Help - Jenna is "barbering" her feathers (long)

[Raposa]

Hi everybody

 

Jenna's feathers have been looking bad for quite a while - at least a couple of months. I've never had a grey before, so I was not sure if it was normal or not. When I first noticed it, I contacted the breeder who said it was probably just a molt. But when it went on for more than 2 months, I started to get scared. I sent the breeder some photos and she said no, that is not a normal molt. Jenna is just past one year old, by the way.

 

So Jenna and I went to the vet today. He says that she is "barbering" her feathers - a kind of excessive preening similar to feather plucking. I've been bathing her several times a week but not every day; so now I will start making sure it is every day. He gave me a supplement to give her that seems to be mostly red palm oil, which she already gets in her food. I added yet another full spectrum light near her cage to make sure she's getting enough light. I have a good, but broken, air filter that I can put in her room, but after $285 at the vet today with bloodwork etc, I can't afford the $185 to get the filter fixed for a couple more paydays. It is top of my priority list, though.

 

Her diet is Harrisons pellets with some Zupreem mixed in for variety; and lots of fresh stuff (veggies, sprouts, fruits, rice, oatmeal, birdie bread, whatever we happen to be eating if it is bird safe). I swap out her toys once every week or two, and she had foraging opportunites when she is in her cage. She's in her cage during the day while I am at work, with music or TV on, and there are people in the house (my elderly mom is there, and she has a daytime caregiver that has been coming for years), and they go talk to Jenna during the day. In the evenings when I get home Jenna is allowed out of her cage until bedtime.

 

The vet says it is possible she did the barbering a couple of months ago and just has not recovered. I do know that November was a tough month for Jenna; my mom spent 3 weeks in the hospital and I was hardly at home at all, and that could have stressed her out. I'm supposed to keep a journal of any clipped or broken feathers on the bottom of her cage, and I did see one today, but just one . . . What else can I do to help my girl with this frustrating problem? I'm worried about my little sweetheart . . .

 

Thanks, it helps to talk to people who understand!

[Janfromboone]

Tobie was doing the same thing (I think it was the same, by your description). He would clip off the flight feathers when they would get long. The good news is that it seems to have stopped now. He has managed to grow out enough feather that he has enough flight that he doesn't drop like a stone anymore. I know what you are going through. Hope it stops soon. Sounds like you are doing what you can.

[Acappella]

You are taking great care of your baby. The only thing you didn't mention in your post is how much sleep Jenna is getting every night. You obviously take care to make sure she's well looked after though, so I'm sure you've got her sleep covered as well. Sounds like the vet has given you a reasonable theory about what is happening. I know us humans can experience hair loss a few months after stressful events. Keep up the good work and try not to stress or let your anxiety level soar. {Feel-good-00020114}

[Raposa]

Thank you, Jan and Acappella, for your kind replies. I appreciate you

[Char]

My 15 mo old CAG also does some barbering. It is not excessive so I don't stress about it as I think that makes it worse. I used to worry about every little feather but I think I was just making us both crazy.

 

You have ruled out medical reasons and are doing the best you can for your bird so just accept that this is a common problem with Greys. As my vet reminded me..This is a wild animal trying to cope with life with us. We cannot control everything. I found that when I accepted it the situation improved. I have re cently begun using a humidifier in her room and I see a big improvement in her feather condition and mood.

[danmcq]

Hi Raposa,

 

Your definitely doing everything right with your Grey. Many have been/are going through a BIG molt right now.

 

As the humidity drops due to heating our homes, the dryness of their skin becomes much more irritating to them. I noticed my grey was staring to look pretty shabby, constantly scratching and was very dusty.

 

As you, I had been misting with Aloe Juice atleast 2x a week and giving a good shower against his will 2x a week on different days.

 

I am uncertain of why you are using an air filter, but I found that with the humidity down so low, I decided to purchase a good humidifier. The scratching declined very quickly and his feathers started looking better each day.

 

Thats the only thing I can think of that might help. :-)

[Raposa]

Thanks, Char and Dan, a humidifier is an easy addition, I will get one!

 

The air filter is because my 84 year old mother, who lives with me, smokes, and although she confines her smoking to a specific area and never smokes in the part of the house where Jenna is, I am worried that some residual smoke could find its way to her.

 

I have not seen any broken or clipped feathers in her cage for the past few days, maybe this is something she did a couple of months ago and it is really resolved, and she just has not molted out the clipped off feathers yet. I can hope, anyway!

[Jane08]

It is definitely the season for feather damage. Our poor female had a wing feather that broke and was hanging out and hitting her in the head whenever she did anything. She stopped flying and looked miserable all weekend. It was so bad she kept standing on it to try and pull it out. Finally today it fell out but we noticed a part of the feather was missing so a trip to the vet for her, sigh.

