I have a rescued macaw who is hand shy. He just let me scritch his head sitting on my sholder for an hour!

WOOOOOHOOOOO time for a snack!

 My name is Melissa and I just adopted my first African Grey. I do have some bird experience, but it has been with Cockatiels and Quakers. I have spent time with a Grey, but this is the first one I have owned.

I have a soft spot for needy creatures and a situation presented itself that I just could not turn down. I have always wanted an African Grey and this boy desperately needed a new home. So desperately in fact that his adoption fee was unbelievably low. Yes, he is a plucker and will take lots of TLC, but he is such a sweet, gentle boy and I have done lots of research over the past few years so I'm confident that I can help him and things will go well. He has had a vet check and got a clean bill of health so the plucking is behavioral. I'm hoping that in a new home where he will get lots of attention he will stop. This all started when his last owner had a baby and the baby became scared of him so he has spent a lot of the past year in his cage.

Here's Max!

I have a cockatiel I adopted somewhat recently, about six months ago. When I adopted him and his mate her crest and neck were completely bald. I figured it was because he was bored, and possibly because she was weak and sick. Blood work ruled out the possibility of iron, sodium, or protein deficiency in him. A bit of bitter apple on her head as soon as they got home stopped him immediately and he was introduced to a variety of toys, allowed to fly, and forage for his food. Her feathers grew back in and he showed no interest in even trying to pluck her until after she was healthy again, at which point he did try to pluck her neck but she pushed him away. They got along very well with my other cockatiels so they are caged with them.

I thought the problem was gone and just kept watching her head until I saw him trying to pluck the heads of my two other hens. One pushed him away but the other would let him preen her and then not move away when he plucked her. I feel horrible because by the time I noticed a spot the size of a nickel right behind her crest was completely bald. I put some aloe on the bald spot and feathers are already growing back in, and I put Apollo (the trouble maker) in an extra cage. I didn't want him to be alone so I put my other hyper boy, Jesse, in there as well. Two days later Jesse was missing several feathers on his neck.

So now Apollo is caged by himself. I wanted to let him out with the other birds while I can supervise but he would fly out of his cage the second I opened the door, fly into the main cage, pluck a crest feather out of the first bird he came to, and fly away again.

The extra cage is lower then the main cage and lower then my eye level because he is a bit too confident. They forage for about half of their food, they are encouraged to fly as much as possible, they are showered daily, they get handled daily, they get to watch about a half hour of TV most days, the radio is on whenever I leave the room, and they have a huge variety of toys that are switched out once a month. Perhaps I overstimulated him?

Clipping his wings is out of the question because he only has one foot and uses his wings to balance himself.

I can find tons of information about birds plucking themselves, but plucking other birds doesn't bring up much information other then boredom or a deficiency in sodium, iron, or protein.

Crossposted to parrot_lovers and cockatiels

i have a six year old blue and gold macaw.
he came to us over a year ago now from a crappy home where he wasn't taken care of well. his name is Skylor, and he's clumsy as hell.

normally i keep his wings clipped, but lately, i've admitedly slacked on this. last night when i was at work, my boyfriend ian accidently scared bird man as he walked into the room. skylor was sitting on top of his cage and tried to fly. my guess is that he aimed himself to the fishtank, but flew too high, hit the wall, and landed-tail first-on the tank. not wanting to scare skylor more, ian had deb pic him up and put him back in the cage.

i called ian about half an hour after this happened and he was worried. he told me about what happened and that there were some spots of blood on the bed where deb had walked him, and on the floor. sure enough, there were. when i came home, i checked the ends of his wings for broken feathers, but found none. then i looked at his tail....oh boy.....

he has a couple new feathers coming in. one of the ones that was probly going to be over a foot long is broken. it's only four inches long right now. but it's a very thick feather. by the time i looked at it, it had already started drying, and i didn't want to hinder it doing so by putting him in a bath to help get rid of some of the blood. it stopped bleeding about an hour later. i was carefull to keep him hydrated and make sure his behavior didn't change. i didn't want him picking at it either, and am still discouraging him to do it.

i'm about to go to the store to get some quik stop. i'm going to use it after i give him a bath to help clean it and discourage infection.

i am worried about what to do from here. let me stress to you that i do not have money. and i'm not one of those people who has a little money in the bank and just refuses to spend it on their critters. i mean, right now i'm broke. otherwise, i would take him to the vet. i can't even get advice from the vet without them diagnosing the problem and sucking me dry first. i'm worried though, that the feather may need to be removed...

ug...i just don't know what to do! if you have any advice, any at ALL, please...

My quaker, Skipper, is eight years old andI've had him since a baby. His entire life, he has never had any behavioral problems or illnesses. I've been away on vacations before, always leaving him in the care of my parents or grandparents (he likes both and both handle and give him attention). Nothing has ever gone wrong before.
This summer, however, I started a new job two hours away that required me to be away from home four days out of the week. Being away from home and Skipper has been hard on me, but for the first three weeks, I came home to a happy, healthy parrot. This week, however, I came back, and according to my dad, he plucked virtually all of his plumage (his chest, back, legs. everything not on his head, tail, and wings.) in a matter of hours. It broke my heart to come home to see my sweet little bird in one of the states I've always feared the most but managed to avoid.
This was yesterday, and by the time I was home, all vets were closed. So, I called a few local bird-centric pet stores and read a lot of articles online. Using the information I acquired, I tried a lot of solutions. I replaced all toys I threw away and bought some new ones, misted him and let him take a shower with me, gave him some mullet and new toys, and drenched his feathers in a taste deterrent to discourage plucking. I'm going to add a multivitamin to his water, as well, and have my father (he loves my dad) keep him in his office during the day. Tomorrow I hope to go to the vet. This entire time, though, I keep on catching glimpses of him yanking his feathers out. He seems unusually quiet and still, otherwise, and I'm terrified.

