feather picking

[mrjayd]

I read somewhere that full flighted birds never pluck their feathers. Is that true and has anyone out there who has flighted birds ever plucked?

[Dave007]

Never pluck.

That's not true because many different things can cause a parrot to pluck whether they're flighted or not. Many birds who are clipped and need more assistance from owners in order to do everyday things may have a greater chance of plucking out of frustration. Long cage confinement of a flighted or clipped bird can cause plucking. Not paying any long term attention to a bird can cause plucking. Little activity by the bird cause plucking. Boredom can cause plucking and it doesn't matter if the bird if the bird is flighted or not. Constant nervousness or being a high strung bird can cause plucking. Allowing a bird to stay dirty and letting the skin dry out and become itchy can cause plucking on flighted or unflighted birds. Constant unexpected events can make a bird pluck but the flighted bird has a better chance of getting away from those unexpected things.Early weaning can cause plucking because of the lack of nutrition that the bird was supposed to get in the first place. There are other things too because there's 2 classifications of pluckers/chewers.

Edited June 17, 2010 by Dave007