Feather Chewing

[Vega]

I took my babies to the vet yesterday and was informed that my female ekkie is chewing her wing feathers. The vet told me various toys to help deter her from doing this...all of which she has. I'm concerned though, I don't want this to turn from "feather chewing" to "feather plucking". Right now she has a rope toy with wood, a pinata toy, acrylic toy, and various other leather/wood/plastic toys in her cage...what else can I give her to help occupy her enough to prevent the chewing? I do change them around (although lately not as often as before) and give her 1 new one while rotating the others in the cage itself.

Any suggestions on what else to do?

[The Outlaw]

Seems to me that you can use natural feather dusters, old tv guides, pinatas, and those kinds of preening and tearing toys. However, I'm gonna warn ya, female Ekkies are prone to feather picking. I have a very hormonal female who is currently refeathering. She has twice removed ever single chest feather and most of her back feathers. It can literally happen over night.

Also, if it is only the ends of the wings, you might have a wing clip problem. Sometimes ekkies get very uncomfy when the wings aren't clipped properly. Its irritating. Try a chevron clip. To do that, you'll need to have a fresh pair of scissors. You point the tip of the scissor to the end of the feather shaft. Not near the wing bone, the actual tip of the feather. You will cut into the shaft leaving the feather barbs swallow tailed or V shaped. This way, when she preens, the tips will be soft and continue beyond the shaft. I don't know if you can visualize what I'm trying to convey. Also, make sure to clip right up to the secondary feathers. I'd remove 3 flights first, check her for flying ability and remove no more than 2 more, for a total of 5.

THE OUTLAW

[Vega]

Hi Outlaw, thanks for the tips on toys. Actually, for the first time since I got her, she was flighted (until yesterday that is). I wonder if that may have been the issue. The vet said it's just the one side she's chewing at. Is it possible that allowing them to get that long was just irritating her? I'll keep a closer eye on that.

[Lungfish]

I have a male Vos Ekkie who is a chewer, plucker on his feathers. The Vos is 14 years old. He's been re-homed a few times. I've had him 7 months.

I use the old TV guide for chewing and I try to bathe him daily with the warmer weather. It's frustrating at times but here of late Shadow seems to be making some progress.

The pic on the left is when I bought Shadow at a bird fair. The one on the right is from this week.

[Heaven]

Pluck No More is a miracle cure for Pluckers/Chewers.
We have been using it about 4 weeks and our male U2 is finally letting the feathers grow. It is amazing!!!
All natural and available from
www.kingscages.com

Please read the comments and check out the pictures. We tried everything with him and could only get him to grow a few on his legs. The vet seemed to believe it was sexual frustration. This product really works.