Anything else I can do to make things better and stop him from plucking at least until tommorrow? I'm pretty sure the vet is not going to have a solution, as his skin seems healthy and from what I can tell not infected or irritated, and mite-free (we have no other pets in the house).

So, i have a Lutino peachfaced lovebird who won't stop picking his legs. We took him to the vet about 2 years ago for it for a ridiculous amount of tests, gave him a giardia treatment just in case, but to no avail. the picking comes and goes, and just recently we discovered that he's picked both of his legs almost bald.
I bought this product to spray on his legs. I'm doing it morning and night. It seems to be working, any time he goes for his legs he comes back up with a repulsed headshake, but i still want a little feedback. The instructions say spray from ~8", but if i did that, i'd spray the whole bird. so I spray it really directly and make sure to cover his face.
Have any of you guys tried that Better Bitters product? Any result? Good or bad?

Thankee

There are many different ways to tackle the plucking issue. There are even different ways to treat the same cause, such as hormones. Here are some of the things I've tried for my birds:

1) Some would suggest Lupron on a regular basis. I'm not a big fan of Lupron as I prefer to do things the natural way. If it's helping perhaps you should try it for 6 months to a year. Meanwhile work on removing hormonal triggers from her environment. Then try taking them off the Lupron permanently, or only using it during the months of the year that they have the most problems.

2) Try meal feeding. In nature they typically eat two large meals a day with few snacks in between meals. When there is an abundance of food it can trigger them to make babies. Afterall, there is plenty of food to provide for them. One method is using small quantities of Harrison's along with lots of good, vitamin-rich veggies. Another great diet to try is the Feeding Feathers Plucker's Diet, which I'll discuss more below.

3) Sometimes birds ingest things they aren't supposed to and it can cause intestinal blockage, plucking, etc. Therefore Dr.Van Sant recommends that you eliminate soft plastic, paper, fibers such as string or cloth, cardboard, and any non-edible toys they ingest from the environment.

4) Essential Fatty Acids every day. I will explain this in more detail with the Feeding Feathers Plucker's Diet.

5) A couple drops of liqui-kelp added to the water daily supplies iodine, a necessary mineral.

6) No petting, or only a quick scritch on the head. Petting them a lot or in certain areas is like flirting with them. They end up thinking you want to have babies with them.

7) As much outside time as possible, at least 2-3 hours a week. This alone can stop plucking in some birds. The fresh air, interesting environment, and sunshine really benefit them. It's good for them for so many different reasons.

8) Daily showers, or if that doesn't work try once a week. With some parrots, especially itchy ones, the moisture of daily showers really helps. It can also distract them from plucking activities. With other parrots the excess "rainfall" makes them think it's spring and time to.. you guessed it... make babies.

9) 12 hours of darkness each night. Excess light maks them think it's spring and time to make babies.

10) Try removing easily shred toys. They can trigger hormones by telling the parrot, "We're shredding, so we must be building a nest."

11) If something causes hormonal behavior- nest building, flatbacking, etc. eliminate it from the enironment.

12) Use a sleep cage if possible and/or get her away from the cage during the day. The only time parrots spend their days wher ethe spend their nights in the wild is if they are on a nest. They start to think of their cage as their nest and this triggers hormones. A sleep cage can be a small cage or carrier. It just needs a bowl of water, perch, and perhaps a toy to snuggle with and chew.

13) Use positive reinforcement to teach her valuable skills, thereby reinforcing your role as teacher in her life... not mate. Teach her to step up onto hand held perches, go into a travel carrier, be toweled, fly to you, go to a specific place, do fun entertaining tricks, etc. Good bird magazine is an excellent resource for learning to do this.

14) Different stations to hang out on throughout the day. This mimics their life in the wild, as typically they'd sleep in one place, forage in another, nap in another, etc. Have an assortment of play areas for them to hang out on throughout the day. This is also a way to keep them off of you and busy doing fun parrot stuff. You are their friend, not their mate, so you don't want them to be snuggled up to you on your shoulder for hours on end. Try boings, atoms, nets, bottlebrush gyms, play gyms, tabletop perches, t-stands, etc. The biggest hits here are boings and bottlebrush gyms.

15) This link on how to not be a tease. Things you should consider no matter what the plucking is caused by. It reduces hormonal stress, which can make plucking worse no matter what the original cause was. http://www.rationalparrot.com/tease.html

16) The Feeding Feathers Plucker's Diet and Regimen. More info can be found at the Feeding Feathers yahoo group located here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeedingFeathers/

Compilation of what has worked for those living with plucking parrots.

By Gloria, Shauna and Alicia


The first thing to do in the case of a plucking bird is to make an
appointment with your avian vet. You need an appointment even if
your bird was just recently at the vets. Please keep in mind that
just because your bird was healthy at its last vet visit, that was

for that day only and not a week, month or year later. Suggested
diagnostic tools/tests for your vet to run that have been suggested
at AAV (Association of Avian Veterinarians) conferences and included
in some veterinary texts are the following: CBC, biochemical analyses

(AST, CPK, Ca, PO, uric acid,bile acids, GGT, total protein);
plasma electrophoresis; gram stains; DNA probe tests
for PBFD,polyoma and Chlamydophila; parasite evaluation;
+/- radiographs; +/- TRH stim

test or T3/T4 tests; cytology and gram stains of pulp or skin lesion;
culture of pulp or skin lesion; and biopsy for histopathology,
depending on the differential diagnosis.