[Raposa]

Oh Jane, I'm sorry to hear that! Poor girl :-(

[shannon]

I hope I have some good news, but really only time will tell. When we got Omar, about year later he started plucking obsessively. I'm mean not to where he was completely bald, but enough to where he had a big bald spot on his belly and he was pulling wing and tail feathers. I did everything you did- baths, made sure he had plenty of sun, made sure his cage had two corners that were wall, made sure he got plenty of good foods, kept clean water and a clean cage, really everything I could think of. Then, we had testing done because I was scared to death he had something, after all he was only a year and maybe he had come to us with something. He was our first and I just didn't know what was wrong. All the tests were negative and so the vet said it was psychological rather than physiological.

 

Strangest thing and I did this only because I was desperate but I found the name of a "bird psychologist" on the Internet. I would never normally do something like this but again, was desperate. I paid a flat fee of like $60 and she spent like 30 minutes or so with me on the phone asking questions. Two things she discovered that said needed to be changed and so I did, and within a month or so he was well on the road to recovery. One was to get him a separate cage- a sleep cage if you will- and put in another room (he was in our room and we watched TV until late and even though we were covering his cage, the lady said that probably wasn't good enough and so he needed to be put in a good quiet and dark room. After seven years, he has finally outgrown this and he sleeps in his regular cage but that's a whole other story!

 

Other thing was that she suggested since I got him at 3 months and wasn't given any instructions for some hand feeding (I just didn't know any better) that he may need to be "babied" a bit. And so that I did-- now don't take this as a recommendation without others agreeing, but I began giving him some bottled baby food (I thought what better to baby him with). I would warm it some (just a bit) and he would go into total baby mode and lap it off of a spoon as I fed it to him. He loved the warmth and really I think that helped get him something of what he had apparently missed. We still do this sometimes as a treat but not too often because by the time he is done, there is baby food all over his beak and all over the wall from where he slings it once he is done, and often all over me as well. It is like having a real baby!

 

Anyway, those are some suggestions. The sleep thing is the biggest. They have to get at least 10 hours and probably more like 12 of solid sound sleep so they need solitude to do this.

[Jane08]

Thanks Raposa, she seems happier today and she is off to the vet tomorrow. I am sure she will be fine. My boyfriend is the one freaking. He is so dramatic and says to me I hope she makes it through the night, lol, I tell him don't be silly she is fine.

 

I hope Jenna's feathers get better, it sounds like you are doing a great job.

[Raposa]

Thanks, Jane, I guess time will tell!

 

Shannon, I've been wondering about a sleep cage in another room for Jenna. What holds me back is that she is very comfortable in her usual room and I worry that making a change like that could cause her to become MORE anxious rather than less . . . hard to know what to do. One thought would be to cover her cage when I put her in for the night. The area she is in gets some reflected light until about 10:00 although I usually have her in her cage for bed between 8:30 and 9:00. Maybe covering her would help.

[Tycos_mom]

Tyco used to barber her left side flight feathers to the point where she was very off balance and would fall constantly on her keel really hard. I was terrified she was going to break her keel bone. This was just after I got her she was 4 years old. The person who had her said that it was a birth defect and that she never had flight feathers on her left hand side. Well I took her to the vet and the vet said that she never had them because she was chewing them off as soon as they started to grow. I still to this day don't know why but I assume it was due to a bad clip as a baby she was never permitted to fledge. I had my vet clip her so that both sides match so at least she was balanced and wouldn't hurt herself from falling all the time. After that clip Tyco has stopped barbering her feathers she is fully flighted now and is just starting to learn how to fly she crash lands allot but she's trying. She is 6 years old now and I think its going to take a little longer to learn to fly now than it would have if they had let her learn as a baby. I'm so proud of her that she finally stop barbering. I think once you figure out what is causeing the problem it will solve it self just like it did for Tyco its just figuring out what it is. Your doing everything you can and I'm sure that it will all work out in the end just keep trying the things you think will help I think that covering her cage at night might help. mabie the light that shines on her for awhile bothers her. Also the humidifyer sounds like a great Idea.

[Raposa]

Thanks :-) I may try covering just the front of her cage at night, I really hate to cover her completely since she's never had that done and I'm afraid it might frighten her. Her breeder is totally bewildered about this, she said she has heard of babies who were incubated alone barbering but not otherwise, and she doesn't know what else to suggest. I love Jenna no matter how funny she looks, but I worry that this behavior means there is something bothering her

[Raposa]

Update! :-) Jenna is beginning to have a few feathers that look like feathers rather than fuzz on her tummy. She really likes having a shower every day, and when I get home she starts asking "Shower? Shower? Want shower?" I have to tell her she already had one today Hehehehe Anyway, I am hopeful that her feathers will grow in and she'll be back to being her gorgeous little self again. How long does it take for bad feathers to molt out and be replaced?

[judygram]

Glad to hear Jenna is getting some feathers instead of the fuzz and lucky you that she enjoys showers, wish Josey did, she tolerates them but that is all.

 

It may take a while for her bad feathers to molt out and be replaced but when it does she will be so beautiful, you will have to share a picture of her.

[Raposa]

You are such a sweetie, Judy! You are one of the people on this forum I would REALLY like to meet some day :-) You are always so kind and encouraging to everybody here!