WHY IS MY PARROT PLUCKING?
To begin with you MUST take your bird to an Avian vet.
Birds pluck out their feathers for many reasons:
Illness
Pain
Fear
Frustration
Hormones
Lack of sleep
Cigarette smoke
Poor nutrition
To get your attention
In other words it could be any of the above, or a combination of several factors.
It never fails to astound me when I hear people shout at their bird" STOP PLUCKING NOW!"
Lets start with the obvious. Illness. If a bird is unwell they hide it better than any other creature, because in a wild flock, ill or weak birds are rejected from the flock or bullied . As a caregiver to these wonderful birds, it is your job to be vigilant.
I have just heard of a vet advising an African Grey owner to spray her parrot with diluted Listerine mouthwash. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS. I am horrified by this recommendation. The vet should be ashamed of this advice. Remember they pledge to DO NO HARM!
Have you ever had a mouth ulcer and used mouth wash. IT HURTS! It may stop the plucking but they hate the taste and it WILL distress your bird. Also, by plucking your bird is trying to tell you that something is wrong.
Start finding out by firstly answering these questions:
Have you had your bird checked by a good avian vet?
Does your bird pluck in front of you or in secret?
Do you feed your bird the correct diet for its species?
Does your bird get at least 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep with lights out and TV off?
Is your bird in pain?
Is your bird afraid?
Is your bird lonely?
Is your bird bored?
Lets look at the first question. A good avian vet is like gold dust to a parrot owner. If he/she looks at the bird and say STRESS without an examination, blood tests and loads of questions about his/her housing, then walk out and find a better vet.
Parrots DO NOT pluck in the wild. If they pluck when in our care they are unhappy for a reason.
Illness can come in many forms. I am not an avian vet, so I will not go into this in depth.
In order to find out if your bird is sick take him/her to an avian vet.
Plucking in secret or in front of you. If your bird plucks in secret it can mean many things, but if your bird plucks in front of you then that's different. When your bird is plucking do you say atatat! or Stop it! or something similar? Well if you do you have just reinforced his behaviour. Think! He pulls a feather and you make an excited noise, you have just told him to pluck again. If you want to stop this behaviour, you must walk out the door when he plucks without a word. It can take up to three weeks or more to stop him plucking in this way. But it will be worth it for your bird.
Diet. Please read the page on feeding your bird. If your bird is on a bad diet then he can suffer from malnutrition, this will have a serious effects and plucking is only one symptom.
Sleep. If your bird does not get enough sleep it can play havoc with his/her stress levels. So please give your bird what every being needs - quality sleep.
Pain. I have heard ,on many an occasion, that what was thought to be a stressed bird plucking, was found on a necropsy to be pain. One bird was suffering from angina and he had plucked a hole through his chest trying to reach the pain. It is awful to think about that poor bird suffering from chest pain.
Fear. Have you changed anything? Is someone in your home teasing the bird? Is there some very scary toy hanging in his cage? Fear can come from many things. It is up to you to be the detective.
I had a gentleman call me one day in torment and worry. His bird had stopped talking and had become very quiet and withdrawn. He had been to his vet but to no avail. I asked him if anything had changed and he said no. I got him to go through the week previous and found out that his bird had been throwing out his food dish. In order to stop this his Wife had put a piece of tape on it to hold it in. This was enough to shut this intelligent creature down. The man removed the tape and quickly his bird was back to normal.
Lonely. Do you know how many birds spend their days alone? Some spend most of their night that way too. Your bird is a flock animal, he needs to have company. It is cruel to put a bird in a room and only feed him once per day. BUT HE SCREAMS! Well wouldn't you?! They need interaction and company. If you cannot devote quality time to your bird and a decent period of time outside the cage then a parrot is not for you.
Bored. Why not sit in your loo for an hour or two with nothing to do but play with the walls!
Your bird need stimulation. Good quality toys, time talking to you and time out playing.
These birds have the intelligence of a five year old child. How would a child feel in the same situation?