You should never give your bird the following:


refined sugar
refined white flour
dairy products (with the exception of non or lowfat organic yogurt)
salt (although if bloodwork shows low sodium...occasionally a little
salt in the diet may improve plucking, but if sodium is normal,

then adding salt could harm kidneys)
fried foods
chemical preservatives
chemical dyes
artificial flavoring

We suggest that you start out by NOT offering the following foods to
your bird to see if you see improvement:


soy
corn (found in packaged foods/mixes or manufactured foods...organic
table corn used as a vegetable should be ok, corn causing the most
allergies is dent or field corn)
sweet potato
spirulina

wheat
peanuts
citrus
sunflower seed
semolina

IF the plucking CONTINUES then you may also want to try removing the
following gluten grains:
rye
barley
spelt
kamut
oats in some cases

wheat


If plucking stops after taking away the rye, barley, wheat, spelt, kamut and
oats you can try slowly reintroducing them later, after the plucking
has stopped.

Other foods that you may wish to try eliminating would be members of

the nightshade family:
Sweet peppers
potato
tomato

After eliminating any foods from the diet, and leaving them out for
several weeks to months, you can then slowly add them back into the
diet one by one, and watch for any reactions. If you don't see any

reaction to reintroduced food, then an allergy to those foods most
likely isn't a problem. IF you reintroduce soy, the recommended
soy is edamame or green soybean which looks like big snap peas. Tofu in
small amounts may be ok as well.


Diet to try is:

Organic WHOLE grains soaked for 24 hours and then sprouted or lightly
cooked (amaranth, quinoa, millet, spelt, kamut, barley, rye)
Organic WHOLE legumes (lentils more protein) ( mung and adzuki are most

easily digested) soaked for 10-24 hours and then cooked. Bring to boil
for 10 min., simmer for 20 min. If you sprout legumes, sprout until you
have at least 1/4 " tails, preferably longer.
Organic greens and veggies in season such as dandelion leaves,collards,

kale, carrot tops, radish tops, dark leafy lettuce, bok choy, celery,
cucumber, mustard greens, fennel, broccoli, cauliflower, radish,
beet root, cactus leaves, okra
Organic fruits in season such as apple, papaya,mango, pineapple,

banana, fig, coconut, berries, melon

Finely minced garlic..for a small bird only about 1/8 of a clove,
a large bird 1/4 clove, mixed into food a few times a week, NO more
than once a day.
A small bit of FRESH ginger no more than a few times a week


Supplement with a small amount of powdered alfalfa, you can purchase
capsules. suggested amounts: 1/8 capsule for birds up to 250 g,
1/4 capsule 250-500g, 1/3 capsule 500g-750 g, 1/2 capsule 750g-100g.


Also supplement with a tiny bit of kelp. It's best to add a small
amount of kelp to a recipe that lasts a few days. On a daily basis,
the amount of powdered kelp would be like what you may fit on the
end of a pen. A suggested amount of powdered kelp is: 1/10 of 1/4

teasp. per day for a medium sized parrot...that's how tiny! For a
plucker, you may try giving kelp daily for about 6 weeks and then
after that time give kelp 3-4 days of the week. Kelp can help to
stimulate a sluggish thyroid but it has been found that too much

kelp, or if given daily for a long period of time, that it can
inhibit thyroid activity, which could possibly lead to plucking.
Which is why the small dosage is so very important!

A quality refrigerated cold pressed flaxseed or hempseed oil

An unrefined palm oil a few times a week instead of the flax or
hemp seed oil
Sea Buckthorn Oil
Quality probiotics
A squirt of apple cider vinegar on fresh foods (approximately 1/4
teasp birds up to 250g, 1/2 teasp up to 500g etc)


Raspberries. You can use fresh or frozen..thawed. Mix a few daily
into fresh foods.Put through food processor is you need to.

Optional:
Veggie Magma or Berry Green powders
Hemp protein powder


A holistic approach is usually needed so besides diet

Take parrot outside for at least 20 min. of sun and fresh air, more
is better, weather permitting of course. Be sure that your bird has
adequate shade on sunny days.


Daily exercise. Have your bird walk, maybe go up some stairs. Flap
its wings on a hoop. If it flies, work on flight training. Supply
plenty of activities and projects in its cage to keep busy/active.


Bathe your bird several times a week. If it doesnt' like baths,
don't force them but gradually work on making bath time a good thing.

A recipe to help with skin inflammation and itching is
Try:
1 TBS. Hylands Calendula spray

1 Tsp. chickweed extract, non-alcohol or add a few drops boiling
water to evaporate alcohol
Put into 2 cups water, keep in fridge up to one week.

Another version that may be easier to obtain is:
1 TBS dried calendula herb

1 TBS dried chickweed herb

Steep each herb in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes. Combine and
store in refrigerator for up to one week. Use several times
a day for 5 days. Stop for 3 days to determine if another dose

is needed.

Plucking can also have behavioral challenges. You suspect your birds
plucking is behavioral then we suggest you sign up to the PBAS list
run by Susan Friedman Ph. D

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ParrotBAS


If you'd like me to expand on any of this, I can. If you're overwhlemed by it all and don't know where to begin, I can help you with that as well.

