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My Baby Quaker(7 months old) Is Plucking!

Kathryn

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Kathryn
Hello All;
My beautiful and sweet female Quaker Caly is plucking. She is plucking guys!! My daughter handles her very wrong and I have forbade her to mess with her at all(she is 10). My little Caly is 7 months old. I was hanging out with her on my chest yesterday when she reached back and was plucking the top of her wing until she was bleeding. Why would she start plucking like this? What can I do to stop it before she tears all her feathers out? Could it be because she is scared of my daughter? Could it be because she is annoyed that my son's cockatiel hangs out on her cage playtop when she is there? Sometimes Caly gets aggressive towards the cockatiel and sometimes she just seems chill about it. What could cause my baby to pluck like this? I need some help.
 

Cynthia & Percy

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There R Manny Medical reasons so I would take her to the vet ASAP
 

Kassiani

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A bird I'm considering adopting is pretty naked. I've read through the Pluckers Parlor sub-forum here on AA to better understand feather plucking, and it has been very helpful. I can only recommend that and second the idea of calling/seeing your vet.
 

sunnysmom

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When a bird starts plucking, it's always best to see a vet to rule out medical issues first.
 

elitys

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Like everyone has said, taking her to an avian vet is the best first step when you have plucking issues, especially in a bird as young as her. It is unlikely for young birds to develop behavioral plucking habits so there is most likely a medical reason for the behavior.

Be sure not to inadvertantly reward the plucking if possible. Don't give her extra attention or even give verbal recognition of the behavior when she does it because you could end up reinforcing it. Then if it was medical at first, it could become behavioral.

You can also start trying to provide healthy outlets for the urge to pluck. Placing preening and shredding toys next to perches she usually spends lots of time on can help reduce plucking.
 

Mizzely

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Babies usually don't pluck for behavioral reasons. I would definitely want a vet visit. They can actually pluck due to pain.
 

budgieluv3

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Good Luck!
 

budgie❤️

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Yes, like everyone has said, an avian vet visit is needed ASAP. Poor baby :( Also if it is not that then it is most likely either stress caused by your daughter not handling the bird correctly or lack of things to do. Do you have plenty of toys and activities in your bird's cage? Any of these could be the reason so isolating the cause is crucial.
 
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