Help! He's starting to pluck!

[Maggie F.]

My bird was sick and pulled out all his chest feathers. It was a bacterial infection. But now when all the feathers try to come back in, it must be uncomfortable, because he pulls them all out again. His last tests came back perfect. He is taking benedryl and a herbal concoction from the vet to help him through it, but ???. I may just have to get used to a naked chest bird.

Plucking very often starts as a reaction to a medical problem, but can become habit. A complete vet check with CBC and liver tests would be a good idea.

[xafsmom]

I feed my Greys dende oil from the start and it seems to do a lot of good. As far as bathing, I don't take no for an answer lol. Lilly submits to a dousing with a soft wet cloth. Izzy gets his feathered butt tossed into a bathtub with a few inches of water and aloe in it. At first he'd complain and try to escape. Now, he complains until he's in it, then he waddles around the water chasing his rubber ducky with his beak and having a good time. Invest in rubber duckies! hehe

[zoegirl]

Do your birds make trips outside? Zoe and ChiChi love to go play in the sprinkler while I water outdoors, they are mini Macaws and their wings have been trimmed. Neither one enjoys a shower with me but when we all play in the water outside it is great fun and games for them. It's very hot in North Texas this time of year so cooling down and then drying out in the sun is a great time for the three of us to bond.

Might be worth a try if your bird hates the water/shower indoors:

[macawlover]

Cheyenne hates baths, too. But I have a couple techniques that work 90% of the time (of course, every bird is different, but I've heard of these tactics working quite often):
1. Run the vaccuum near his cage. Some birds associate the noise from the vaccuum with the sound of "thunder" which in the wild means "bath time!".
2. Put him on the curtain rod/top of the door to the shower with a bird next to him that likes to get misted. When you take your shower, bring a spraybottle in with you and spray the bird that enjoys it. Hopefully your grey will see this bird enjoying their bath so much that he'll want to join in! It worked wonderfully for Cheyenne, anyway.
Good luck!

[winglet]

Good Morning Dodgewoman what is the update on Rosco? Is he still plucking? I don't know if you saw my posting about my Charlie plucking? Plucking

Maybe it is worth a try. I am really pleased with Charlie's progress....Hope it helps you :)

[Lisa B]

Originally Posted by zoegirl

Do your birds make trips outside? Zoe and ChiChi love to go play in the sprinkler while I water outdoors, they are mini Macaws and their wings have been trimmed. Neither one enjoys a shower with me but when we all play in the water outside it is great fun and games for them. It's very hot in North Texas this time of year so cooling down and then drying out in the sun is a great time for the three of us to bond.

Might be worth a try if your bird hates the water/shower indoors:

oh thats funny. Glad I am not the only one! I had an orange wing that hated showers, but yet, loved the rain. people thought I was nuts standing out in the rain with her dancing, but hey, she loved it, and well, its all about them anyway, right?

[Astrid660]

Originally Posted by birdlady49

You have a wonderful opportunity to nip this in the bud, if in fact he has started plucking. First, medical reasons have to be eliminated and that will require a visit to your avian vet for some blood letting.

After the tests come back negative, you can work on eliminating environmental problems and hopefully prevent future plucking.

I agree.
Good luck, I hope you can figure out what's causing it.

[babypiggy]

are u misting with organic aloe juice?

hmmmmmmmmmmm if you have brought roscoe to the vet to see nothing was medically wrong?

how is his diet?
out of cage time?
interaction time?
anything change? furniture? things aroudn the hosue that has been moved? ANYTHING?

mmmmmmmmmmm i would suggest buying organic virgin palm oil and see if it helps

hehe hi winglet *winks*

:P

[winglet]

Originally Posted by babypiggy

are u misting with organic aloe juice?

hmmmmmmmmmmm if you have brought roscoe to the vet to see nothing was medically wrong?

how is his diet?
out of cage time?
interaction time?
anything change? furniture? things aroudn the hosue that has been moved? ANYTHING?

mmmmmmmmmmm i would suggest buying organic virgin palm oil and see if it helps

hehe hi winglet *winks*

:P

Hmmm didn't you have the same convo with me some 4 weeks ago ...I'm so glad I took your advise about the Virgin Red Palm Oil.I have posted a few pics of Charlie's progress for you to see on another thread.

Thankyou to all the members who gave me valuable advise on the plucking issue but my special thanks has to go to "babypiggy" who pm'd me with various tips and even a copy of a book with very useful info. thanks babypiggy

[babypiggy]

um yes?
LOL