Stefanja from Out of the Blue Eclectus discusses her experience with cardboard causing plucking in her ekkie.
Hello Everyone,
Jewel is my nine year old pet female eclectus. She has been laying a
couple of clutches of eggs per year for the last three years.
During those times prior to laying she had been plucking new
feathers off her back and usually proceeded to also remove feathers
from her breast. I HATE when that happens ... I hear about it with
other pet eclectus hens but it is truly difficult when it happens
right at home! In between her eggs, usually twice per year, she
would become beautifully feathered again. Jewel did come to me to
be rehomed and ended up staying. She had had too many homes in too
short a period of time and was feather picking, screaming and biting
ferociously. Once she settled in here she let all her feathers grow
(seven years now) and has not picked again except around egg laying.
Last week, Jewel proceeded to pluck and chew off her feathers in an
overt and frenzied manner. Not just a casual clip but an all out
frenzy! She was about to lay her eggs and had been diligently
preparing her cardboard box and the paper it contained ... digging
and chewing and when she came out stabbing and jabbing at herself as
she preened frantically ... my impression was that she was covered
with insects that were biting her all over. As she became
increasingly agitated over a couple of days I took particular notice
of her skin that was becoming more and more exposed. It was a livid
red with what looked like a fine rash ... like grains of red pepper
all over her breast. Her back looked okay but she was also
frantically 'itching' that area as well and her legs. Her flights
and tail were fine.
As I tried to figure out what could possibly be the matter ... Jewel
has a great diet so I knew it wasn't food related ... it had
something to do with the egg laying ... it dawned on me. The one
thing she came into contact with once she was preparing to lay her
eggs was CARDBOARD!!! I have used cardboard as a cheap chew material
for her for years ... and her and others in my flock love their
'toy' boxes which are always cardboard ... and I've always been
careful to only give them the clean brown cardboard renewing it every
couple of days, always taking it away in the late afternoon until
overnight ... except when Jewel lays eggs. And then she gets to keep
it as a nest box.
I bathed her thoroughly over three days with clear water ... in hind
sight I might have used some soap to get rid of the cardboard 'dust'
that must have been lodged in her feathers ... and gave her a plastic
carrier with clean aspen shavings in it ... For two more days she
continued to scratch and pluck but less frenzied and finally her skin
settled down and eventually cleared to normal pinky white ... the
plucking and shredding stopped ... and she laid her egg and is
incubating it.
I did some research on how cardboard is manufactured (you DO NOT want
to be laying around on shredded cardboard!) and about contact
dermatitis in humans from prolonged handling of cardboard ... and I'm
now certain that Jewel's skin was irritated by the dust from the
cardboard and contact with it. The longer she stayed in her 'box'
preparing for laying her egg, the worse her condition got. I would
not have noticed if it hadn't been for her exposed skin that was so
obviously irritated. Even if a hen is not showing signs of feather
picking or plucking ... I would now say NO CARDBOARD in any form for
playing with or nesting in. Sensitivities and allergies often take
time to develop and even though Jewel has been giving me indications
all along that a problem has been brewing ... it took a full blown
episode of dermatitis for me to get the message.
I have so often recommended giving cardboard boxes to pet eclectus
especially the hens ... that I do want to share that I would no
longer make that recommendation based on Jewel's experience.
Needless to say none of my birds will be getting cardboard in any
form to play with, chew on, or nest in ... from now on.
I'm posting this to two other lists I'm on ... please feel free to
cross post as long as you include my name and email address.
Stefanja
Out of the Blue Eclectus
sskylark@shaw.ca

I have a Sun Conure named "Bird bird" that is about 13 years old. I foolishly bought her when I was 16, not knowing what I was getting myself into. The first 7 years of her life were the best. She slept in bed with me next to my head on the pillow, took showers with me, ate mixed seeds, pellets, and fruit.

Things changed drastically for her and I when I moved out of my parents house after college and into an apt. with my boyfriend. She no longer slept with me, and while I was at work my boyfriend would keep her covered because he couldn't stand her screaming. I pleaded with him to leave her cage uncovered, but he wouldn't listen. She began plucking her chest and back. A year later I parted ways with my boyfriend, but my schedule stayed busy. I was gone sometimes 12 hours of the day while my bird was home alone. The plucking continued, and I assumed it was out of boredom and stress.

I am married now and my husband is semi-tolerant of my bird. She is still plucking herself even though I try to spend as much time as I can with her. I feed her enriched pellets, fruits & veggies (though she rarely eats them), almonds, sunflowers seeds, & water in a plastic hamster bottle.
She takes a bath almost everyday. I change the water daily and make sure it is luke warm. I clean her cage at least once a week.

I've had advice given to me over the years from a Avian Vet Tech friend of mine, but none of it has really seemed to help. She plucks her back, chest, tummy, legs, and sometimes her flight feathers. She's almost completely bald on her underside. She usually plucks the feathers just as they start to bud. If the feather can emerge far enough, she will eventually leave it alone, but most the time she plucks them down to nubs or sometimes pulls them out.

Honestly I don't know what to do. Her plucking has lessened over the last couple years, but it is still bad. I look at the photos of the plucking birds in this community and realize how bad off my bird is. I don't have a lot of money and can't afford to take my bird to a specialist who is going to charge $500.00 plus, and may not even be able to help me. My husband is disabled and can not work so we are living on a very fixed income.

