Plucking 3 year old Macaw

[Ingrid]

In the last 3 weeks Kally our 3 year old Yellow collared Macaw is plucking her legs.
Last night while we were sitting at the table, Kally screamed and pulled out a pin feather.
Her one leg is worse than the other. Diet is the same, water is the same, basically everything is the same. I am very confused and concerened.

Could it be hormonal, perfume that I am wearing, hand lotion? now if it was hand lotion her feet would become irritated, I know that because it has happened before.
I have given her a bath every day so far (which has benn only 2 days)
I have made a note to my cleaning lady that I will be the only one cleaning Kally's cage. I thought perhaps it could be a cleaner that she has used............but then again it would cause her feet to be irritated.

Please help me.

Ingrid

[The Outlaw]

Here is Wendy's reply

Ingrid,

There are so many reasons a bird might begin to pluck. If diet is the same you may be able to eliminate that unless there is something in her diet that has caused a build up which resulted in plucking. This would be something like an artificially colored pellet. I have not heard of this making a macaw pluck but I have heard of Eclectus plucking due to this.

Next would be maybe something she is getting into. Something such as zinc which can be toxic. And it very well could be your perfume or lotion. I could also be the cleaners the cleaning lady is using. I have heard of this happening more than once. Irritation often occurs where we least expect it. Her feet may itch but there are no feathers there to remove.

Another reason might be hormonal. My 9 year old female Congo plucks the inside of her legs during breeding season only. We simply ignore her. There isn't really anything we can do.

What does concern me is the fact that you said she screams while pulling the feathers. This would seem to indicate pain or frustration. I would probably as my first step, take her to a good avian vet and have some blood work done to rule out any toxicity or deficiency.

Wendy

[The Outlaw]

Wendy:

Thank you so much. Ingrid asked me to tell you how pleased she was with your suggestions and thanks you for answering so quickly.

THE OUTLAW