24yo Senegal had serious injury from macaw

[ichickon]

I just stumbled on this forum looking for some information that might help my situation.

I have 3 parrots. An 11y/o blue throated macaw, a 13y/o severe macaw, and a 24y/o senegal. Oh, I'll also mention I have a dog too (whippet mix - so not very big). Last august, my partner found the senegal bleeding with a large gash of blood above his eye. It was frightening looking! started directly above all of his eye and arched over to his beak. We believe the cage door was not fully latched and he escaped and made his way over to the severe macaw (as her cage was directly next to his). He probably crawled on to her cage, and she injured him through it. He has always been a little adventurous, brave and bossy... and (regretfully) rarely does he fear the macaws. He's lucky to have not lost his eye and to be alive! I took him immediately to the vet and he was treated and put on anti-bios. Only procedure really done was to clean the wound and "stitch" it back together. Aside from a slight "cowlick", he did not sustain any other "permanent damage", so far as I can tell.

He was clearly shaken and in shock immediately after, but his social behaviour hasn't really changed since the injury last August. He's still pretty feisty and bossy. He's a very sweet bird for the most part (While I want to believe he is unique and special unlike the other chickens, my hunch is that he's a typical senegal). Shortly after the injury, I noticed he was bloody down around his preening gland. I took him back to the vet, and they could find no problems outside saying it was possibly a little infected. More anti-bios blah blah blah... It started to look a little better briefly, but quickly became apparent that this was the start of a feather plucking issue.

All 3 parrots are in the same room in separate cages. The macaws have very large cages (a hy macaw would be happy in either). The senegal's cage is obviously smaller but pretty roomie as well. I feed them all Harrison's bird foods (and other mostly healthy options). They have toys and what not for entertainment for when they are in their cages. I'd consider myself to be an intermediate pushing advanced parrot owner (as far as knowledge of avian care, behaviour, etc.). I made what I felt was a good educated guess and went ahead and moved the severe macaw's cage to the opposite side/corner of the room. The senegal has been happy in his location for years, so he remains there for now. The plucking did seem to lessen for a little while, but then it picked back up again. Until about a week ago, it remained confined to around the preening gland and back up under his wings. Now he has started plucking from where his wing joins to under his neck (only one side though right now). And just now I found that he plucked off the top tail feathers and it is kinda bloody around there. I gave him a rinse and cleaned him up as best I could.

I don't know if other senegals do this odd-ish, but way fun and amusing behaviour (I know this is a shift, but stay with me). He does this thing where he rapidly opens his beak pretty wide. Cute little pink tongue and all. He'll start turning his head from side to side. All while doing this little rapid opening and closing of his beak. It's super cute, and I always mimic him back. Eventually, he starts dropping his wings to his side to where they almost touch whatever he is standing on. I don't know if that is enough of a description, but I have a hunch this is something common in senegals? Anyhow, to tie this back in.... I've noticed he's been trying to engage me in this behaviour more often than in times past. My gut/instinct says it is something that makes him "feel safe" maybe?

So now I'm running with that "hunch". His injury was pretty severe (ba dump bah! i know. dorky parrot pun.. trying to keep a sense of humor despite this!)... I think it safe to say that this injury is the root of this plucking nightmare. I don't really know what else to do to stop the plucking from getting even worse. What can I do to make him feel more safe maybe? Should I spend even more time with him? (I spend a good 1.5-3 hours a day with varying combinations of the 3 birds - directly interacting or ambient attention time) Otherwise, I try to call back to them when I'm at home with brief stop by visits. It's a very vibrant and fun household. Should I move him out of the room (not really any good other options, but... I'd entertain making something work)? He's clearly an older senegal, so there is that... Another thing I've been considering is another small cage to try to keep him near me when I work from home? I do let him sit with me while working, but eventually it is impossible to keep him from wandering out of site (and possibly into trouble). I can't be with him all the time unfortunately, so if anyone has any thoughts on what I can do to make him feel safer? Or is there possibly more at play that I'm not considering?

Thank you for reading all of this. Please let me know if something isn't clear above (I've had a lot of distractions trying to compose this, so please forgive any typos, etc.). And of course thank you to anyone who kindly takes valuable time to add comments.

Wishing everyone happiness and good health for all your chickens!