In my opinion, Bird Bird seems to be suffering from itchiness. She plucks all of the time, in her cage, while she is sitting on me, just after she's bathed, etc. Recently, I've noticed an odd smell to her after she baths that almost resembles a mildewing dish cloth. Is it possible she has some kind of skin fungus or mold? If so, is there anything over the counter that I could do about this without having to spend a fortune.

I'm ready to just get the credit card out, take Bird Bird to the vet, and spend whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this.

After reading several articles I realized I need to invest in an artificial sunlight source. I will also replace her bath water with distilled/filtered water.
She like to chew on cardboard tubes, swabs, paper, etc, but I read that these might not be good for her. She also enjoys chewing the shoulders out of my t-shirts, chewing a straw toy in her cage, and biting the ends of my hair off :0)

I love my Bird Bird and want to see her happy and healthy. I work out of my home now so I spend lots of time with her and I'm determined to make her whole again.

I have a favor to ask, and I hope no one finds this to be insulting. because it is not intended that way. For a veterinary pathology class I am doing a presentation on Giardia with an emphasis on the allergic skin reaction in birds.

If anyone has pictures of a bird who is plucking or feather mutilating from a giardia infection, especially those that show the allergic skin reaction, I would be very appreciative if you could send them to me.

If you are uncomfortable posting them here, you can email them to me at weirdlilfaechild@yahoo.com

Thank you!

this was origionally posted in the second hand birds community. i was advised to join this one as well to gain usefull info. so here's my story...
i recently attained a nearly five year old Blue and Gold Macaw. his previous owner said he was molting. well, it certainly appears that there is something funky going on with his feathers, but i highly doubt it can all be molting. or maybe i just never payed very much attention to other birds before...
i know what it looks like in a birds first year of molt, but this one is five, and i don't think it should be so extreme. half of his chest is covered in grey down. i was told that feather plucking can look different depending on the individual, and it breaks my heart to think he may be doing this...
another thing is his flight feathers. normally, when you look at a feather, the end of it tapers at the end into an "upside down U shape". but lots of his feathers seem to have broken off at the end. the ends of these look like a V.
i looked up some info online, and it says that when some birds aren't getting enough protein, they eat the tips of their feathers in order to compensate. so yesterday i went out and got a bunch of eggs to hardboil, and lots of seeds and nuts (for treats and suppliments only mind you). is there anything else i can do to restore his feathers to their previous glory. or is this REALLY part of molting. i have my doubts and would like some second opinions.
i know it'll take a while for him to grow new feathers and all, so i don't expect overnight results or anything like that, but i think he may have had a definciancy at his old home....and that's just sad:(
we got Skylor on friday, and i cleaned his cage yesterday. when i did, i only saw the regular down feathers at the bottom of the tray. so if he was feather plucking, he doesn't seem to be doing it now.
he has a decent diet of zupreem pellets, as well as fresh fruits and what veggies he will touch. i'm in the process of converting him....i don't know how often these were made available to him before...but i guess i would like any advice on what to do in this case. i know he needs to go to a vet in any case, however i won't be able to for a couple weeks due to being broke...

This is an updated version of what was available in the past:

Compilation of what has worked for those living with plucking parrots.

By Gloria, Shauna and Alicia

The first thing to do in the case of a plucking bird is to make an
appointment with your avian vet. You need an appointment even if
your bird was just recently at the vets. Please keep in mind that
just because your bird was healthy at its last vet visit, that was
for that day only and not a week, month or year later. Suggested
diagnostic tools/tests for your vet to run that have been suggested
at AAV (Association of Avian Veterinarians) conferences and included
in some veterinary texts are the following: CBC, biochemical analyses
(AST, CPK, Ca, PO, uric acid,bile acids, GGT, total protein);
plasma electrophoresis; gram stains; DNA probe tests
for PBFD,polyoma and Chlamydophila; parasite evaluation;
+/- radiographs; +/- TRH stim
test or T3/T4 tests; cytology and gram stains of pulp or skin lesion;
culture of pulp or skin lesion; and biopsy for histopathology,
depending on the differential diagnosis.

You should never give your bird the following:

refined sugar
refined white flour
dairy products (with the exception of non or lowfat organic yogurt)
salt (although if bloodwork shows low sodium...occasionally a little
salt in the diet may improve plucking, but if sodium is normal,
then adding salt could harm kidneys)
fried foods
chemical preservatives
chemical dyes
artificial flavoring

We suggest that you start out by not offering the following foods to
your bird to see if you see improvement:

soy
corn (found in packaged foods/mixes or manufactured foods...organic
table corn used as a vegetable should be ok)
sweet potato
spirulina
wheat
peanuts
citrus
sunflower seed
semolina

If the plucking continues then you may also want to try removing the
following grains:
rye
barley
spelt
kamut
oats in some cases


If plucking stops after taking away the rye, barley, spelt, kamut and
oats you can try slowly reintroducing them later, after the plucking
has stopped.

Other foods that you may wish to try eliminating would be members of
the nightshade family:
Sweet peppers
potato
tomato

Diet to try is:

Organic WHOLE grains soaked for 24 hours and then sprouted or lightly
cooked (amaranth, quinoa, millet, spelt, kamut, barley, rye)
Organic WHOLE legumes (lentils more protein) ( mung and adzuki are most
easily digested) soaked for 10-24 hours and then cooked. Bring to boil
for 10 min., simmer for 20 OR sprouted. For legumes, sprout until you
have at least 1/4 " tails, preferably longer.
Organic greens and veggies in season such as dandelion leaves,collards,
kale, carrot tops, radish tops, dark leafy lettuce, bok choy, celery,
cucumber, mustard greens, fennel, broccoli, cauliflower, radish,
beet root, cactus leaves, okra
Organic fruits in season such as apple, papaya,mango, pineapple,
banana, fig, coconut, berries, melon

Finely minced garlic..for a small bird only about 1/8 of a clove,
a large bird 1/4 clove, mixed into food a few times a week, NO more
than once a day.
A small bit of FRESH ginger no more than a few times a week

Supplement with a small amount of powdered alfalfa, you can purchase
capsules. suggested amounts: 1/8 capsule for birds up to 250 g,
1/4 capsule 250-500g, 1/3 capsule 500g-750 g, 1/2 capsule 750g-100g.

