Why is my parrot plucking feathers

As having toys is not enough to keep a parrot occupied, our bird toy packs contain a variety of toys of different textures, materials and shapes that are specially curated to meet the enrichment needs of small to medium sized parrots shredding, chewing, foraging, preening and climbing.

Provide more foraging opportunities: Make food more difficult to access by hiding them in foraging toys or in various areas around the cage. Research has found that increasing foraging opportunities can significantly reduce feather plucking. When 18 feather-plucking African grey parrots were provided with food in pipe feeders rather than bowls, their foraging time significantly increased by 73 minutes each day and their plumage improved noticeably within one month.

Rearrange toys and perches: Parrots are more likely to get bored in a familiar environment. You can prevent boredom by changing the positions and types of toys, dishes and perches in your bird's cage every week. Reduce stress through probiotics and herbal teas : Potent Brew in our Feather plucking rescue pack is a live liquid probiotic which helps to reduce stress levels which can be associated with feather plucking. The blend contains ingredients with calming properties such as chamomile and lavender and is especially helpful for nervous and anxious feather plucking birds.

Do not do the following as they cause anxiety, fear and stress which can trigger feather plucking:. Solutions that physically prevent plucking behavior. The solutions below work by making it very difficult for your bird to pluck the areas that would be otherwise easy to reach with the beak. Birds may lose the habit of plucking after a prolonged period of using.

Anti-plucking collars: They are attached on the neck of a parrot and come in many materials and designs with varying levels of comfort, but all of them will hinder the natural movements of parrots preening, eating, flying, turning to some extent. If your bird is plucking because of existing skin wounds, or if the wounds were caused by plucking, neck collars can be helpful in preventing birds from picking at them wounds, allowing them to heal properly so new feathers can grow.

The material acts as a physical barrier between the beak and feathers. Hoodies and vests are a bit more tricky to put on, but seem to be more comfortable for parrots as they do not hinder many of their natural movements except preening.

Close search. My parrot is feather plucking! What can I do? A comprehensive guide by Parrot Funhouse May 09, What is feather plucking? Birds who are feather plucking and molting tend to have similar personality and behavioral changes such as: Suddenly quiet and depressed Aggressive and irritable Loss of appetite Screaming more than usual Increased preening Itching Looking lethargic The table below will help you identify the symptoms of feather plucking and help you tell if your birds are plucking and molting.

Health Causes Feather plucking is one of the symptoms of many medical issues such as: Folliculitis Folliculitis is a condition in which skin and feather follicles become red, inflamed, itchy and painful which causes birds to pick at it and pluck their feathers.

Causes for skin irritation include: Bacterial, fungal, viral infection Allergies Exposure to toxic substances e. Hepatopathy liver disease Avian chlamydiosis bacterial infection caused by Chlamydia psittaci Osteomyelitis infection of the bone Pancreatic disease Kidney disease Neoplasia abnormal and excessive growth of tissue Underlying abscesses built-up pus that cause redness, pain, warmth, and swelling of the skin Liver and kidney disease Feather plucking is one of the symptoms of liver and kidney diseases.

Environmental Causes The behaviour of birds is very much regulated by their biological clock, which is affected by external environmental factors.

Mental Causes Trauma and stress Many parrots that were previously mistreated , neglected or traumatized tend to pluck their feathers as a stress-coping mechanism. Examples of traumatic and stressful experiences for parrots include: Change in its habitual environment e. Health Solutions If your bird is exhibiting the tell-tale signs of feather plucking, the first step is to bring your bird to the vet as feather plucking is one of the symptoms of many health conditions that is impossible to pinpoint without tests.

Environmental Solutions The solutions below help to regulate your bird's hormones and make them less anxious, reducing the need to pluck. Provide your bird with natural light and fresh air in its living area: Do not keep your bird in a windowless room or a dark spot Make the air more humid: If your bird sleeps in an air conditioned room or lives in a dry climate, humidify the air with a air humifidier to prevent skin dryness and irritation.

Here are some ways that parrots can bath: Dish of water Shallow water fountain Spray or mist Showering with humans especially macaws and larger rainforest species Tip: If your parrot dislikes or doesn't feel comfortable enough to bath, you can let your bird join you in the bathroom by perching him on the shower rod or the sink while you shower.

