Feather Plucking

[Flint]

My African grey is 10 months old, his name is flint.

I have had him all but 12 weeks of his life, and he'sa happy chirpy bird who talks better than me.

Recently thuogh, he has plucked all his chest and flight feathers out. Theses have been relaced by what i describe as fluffy baby feathers.

He shows no sighns of distress or illness.

Question is is this normalfor a bird of his age or should i get help?. Indeed can any one on here offer help or advice ?. Many thanks.

[lovemyGreys]

Hi flint, We have a welcome room, why not come & introduce yourself.

 

 

Flint There is always a reason behind the plucking & it can be so frustrating for owners because you have to find out what is causing it, before you can start to fix the problem.Has there been anything that has changed in your greys life recently which may have started him to pluck ?The list is endless but a few possibilities are;

Frustration from long periods in his cage

Lack of mental & physical stimulation

Change of family circumstances/ environment

Incorrect periods of light/darkness

A poor diet, high in fatty foods

Attention seeking.

 

Have you taken him to an avian vet to rule out any medical reasons ?

 

Many members recommend misting with aloe vera juice.

If you type " plucking " in the search box at the top of the page you will be able to have a read through previous topics on plucking.<br><br>Post edited by: lovemyGreys, at: 2007/10/29 20:56

[Guest briansmum]

are you sure this isn't molting?

[Flint]

Hi and thanks for that.

There has been no change in his routine really, and he's out of his cage and free to play 5to 6 hours a day.

He isn't puffing up or being quiet in fact the only difference is his feathers, otherwise his behaviour is normal.

[lovemyGreys]

Is he pulling/plucking feathers out ? Is there any bald patches ? My two boys are 10 months & going through their first molt & are very scruffy at the moment with excess downy feathers everywhere.

Any chance of a picture ?

[Flint]

Evening all,

i'm trying to upload photos of Flint to show but apparently the size is too big. Any ideas would be welcome.

Cheers

[kathysmith38]

Ok I have similar problem. LuLu has tons of down feathers all over the house but I am concerned because I can see her pull them. I haven't found but one red tail feather on the floor and when I checked you can see another red feather already coming in. She isn't too keen on baths so I mist her every other day. I am slowly but surely getting her more adjusted to letting me put her in the shower and using the handheld sprayer to shower her. Today for the first time she flapped her wings in the shower for me to get under her wings with the sprayer and all looks well there. She has a spot on either wing where when wet it looks as though she is bald. Her skin underneath is pink and supple. She seems to like the blow dryer so I use it on the low/cool setting to dry her.

 

When I brought LuLu home 3 months ago she was only 15 weeks old. She had been on a diet that was primarily Higgins Safflower Gold. I have tried to wean her off the seed but she is extremely mule headed when it comes to food. We have tried Harrison's High Potency, Zupreem Natural, Pretty Bird, and Exact pellets but I don't feel she eats as much as she should (of course I can just be a worrisome mommy too). I leave pellets in her cage all day along with a minimal amount of the Higgins mixed in. She likes her oatmeal in the mornings, not much on most veggies and she went nuts with apple, mango, egg, and peas tonight for supper but still she looks on the thin side to me. I am praying this is due to molting.

She appeared heavier when I bought her but without a scale to really check I have no idea how much weight difference there is. The vet check when I purchased LuLu was A-ok. I have since lost my job and am unable to afford to see the vet again not so much because of the office visit cost but because of all the labs. Without a job, and only one income (no overtime), plus dealing with the recovery from an auto accident, it is going to be a tight holiday season in the house. I am doing all I can just to keep us in the house with food and electricity until I find a new position.

Can anyone tell me what signs are normal for a healthy parrot, what are signs of molting versus plucking, and what is a reasonable amount of food consumption a day? I am so worried, I don't want to lose my beloved LuLu due to financial hardships that I know will improve hopefully soon.