Also supplement with a tiny bit of kelp. It's best to add a small
amount of kelp to a recipe that lasts a few days. On a daily basis,
the amount of powdered kelp would be like what you may fit on the
end of a pen. A suggested amount of powdered kelp is: 1/10 of 1/4
teasp. per day for a medium sized parrot...that's how tiny! For a
plucker, you may try giving kelp daily for about 6 weeks and then
after that time give kelp 3-4 days of the week. Kelp can help to
stimulate a sluggish thyroid but it has been found that too much
kelp, or if given daily for a long period of time, that it can
inhibit thyroid activity, which could possibly lead to plucking.
Which is why the small dosage is so very important!

A quality refrigerated cold pressed flaxseed or hempseed oil
An unrefined palm oil a few times a week instead of the flax or
hemp seed oil
Quality probiotics
A squirt of apple cider vinegar on fresh foods (approximately 1/4
teasp birds up to 250g, 1/2 teasp up to 500g etc)

Raspberries. You can use fresh or frozen..thawed. Mix a few daily
into fresh foods.Put through food processor is you need to.

Optional:
Veggie Magma or Berry Green powders
Hemp protein powder

A holistic approach is usually needed so besides diet

Take parrot outside for at least 20 min. of sun and fresh air, more
is better, weather permitting of course. Be sure that your bird has
adequate shade on sunny days.

Daily exercise. Have your bird walk, maybe go up some stairs. Flap
its wings on a hoop. If it flies, work on flight training. Supply
plenty of activities and projects in its cage to keep busy/active.

Bathe your bird several times a week. If it doesnt' like baths,
don't force them but gradually work on making bath time a good thing.

A recipe to help with skin inflammation and itching is
Try:
1 TBS. Hylands Calendula spray
1 Tsp. chickweed extract, non-alcohol or add a few drops boiling
water to evaporate alcohol
Put into 2 cups water, keep in fridge up to one week.

Another version that may be easier to obtain is:
1 TBS dried calendula herb
1 TBS dried chickweed herb

Steep each herb in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes. Combine and
store in refrigerator for up to one week.

Plucking can also have behavioral challenges. You suspect your birds
plucking is behavioral then we suggest you sign up to the PBAS list
run by Susan Friedman Ph. D
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ParrotBAS

For more info on the diet go to:



Click to join FeedingFeathers

Saturday, February 11
1 - 5 pm
242 E. 53 St,
New York, NY

Feather Destructive Behavior Prevention Workshop
Frank G. Robertson, Moderator
MBA and MA (Education)
Certificate in Parrot Behavior

http://www.manhattanbirdclub.com
to see the FULL EVENT

Frank G. Robertson and Eclectus companion Armand present how to help
prevent and reduce Feather Destructive Behavior (FDB) in companion
parrots through food foraging activities.

Food foraging toys that can be used in New York City homes will be
used as part of a demonstration.

New research by Meehan, Millam and Mench of the Animal Behavior
Graduate Group in the Dept. of Animal Science in the University of
CA at Davis, show that you can help prevent and reduce Feather
Destructive Behavior when you provide foraging opportunities for
your companion parrots.

Meehan, Millam and Mench wrote "foraging opportunity and increased
physical complexity both prevent and reduce psychogenic feather
picking by young Amazon parrots." To familiarize yourself with the
subject for discussion at this Workshop, it is advisable to read the
article before you attend. It can be read at the following website,
in PDF format:

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/
laboratory/millam/pdfs/aabs2003.pdf

Dr. Laura Wade, DVM, Dipl. ABVP (Avian) article:
"The Importance of Foraging Behavior in Captive Parrots" Volume 1-1
Spring 2005 issue, "Good Bird Magazine"
Dr. Wade's article should be incorporated into the Workshop for
optimum results.

Its ALL a different issue per INDIVIDUAL bird. In general....birds
that have problems with different types of feather destructive
behavior can improve if something is lacking and improvmements are
made..such as improved environment...mostly getting them some outdoor
time on a daily basis, exercise, UV light, improved diet if need be.
If those things don't work, then you look further, such as possible
food allergies, air quality, water quality etc....even scarring in
some cases or previous injuries. There's a lot that one can try. The
most important thing IMO is not to just accept that a plucker will
always pluck...but to make sure that everything that can be done that
may help, is being done and then be PATIENT! Some birds may take years
to stop plucking, feather barbering , plucking...and it can be one
thing or another or it can be a combination of several things...such
as diet and environment and even some habit. There are no real direct
answers to many of these questions when it comes to plucking, or
barbering etc. Its a complex puzzle that many vets are working on and
have been working on for years.

There are also vets that will label certain behaviors...and
essentially walk away from them or prescribe drugs that IMO birds
should never get. This blames the behavior on the bird..something that
I personally have a problem buying into. Even if it is a behavioral
problem, a habit etc. I'm to stubborn to think that it can't
eventually be changed or at least improved on.

