This stopped my bird from barbering his feathers

[DidiBird]

Hello Avenue!

I wanted to share this information because I know there are many out there dealing with feather destructive behavior in their birds.

This is not a veterinary solution, this is merely a home remedy to help break the pattern of feather destructive behavior that I personally found effective with my bird.

Get some yellow mustard, and put 2 or 3 squirts into a spray bottle, and add water. Shake it up and mix it well, and spray your bird with it. The bitterness of the mustard repels them from wanting to break their feathers.

Recently Zloto began barbering his feathers (he snips them in half or in pieces with his beak). It began suddenly. One day he was fine, the next we noticed a pile of 20-something broken feathers on the bottom of his cage, and witnessed him do it several times. In a panic, I emailed the staff of Golden Cockatoo (where I got him), asking for advice. They told me to try this, and it really did work. He has stopped barbering his feathers completely!

He has a vet appointment on Tuesday. In the mean time, he has stopped destroying his beautiful plumage while smelling like a hotdog

I hope this helps some people!

 

[AmberMuffinz]

I think in some cases this would make the plucking worse since their feathers would not look or feel right. Having something coating their feathers may make them want to pluck them more is what I'm getting at. Also not sure how good it is for them to ingest mustard. Personally I like the birdie products on the market better, although my littles are not known pluckers so chances are if my birds pluck it would be medical.

 

[DidiBird]

I think in some cases this would make the plucking worse since their feathers would not look or feel right. Having something coating their feathers may make them want to pluck them more is what I'm getting at. Also not sure how good it is for them to ingest mustard. Personally I like the birdie products on the market better, although my littles are not known pluckers so chances are if my birds pluck it would be medical.

Maybe in some cases, I absolutely agree. Those were all the reasons that had me skeptical. But! It worked for him and he is fine. So I shared.

 

[MaraWentz]

We tied listerine and water, aloe and water, mustard and water, and all didn't phase our over preener. Then we did a bitter detterent for birds (Bitter Apple or Fooey????) and it worked for a day until she became immune. It took 4-5 months of bathing and specail shampoos to get the the detterrent off her feahersa and beak. The bitter spray didn't work, btw -_-

 

[Welshanne]

Trouble with my Greys would be when they come to kiss me, do I have to suffer the mustard as well?

 

[jmfleish]

Things like that generally aren't going to work because birds have so many fewer taste buds and don't have the same taste buds we do. They are immune to capsaicin and capsaicinoids so many things that bother us won't phase them.

 

[mosemom]

Also, if it made them not pluck, then wouldn't it also keep them from preening normally? I would imagine it would make the bird feel very uncomfortable, and maybe turn to other forms of mutilation? I don't know how I will handle it if any of my guys start to pluck, but I don't believe I would apply anything unnatural to their feathers.