advice on Bird Plucking or preening

[DHDaniel]

I need some input on this, My Buddy Green Cheek who is about 8 months has got his chest feathers all messed up, We've never seen any big feathers like he was plucking, He has a nice cage with a bunch of toys, He has a very good diet. He is in the living room where wife is home all day, he spends 2 hours or so onhis playstand each day, he is held and handled by me and wife
pretty often, sometimes he is nippy other times he is not, I wonder if he is doing this at night, When I leave for work at 4 am I can hear him moving around sometimes. His cage is covered at night. Maybe he is just Preening this area way too much,

here is a pic to see
In my signature pic he had beautiful feathers,
Thanks for any advice
Dave

[kensbuns]

You say he is your newest buddy, so I am assuming that he is new to your house. Change can really scare or stress some birds. Maybe he misses where he was. I would give him a good Baby shampoo shower, make sure you dont smoke near him or handle him after you have smoked. (if you are a smoker ; ) ). And then maybe try some Avi Calm. Give it time and dont make a big deal about it around the bird. Hopefully if will work itself out. Has this bird been vetted. I suggest a vet work up to rule out any kind of illness.

[stepht25]

I would definitely take him to the vet for a full check up to rule out any medical problems. How often do you give him showers? Maybe add some aloe vera to the bathing water.

[Monica]

Also a good idea to rule out allergies too!

Daily bathes, no smoking, no teflon type products, careful on air cleaners, no factory produced air fresheners (i.e. anything that is sprayed into the air)... things of that sort...