- Shauna Roberts

My mom emailed me this, since I've been misting my little picker down every day and just recently got him comfortable with actual showers with me, too. It came from one of the email newsgroups she's on. It might be Yahoo, not sure, but it's called [Pickin' Parrots].

Crossposted to parrot_lovers and featherpicking
----------------------------------


The showers are wonderful but his skin tends to dry
out and I have found that the calendula and chickweed
(tea) mix solves that problem. He tends to pick in
areas where the new feathers are growing back in and
irritates the skin. The spray helps tremendously.

The spray is as follows:
1 TBS Hyland's calendula spray mixed with 1 cup of
water
1 cup of chickweed tea (to brew tea- 1 TBS of
chickweed (dry) steep for 5 min. or use fresh
chickweed 3-4 TBS. Steep in hot water for 7 minutes.
Strain. Mix the two together and you should have 2
cups of spray. Store in the refrigerator for up to a
week. Be sure the spray reaches the skin. It won't do
any good just laying on top of the feathers.

It's time to post Sebastian's calendars for last year. For those of you who haven't seen his calendars, what I do is take a piece of tape and twice a day I stick the feathers he chewed off onto the tape and put it onto the calendar. This way I can see what progress he's made and have a visual to show to other people. For example, this february when I brought him to the vet I told her that he had been chewing off piles of feathers every day. When I brought out the calendar they just about died. They realized just how big of a pile I was talking about. Without the calendar it would have been hard to describe and I may have forgotten. I have posted 2005 on the left (or on top, depending on your screen) and 2004 to the right (or underneath) for comparison. The pictures are small so they are easier to view together and won't take forever to load.


December:


November:


October:


September:


August:


July:


June:


May:

In 2005 on May 5th I have the feathers on a piece of paper taped to the date because there were so many I couldn't fit them in the box. He had the same thing happen in 2004, but I don't remember the date.

April:


From here on I only have calendars for 2005.

March 2005:

For 2004 I have written down that in March 2004 there were even more feathers then in May 2004.

February 2005:

For 2004 I have written down that there were more feathers then ever. On Feb 3rd 2005 there were too many too fit in the box.

January 2005:

For 2004 I know it wasn't has bad as Feb.

And a picture of him taken about a month ago...


Edit: after I posted this I scrolled down to the picture of Sebastian and he said, "That's beaaautiful!"

I really liked this page because it shows the roller coaster that is featherpicking. Or at least similar to how it is with Sebastian. Tara pretty much stays the same year round. The only thing they said that I don't like is "Once a feather picker, always a feather picker." I don't agree with that. In some cases, yes, but not in all cases. Anyway, without further ado... Meet Ricco.

Was wondering if anyone has ever heard of this, knows anything about it, etc? It is listed on ebay and sounds like a wonderful idea - but it is just someone trying to make money?

The "Sock Buddy" System for feather plucking Parrots

My mom has a newly aquired feather-picking Goffin cockatoo. She has some questions and concerns. Any new advice/resources about feather-picking would be appreciated…and specifically every time the bird is handed a toy/straw/snack she promptly shoves it under her wing. Is this a trait of cockatoos, feather-pickers in general or something else? It wouldn’t be a concern other than the fact that she is irritated under her wings and isn’t eating her handfed snacks. X-posted to other communities.

Hey all! Come join me and Mango at our new community parrot_chow! parrot_chow! is devoted to, but not limited to, avian diet, nutrition, recipes, and health.



Thanks to angry_crab for letting me post this :D and x-post this at amazon_parrots_ and cockatoos

Turns out, not only is 911 Stress Control the
same product (as Pluck No More), also manufactured by the same company "King Bio Inc" @ 2oz
for 6.95 but www.LuckyVitamin.com also carries this same product, same
ingredients, under the name King Pet Stress Control in a 4oz size for 5.49. I
have ordered 6/ 4oz bottles for 32.28 plus 4.95 shipping AMAZING.
Thanx, Scott, for the heads up. I would encourage everyone to order in
volume. It probably won't take Kings long to catch on to the fact that
we caught on!

The importance of EFA and it's role in absorbtion of vitamin A.
~by Pamela Clark~

I have been doing more and more research into the role essential fatty acids play in preserving optimal health, and find myself feeling a sense of growing alarm at the fact that this has been largely ignored in typical discussions of psittacine diet. Dietary "fat" has gotten a very bad name amongst the American public in recent years due to the large percentage of the population that is overweight. There has been much discussion about the differences between saturated (bad) fat and unsaturated (good) fat, but there seems to be lots of confusion, especially when it comes to the topic of essential fatty acids. I'm afraid the general sense of confusion, and the belief that "fat is bad," is being carried over into our ideas about parrot diet.

The references I have explored indicate that the human brain is made up of 60% fat - not "depot fat like I happen to store in my thighs - but structural fat. The myelin sheaths around nerve cells are also made up largely of essential fatty acids, esp. omega-3. In short, essential fatty acids are necessary for the healthy functioning of the nervous system, as well as good visual acuity, and a good immune system. They are called "essential" because we have to obtain them from the diet. We can not manufacture them in our bodies, the way we can manufacture cholesterol and saturated fat. Further, omega-3 fatty acids are easily destroyed by light, heat, and air. The best sources for them from what I've read are: fresh whole foods, especially walnuts and Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, dark green leafy vegetables, salmon, tuna, trout, flax seeds, legumes, soybeans and oats.