Mental Solutions The solutions below help your bird feel more secure and feel more enriched. Credit: Dot Schwarz Also being in a cage with nothing to chew or gnaw can induce a Parrot to over preen and start picking.

Preventative measure will include providing freshly cut safe branches at least once a week as well as foraging toys. A poor diet is often blamed for birds spoiling their plumage. Are you sure that your bird is not eating too rich a diet lacking in vitamins, particularly Vitamin A? Amino acids from protein foods are necessary for feather health. Some people like supplements. I favour chicken bones for Benni Macaw and the Greys.

Adding the right supplement at the right dosage can help eliminate feather loss. Casper Grey plucked his chest badly after a fight with another bird. Malcolm Green of The Birdcare Company advised me to add a calcium supplement to his feeding. Credit: Dot Schwarz One cause of feather picking can be lack of sunlight and fresh air. I had a graphic example of this when a badly plucked Timneh hen joined our aviary flock.

She had been kept in a box for the last 8 months. Put at liberty in a large aviary, the wild caught Parrot that I named Mirt, stopped plucking her neck and chest and refeathered completely within six months. Behavioural causes of plucking Sexual maturity can cause a bird to pluck. In the wild the Parrot would choose a mate.

In our sitting rooms, the possibilities of a semi natural life are severely limited. The Parrot chooses its favourite human and in frustration at the non-consummation may get aggressive or pluck its own feathers.

This sexual plucking is often marked with Cockatoos. Providing a mate is not necessarily the best solution. The Cockatoo whose innate nature tells her or him to mate is also habituated to living with humans.

Presenting a Cockatoo bonded with a human with another Cockatoo can be a recipe for disaster. Credit: Dot Schwarz Giving the bird an enriched environment with branches to chew, toys to pay with often lessens the urge to pull out feathers and for the favoured human to avoid over petting. Sometimes when plucking has become habitual, the bird relishes the sensation of pulling out its own feathers.

It becomes a sort of vice equivalent to a habitual nail biter or even analogous to human psychotic hair pulling Trichotillomania. You will usually see the damage to feathers on the breast and neck, which are easiest to reach with the beak. If you suspect that your bird has been plucking its feathers, the best advice is to get your bird to an avian vet as quickly as possible.

If the vet determines your bird to be free of psittacine beak and feather disease PBFD or other medical problems , then your bird's plucking is most likely due to an environmental issue. Birds that are stressed will pluck as a means of pacifying themselves, and sometimes do it out of boredom or lack of interaction. There can be medical causes due to diet, toxic exposures, and infections. Your veterinarian is likely to ask questions to try to get to the root of the problem, as well as doing a physical exam and lab tests.

To determine if there is an environmental cause for the bird's behavior, ask yourself the following questions:. If you find that any area of your bird's environment isn't as wonderful as it should be, take immediate action to make your bird more comfortable. Once a bird starts plucking its feathers, it can be difficult to get it to stop if the condition has been allowed to go on for a time. The situation is not a dire one if your parrot is simply bald, partially or nearly completely, but does not ever draw blood, and if you have determined, with the help of your veterinarian, that there is no physical cause.

If the feather plucking is stable and is not getting worse, then do not panic. Trying a different remedy or veterinarian every week, or a series of endless changes in diet or environment will only make things worse.

You can do this by consulting an avian veterinarian, a parrot behaviorist, or a friend with many years of experience in caring for parrots, and by reading and doing research on the subject. You might also consider adopting another bird of the same species, since many birds thrive in the company of their own kind. Pairing up birds of the same species may work better than relying on your ability to provide three or more hours of attention consistently every day for the next years.

If your bird is plucking to the point of drawing blood, consult an experienced avian veterinarian immediately. Some medications, such as anti-depressants, have been known to alleviate severe feather plucking.

But, if the feather picking is resulting in blood loss, infection or other health risk, it may be necessary to consider such medication — but only as a last resort. Self-mutilation, a step beyond simple feather plucking, is a condition that also requires immediate medical attention. You might want to consider a holistic avian veterinarian, who can offer herbal, homeopathic or other alternative treatments. Do not prescribe these yourself, since herbal treatments that are not harmful to humans may be toxic to your bird.

Strong smells and fragrances, essential oils and aromatherapy should never be used with or near any birds. In fact, rather than solving problems such as feather plucking, being passed from home to home can often trigger them. Occasionally, a veterinarian may recommend euthanizing a parrot with a severe feather-plucking problem.