cases once their feathers grow back in fully (if they only pluck their chests/bellies/backs), we can actually slowly "wean" them off of the sweater. And it certainly does stop the mutilators from causing themselves harm...

 

[noodles123]

That is the idea behind it- it is not fool-proof----sometimes it can further agitate the bird or cause irritation and infection if too tight, or if hygiene becomes an issue etc. Whether it works depends a lot on the bird and the reason behind their plucking, but most of it depends on the diligence of the owner (they need to be changed and loose threads can be problematic). That having been said....A bird that plucks for a release will often find a new location to pluck if the urge is strong enough, but the vests can and do work in certain situations (assuming they don't totally upset the bird). In a bird that has torn open his/her chest, a cone or something is really your only option at that point, so it is a matter of picking the lesser of 2 "evils".

 

[ChristaNL]

@ Ellen - could you show the difference?
Maybe share some pictures?

I haven't much experience with "covering" a parrot -> I just had to make do with some youtubes and internetlinks.

Not sure if we have less pluckers here or maybe people just dont like to "fezz up" to having a less-than-perfect parrot.

 

[EllenD]

Let me see if I can find some photos of what I'm talking about. I don't personally have any photos of the birds that I've dealt with at the Rescue, but I'm sure I can find something...