On page 129 of "The Omega Diet" by Artemis P. Simopoulos, M.D. and Jo Robinson, it says, "If you foraged your food from the wild, it would be impossible to be deficient in this nutrient because it would be present in virtually everything you ate." Since parrots evolved foraging their food in the wild, and these omega-3 fatty acids are so easily destroyed (as in the processing and storage of pellets), it would seem to me critically important to make sure that the diet contains an adequate provision for these.

I'm especially interested in the pertinence of this to African Greys, who reportedly eat frequently of the fruits of the oil palm, which are 90% fat, according to an article by David Poole on his website. This palm oil is saturated fat, however. (Plants growing closer to the equator contain more saturated fat, while plants growing further away from the equator contain more unsaturated fat.) So many Greys in captivity are struggling with low vitamin A levels. I wonder if they are getting an insufficient amount of fat in their diet, which if provided, would make this oil-soluble vitamin more available to them? I wonder if phobic Greys might have fewer problems if their nervous system were "bolstered" by the provision of essential fatty acids? I wonder if feather picking Greys, who reportedly have "dry skin," are suffering from fatty acid deficiencies?

I myself have had two birds (an African Grey and a Senegal) who were ostensibly feather picking because of "behavioral" reasons, who stopped once I began providing an essential fatty acid supplement.

My convictions have grown to the point where I've been experimenting with providing all my Greys with additional supplementation for essential fatty acids, given that they appear to have perhaps a higher need for fat in their diet than other species. I have been really pleased with the results. They have redder tails, and shinier black beaks, and their feathers now have a bit of sheen to them, and lay closely against their backs in a very smooth manner. Although this is hard to document, the babies I am raising also seem smarter. They talk earlier and seem more "full of themselves" - that much I can measure. And right now, I have (gasp) 18 eggs from 5 pairs of birds in my nestboxes, which I find to be not exactly good news :)

I've been using between two and six drops a day of the oil blends found in the refrigerator section of the health food store (in addition to providing abundant fresh foods). Those I have used are Udo's Perfected Oil Blend, Spectrum Essentials, and Arrowhead Mills. All seem to be some blend of flax seed oil, borage seed oil, hemp seed oil, etc. I either put this in the warm oatmeal that I feed my adult Greys at night, place it on a bit of whole wheat bread, or mix it into a recipe (a quinoa-based pilaf mix) that I developed specifically for providing for the nutritional needs of African Greys.

I've had it suggested to me that I should provide the Greys with the palm oil that is being sold in the United States now. However, I have three reservations. One, I have no information about the relative content of omega-3, -6, and -9 fatty acids in this palm oil. Two, I am reluctant to provide saturated fat to relatively sedentary parrots, leading quite a different existence from those who fly miles every day to forage for food. And, three, I have some concerns about the possible rancidity of this product. I have been reassured that it contains high levels of naturally occurring vitamin E and that this acts as a preservative.


EFA SUPPLEMENTATION CHART from the feedingfeathers list
(EFA = Essential Fatty Acids)

This chart is meant as a guideline for those who wish to know how to supplement EFA’s correctly, but please don’t worry if you feed sprouts and the amount of one of these ingredients is over what is recommended for that day – we don’t expect you to sit there counting out seeds every day! Use only one choice from each column together (this will provide both omega 3 and omega 6, both of which are important), according to the weight of the bird. For example if you decide to use Flax seed on a given day, then you may choose pumpkin seeds or red palm oil from the other column, or if you are feeding sprouted chia, you could offer a piece of walnut or sesame seeds from the other column. Try to alternate your choices. That way you will know that your bird is receiving a good amount of EFA’s overall in his diet.


Column 1

Flax seed (ground)- 1/4 - 1/3 teaspoon up to 500g ~ 1/2 - 1 teaspoon over 500g

Hemp Seed oil- 1 drop up to 500g ~ 2 drops over 500g

Sprouted Chia Seeds- 1/2 teaspoon up to 500g ~ 1/2 to 1 teaspoon over 500g ~ 1 teaspoon over 500g (see below for sprouting instructions)

Column 2
Sprouted sunflower seed 4 seeds up to 250g ~ 8 seeds up to 500g

Pumpkin Seeds- 1-3 seeds up to 500g ~ 3-5 seeds up to 1000g

Sesame seeds- (these can be ground or sprouted in your sprout mix) 1/4 to 1/3 tsp up to 500g ~ 1/2 to 1 tsp over 500g

Red Palm oil- 1/8 teaspoon up to 250g ~ 1/4 tsp up to 500g ~ ¼ to ½ tsp up to 1000g

Walnuts- 1/8 up to 250g ~ 1/4 up to 500g ~ 1/2 up to 750 g ~ 3/4 up to 1000g


Notes:
Fish oils (high quality salmon oil) could be used when a bird is ill but for normal, healthy birds, a tiny piece of cooked, wild caught, deep water salmon once a week is preferable, amounts as follows:-
1/4 teaspoon up to 250g
1/3 teaspoon up to 500g
1/2 teaspoon up to 750g
3/4 teaspoon over 750g

Red Palm oil and Palm kernel oil are two vastly different things – please note which you are buying.

Click on link to learn how to sprout chia seeds (this method can also be used for cress – all seeds which become “gummy� (mucilaginous) when put into water) -
http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/chia.html

Here is a picture of a plucked feather. It was a blood feather.

Apparently there is a M2 named Ricki Roo at The Gabriel Foundation "who has stopped mutilat(ing) but seems
to enjoy/want his collar so he continues to wear it...his choice".

LOL! I think Tara and him would get along fabulously!!!