Plucking female Eclectus

[The Outlaw]

Dear Carolyn:

I have a 5 year old female Grand Eclectus who plucked all of her blue feathers last spring, refeathered and repeated the process again this fall. What's going on? All bloodwork seems normal and all other lab work seems fine. Help!

THE OUTLAW

[Carolyn]

Dear Carolyn:

I have a 5 year old female Grand Eclectus who plucked all of her blue feathers last spring, refeathered and repeated the process again this fall. What's going on? All bloodwork seems normal and all other lab work seems fine. Help!

Hi there,

Seasonal, hormonal feather destruction is not unusual. You might have heard of the brood patch, which is an area down the center of the hen's breast which she bares to make contact with her eggs and keep them warm. Some hens take the brood patch a step further and denude their entire chest. Once the hormonal influence subsides, she allows the feathers to regrow and she is then fully feathered again -- until the next hormonal phase.

I assume that your Grand Eclectus hen has no mate. In that case, there are a few steps that you can take to diminish the influence of seasonal hormones. You already know the approximate time of year that your Eclectus hen plucks her breast so in the future, when that time approaches, you can take the following steps to prevent the seasonal plucking.

*Remove all reflective surfaces in her environment, especially if she feeds them. Mirrors, shiny silver toys, and any surfaces in which she can see her reflection will increase her hormonal stimulation and should be removed or covered.

*Decrease the photo period. By putting her to bed an hour earlier and getting her up an hour later in the morning, she will react less to the stimulation of longer Spring days and increased sunlight. You can also lower the amount of artificial light in her living area during her most hormonal time.

*Dietary restrictions such as lowering the protein content of foods, feeding less stimulating substances like wheat germ and hemp seed, less green foods which are abundant during breeding season in many locations, and less soft foods can help to turn off the "urge to merge" which stimulates the plucking of feathers from the chest.

*Distraction works wonders! You know the things that she enjoys doing so make an effort to keep her busy with her favorite toys and activities. When she tires of them, introduce her to trick training. Eclectus are born performers and she will enjoy the interaction with you, which is less hormonally stimulating than hugging and petting. Once she learns a trick, you won't need food rewards because the interaction with you will be her reward, and she will love the attention she gets for performing. Hugs and praise are all the reward needed! Trick training is a good confidence builder for birds and it is a great excuse to spend regularly scheduled time interacting with them. If your Eclectus steps up on command, she already has learned one trained behavior, so why not choose one of the easy tricks detailed below and try it?

http://www.parrottricktraining.com
Three easy tricks -- "turn around", "wave", and "shake hands".

Here are the directions from Tani Robar for teaching your Eclectus to shake hands, and all three of the first basic tricks are detailed at the link above.

"Shake Hands". Easy trick! With the bird on the T-stand as before, offer your right hand across its body to in front of its right foot. Remember, its wave with the left foot, shake hands with the right foot. The bird will undoubtedly try to step onto your hand with its left foot as this is what you wanted before. Don't let it. Insist the bird raise its right foot and try to step onto your hand with that foot. Be persistent, it finally will. Then follow with lots of praise and the reward. Just let it touch your hand with the right foot, don't let it transfer weight and try to step onto your hand.

It will amaze you how quickly your bird will get the idea after having gone through the other two tricks. It has learned that all it has to do is something simple like raise a foot and it gets fussed over and given a treat. Birds are very smart and once you show them what you want them to do, they are usually more than happy to comply. Only after your bird has placed its foot on your proffered finger fairly readily, should you attempt to raise and lower your hand as in the traditional "shake" motion. Finally, lightly touch the top of his foot with your thumb. If you have done all the "taming" things mentioned earlier in preparation for tricks, touching the birds feet and moving your hands around will not alarm the bird."

Go here for the directions for the next three tricks:
http://www.parrottricktraining.com/article2.htm

Why not teach your female Eclectus to "play dead"? My Eclectus males are much more willing to lie on their back than are the females. For whatever reason, only one of my Eclectus females will do this trick but maybe your redhead will enjoy it too.

*Have your Eclectus perch on your left hand (held in the handshake position) and hold her against your chest, facing you.
*Place your right hand over her back.
*Lean forward at the waist until she is lying in your right hand, gripping the fingers of your left hand for security.
*Stand upright while she continues to lie on her back in your right hand while still holding onto the fingers of your left hand with her feet.
*If she struggles, remove your right hand from her back and let her swing from your left hand unless she is frightened. Most birds love this swinging trick after the first couple of times. Keep it brief in the beginning
*Otherwise, support her back and bring her upright and return her to your chest, still sitting on your left hand.
*After she relaxes, repeat the process until she is comfortable enough on her back to allow you to remove your fingers from her grip. This could take only a couple of days, or a week or two, but two or three tries each session will eventually make her comfortable with the trick and she will enjoy performing it if she is trusting by nature.
*Don't force it if she seems very uncomfortable but if she will lie on her back in your hand for only two seconds the first time, that's a start. Praise her and give her lots of hugs and try again when she's ready.

*Once your Eclectus is confident lying on her back in your hand, you can add special effects, like "Bang, Bang! You're DEAD!" Birds love drama!

It might take a little time for your Eclectus to trust you not to drop her. Work with her rather than against her and she is likely to learn to enjoy it.

Best of luck with your redhead!

Carolyn
The Land of Vos Eclectus web site
http://www.landofvos.com/eclectus.html
The Eclectus Connection Email list
http://www.landofvos.com/tec.html