- Paul

 

[parrotluv]

I don't have too much experience with plucking issues, but the behaviour you described is sexual. He is obviously going through hormones. Maybe this is also a cause for the increased plucking

 

[ichickon]

I'm open to all possibilities. I forgot to mention the sex info. Severe and blue throated macaws are definitely female (blood tested). The senegal was originally assumed to be male, but never blood tested. Having seen more info on the web about possible visible differences, I'm now leaning toward female. But it's hard enough keeping up with pronouns as it is of late, so I've stuck with "him". Never had a feather problem before. He is 23... so older and definitely more "chill" than he used to be. Is this something more common in one sex over the other (either the behaviour I described or the plucking)?

 

[Greycloud]

Welcome to AA!
DNA is the only definite way. Here is a link for visual sexing. Senegal Sexing Page
Plucking can occur for many reasons and many of those reasons are unknown. If he is making himself bleed then you need to see the vet for some testing. They will do a skin scraping, fecal and bloodwork. Ask them to test for Giardia which can be a common reason for plucking.
If the bird is causing its' self to bleed it has moved to mutilation. A soft collar is probably needed.

 

[JLcribber]

I would not say the plucking is directly because of the injury. Rather it is the "stress" of having to continue to be in close proximity to the bird that attacked him.

 

[macawpower58]

Plucking near the preening gland? If I read correctly, that's not too common, and I'd not put that down to a plucking problem. I guess it could be, but I'd think a health concern more likely.
Has the vet checked his preen gland? They do get compacted and infected. That could cause him misery that could go into plucking.

I'm thinking it's coincidence with the attack and the plucking. How long afterwards did you see the blood around his preen gland? Was the only damage from the macaw on his face? Are you pretty sure no where else (maybe from falling?) was injured?

How is he acting when near the macaw? Is his cage still next to it? Whether there's any related fear or not could also be an issue if it is a nervous plucking problem.

It does sound like some hormonal behavior is also going on. The wing drooping and beak movements make me think he's courting you.

Moving him around won't hurt, and may help. Sometimes a better area will calm sensitive birds down. I'd at the very least try and keep his cage further from the macaw, perhaps even lie a blanket over the one side so that the macaw isn't always in sight. If he is stressed by the memory, the nearness of the macaw could be very upsetting to him.

Once plucking starts it can be difficult to stop. Try showering him more often, the water will help sooth irritated skin. Change toys around to keep him occupied. Try some foraging for his food/treats.

I'd also ask the vet to do some more testing. Just the area the plucking started in has me worried about infections. Some things require certain anti-biotics, others need other medication.
I'm not sure of all the panels for testing they do, but I would definately look into it.

My macaw just had an impacted preen gland. It swelled and needed lanced and drained. While there I had a throat and cloaca swab done and found he had a staph infection.

You just can't tell by looking at them.

 

[melissasparrots]

I'd follow up at the vet with the preen gland. It seems like preen gland problems are somewhat commonly associated with plucking. Its also possible that when he was bleeding from the initial wound, he tried to preen and got blood caked around the gland, then went nuts trying to clean up the blood and then all the irritation from the damage he did caused more irritation and it went on from there. Feather picking can be tough. I find it awfully coincidental that an older bird suddenly started plucking shortly after he was injured.

If it were me, I'd look at it as though it could be both behavioral and physical. Its very possible it started physical and its now a combination of irritated skin from previous plucking causing more plucking and increased preoccupation with his feathers in general. If his hormones are raging and frustrations are high, it might mean he has a lower than normal tolerance for minor pains and physical disruptions. It does sound like that might be hormonal behavior with the beak opening, although I don't have a poicephalus, so you might want to check with other poi owners to see if they think its hormones.

Possibly the vet can prescribe some meticam and see if that reduces whatever pain or discomfort is causing the plucking well enough to try to regrow some feathers or just get him out of the cycle. Meanwhile, up his foraging opportunities and toy rotations. Possibly reduce photoperiod to try to get him out of hormone mode. Observe if there is any connection with baths. My cockatoo used to be an itchy mess right after a bath so I didn't bathe her much when she was plucking. However, many people find that wet birds pluck less. Adding some flaxseed oil to his diet might help due to the anti-inflammatory aspects of the omega-3 fatty acids. Plucking is a nasty problem to try to get a bird out of. Whatever triggers it, certain species that tend to be those super active, busybody types will just obsess over it and have a super hard time moving beyond. And have the vet seriously check out the preen gland rather than just randomly prescribing antibiotics for it.

 

[Wolf]

The wing drooping sounds to me like an invitation to mate, in which case your bird is a bit hormonal, but that should be on the down swing now as we are near the end of the breeding season. The preen gland thing is another matter altogether and needs to be looked into as it is not normal and is probably impacted and/ or infected. This could easily result in the plucking/ mutilation behavior as the bird tries to clear it and relieve the internal pressure.