Feather picking...

[crjones66]

My BFA foster, Mona, has started picking her feathers. They are large feathers, some look like wing feathers and then ther have been several that look like tail feathers. I've had feather pickers before, but they always started with the small feathers under the wings or on the chest. I'm really worried....I don't want this to become a problem for her. Where do I begin to find the reason? Vet? or are there other things I should try first? I am afraid that she is unhappy here...she hates women, so she gets very little out of the cage time. But I spend a lot of time in the room with her, talking to her and she is getting plenty of dark time at night. She also eats very well, very healthy. Any suggestions?

[kateBird]

this may seem like a stupid question, and forgive me if it is... but are you sure its a feather picking issue and not a molt? do you have some information about her background?

if she hasn't gone to a vet yet, you might want to check this out first. just to rule out any internal problems she may have.

what about giving her a shower? she just might be really itchy and need a good shower to ease the feather shafts off.

another thing to look at is the food. is this new food that she hasn't eaten in the past? she could be allergic to the brand of pellets you might be feeding her, or even a particular fruit/nut.

[crjones66]

Not a stupid questions at all. After reading up on it I beleive I over reacted and this is just molting. I am new with the big birds, and the feather loss just seemed so much and so all of the sudden. But I have determined that this is not unusual and I am silly.

[kateBird]

as long as it doesn't seem like your bird has bald patches, she should be okay. im glad its just a molt. :)

[startrance]

what about blood feathers when molting? is that common? i have a new finch that has one. just curious if anyone knows?

[Monica]

Blood feathers are new feathers growing in... birds can loose them if they get knocked out, broken, or are picked out.