No longer plucking. . .how do I stop her from barbering?

[Amie]

My vet thinks I might have picked a bad time of year to get my bird fully-feathered.

Background. My ekkie began plucking about 5 years ago when our CAG died. Don't tell me birds don't have emotions!! We got her almost fully-feathered, and then Katrina hit. She was a nudist for a good while!!

Our "bald spots" have shrunken tremendously. You can only see that her leg has naked spots when she's wet, and her neck only has a bit of baldness where it isn't time for new feathers to have grown.

We have some beautiful tail feathers (except one that she just beat up against her cage during acrobats last week) and some beautiful growth on her back and under her wings. BUT. . .

She won't let the feathers on her chest be. She'll let them grow all the way out of the pin, and keep it there and pretty for about 3 or so days. And then, bam, come home from work and it's a shredded mess.

Vet bill is clean, diet is being monitored, she's properly entertained and gets about 5 hours of human interaction each day (unless, like yesterday, she just wants to watch us). Showers daily, gets sprayed with Pluck No More two to three times a day.

Any ideas? I'm including her before picture, taken about 6 weeks ago. She looks SO much better now, but she's still not living up to her beauty potential!!

[jenseits]

Awww, poor baby (she's still a cutie though!). Have you tried a birdie sweater? I think I read somewhere that some birds are more prone to fuss when they can see whatever is bothering them (like picking at a scab). I think it was on mytoos that someone created a "sweater" (made out of an old t-shirt) that stopped a cockatoo from picking at a wound and allowed it to heal.

The way it was designed still allowed for full wing freedom - more like an apron, I guess. Maybe that would work with this also?

[ROYJOY]

There was an expert at the last meeting of the wasatch avian sociaty. that talked about plucking and barbering, but i didnt attend so i cant help.

Gayla should be on soon, to share pix of the too, she is sponsoring at the gabriel fondation. he is wearing a vest, like mentioned above. good luck with that. sure is a pretty bird, in spite of the feathers.

[4HAND]

Even if your cats and dog have no ill intentions,prey animals are hardwired to be uneasy around predators.Could you keep your ekkie in a separate room for awhile to see if the problem persists?
Tena

[Amie]

She's actually better in the family room with the cats and dogs. She was EXTREMELY unhappy, and her plucking got worse when we put her in her own room. Screaming nonstop, refusing to eat, lunging if you walked by her cage and didn't immediately let her out and take her into the other room. . . She was the first around, and the cats could care less that she even exists. The schnauzer is DEATHLY afraid of her. They don't get any unsupervised interaction, and when she flies off her perch out of our immediate reach, the worst that happens is she scares our mini schnauzer and she'll start crying and run into her kennel.

Thank you guys for the compliments, though. When she's back 100% I'm sure you'll take them bacl :) I love her to death, and I hate that she's doing this to herself!

[Lori~D]

The Bird diaper place has sweaters for that with chest protectors for the hard pluckers to.
Avian Fashions - Home of the Revolutionary Bird Diaper, the FlightSuit!

[Amie]

Originally Posted by huntress

The Bird diaper place has sweaters for that with chest protectors for the hard pluckers to.
Avian Fashions - Home of the Revolutionary Bird Diaper, the FlightSuit!

Thank you!! Now I just have to decide which one to get. . .If I cover her chest, is she just going to start plucking her neck again??? I hope not.