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New post: Caique plucking pin feathers and eating them

CrazyKozmo

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
12/23/16
Messages
599
Location
Central Washington state
Real Name
Rebecca
This is my first time posting on Pluckers Parlor. Looking to see if anyone has some insight on this situation. Kozmo (white bellied caique) is my 8 year old female, she is bonded with her female buddy Mickey, also 8 years old. Got them at 6 months old...have been (and will be) their only owner. Around 2 years of age, I was able to get them off of their seed mix and onto Harrison's pellets. I noticed that Kozmo started plucking her legs (those beautiful yellow pantaloons!!:sour:). I thought that it might be the corn and soy that is in Harrison's, so I changed them to Hari's/Tropican Alternative pellet (no soy, no corn). No improvement...plucking is continuing on her belly and chest. So, I got thinking about what @Mizzely always says about pellets (the best pellet is what they will eat and what they do well on). Well, they did best on seeds...so now I'm offering seeds, pellets [Alternative] (Mickey will still eat these, Kozmo just likes to throw them), sprouted seeds for breakfast, carrots and sweet peppers daily (they love these), kale weekly, berries and walnut and almond daily. Their feather colors are gorgeous!!

A bit more information: 1) Kozmo has always been the more high strung/excitable of the two (caique owners will understand); she is the one who's body language I need to pay close attention to.
2) When all of this started, it seemed to increase after a bath. She would just start preening/plucking. This continues to this day. They bathe in their water dish 1/2 per week.
3) She will pluck a pin feather, make a big "ouch" sound, and eat the feather. Usually 4-5 feathers in succession.
4) Her vet (who has now retired:sour:) found her to be a little low on calcium. We are slowly bringing that up (last check was Oct. 2021, she was at 8...normal is 8.3- 11.1 mg/dl)
5) Kozmo's albumin is low (0.7....normal 1.8-2.5 g/dl). Not sure what to do about this? Her body condition is good, don't know her weight (she's afraid of the scale), but her musculature is good....she's a real good flyer.
6) They have a big cage (6'x 3 1/2'x 2 1/2') in our living room (it's just me and my husband). This cage I clean every 5 days. Full spectrum lighting 12 hours out of the day. I work part time, so am home a lot (I prefer the company of my birds over most people!). They are out of their cage about 2 hours out of the day...I also have 2 green cheeks who have a lot more out time (they don't need as much supervision as the caiques).

I've heard that the pin feather plucking and eating is a sign of needing more protein. Not sure how true this is? They get about 2 TBSP. of hemp seed daily and sprouted lentils daily. They get some foraging opportunities daily (not a lot...this is something I need to improve on). I've ordered, from thebestbirdfood.com, their "Dirty Bird" detox to give it a try.

Any insights will be appreciated (or thread suggestions that I should follow).
Thank you for taking the time to read all of this:bounce4:
 

Hahns0hmy

Walking the driveway
Joined
6/1/19
Messages
250
Location
new york ny
Real Name
Adam
Im no expert, but since I just had plucking and stopped it maybe something I did helps you try something. I re arranged the cage perches. and replaced toys with new ones so he wasn't bored. I cut off harrisons, because I felt like that is causing hormones to be extreme based on reading so many mentioning the name with issues. I switched him back to his regular tropimix, zu Preem natural and fruit blend. I mix that with the nut fruit mix. I noticed upon just the food going back and no Harrisons he yelled less. Then I made sure to limit contact with my other bird she somehow excites him even though diff species, in the same room I distanced the cages further. I began giving showers more frequently, this also has been helping a lot, you mentioned it makes yours pluck, is that in the dish or reg shower or both? it seems to help mine a lot in shower not dish. Like you I'm not home all day so I also newly began leaving tv on YouTube parrot entertainment with other birds. I noticed it keeps them active and not yelling but with others feeling homie. I also thought maybe seeing other birds not plucking says hey I shouldn't pluck either? who knows. I stopped disrupting at night, after the cages were covered I entered the room a lot after but since the plucking I stopped. mine bathe in the dish but it isn't the same. I remove them both and put them into the shower for about 5 minutes. I didn't lower the time for day light I put it back to normal in light. 8am to 7pm when. when I lowered the amount of light It seemed to stress him out. I only pet the neck and up. last but not least I shut the radiator in the room. I found it was drying the air a lot when It turned on. I keep it 50 to 60 humidity always and just use the portable heater when needed to warm the room. I did the food foraging thing a while.. it works but wasn't my answer. they pluck for so many reasons It isn't funny. I think I've read enough trying figure it out to have a phd in vet medicine and still not know lol. in fact I noticed most vets don't know because of the the various reasons. hopefully something I tried helps you. even though not the same species.
 

CrazyKozmo

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
12/23/16
Messages
599
Location
Central Washington state
Real Name
Rebecca
Thank you for your reply @Hahns0hmy. My green cheeks are on Harrison's. I've had budgies and cockatiels on Harrison's, also, with no problems. Kozmo doesn't even like corn (even fresh corn on the cob)...and Mickey can take it or leave it. I kind of feel that the Harrison's may have been the initial trigger..? And it's just gone on from there. I have found Kozmo to be calmer (overall....she still has her moments) since going back on seeds...continuing with the veggies/fruits/nuts. Also, she had a bit of "clicking" with her breathing (but no other noticeable health change...besides plucking) while on pellets, that has since resolved going back on seeds. They bathe in their water dish 1-2 a week (stainless steel dish)...usually she'll start plucking, and eating, her pin feathers after. I need to get into the habit of lightly misting them daily or every other day (my vision is bad without my glasses, so I don't shower with her). They get afraid/over-excited with nature shows (and hearing other birds)...I leave the radio on for them when I'm not home. I have a humidifier in the room...I try to keep the humidity about 50% (it's dry here in central Washington). I think I was hoping for a more immediate improvement after switching her back to seeds. It took probably 4 years to get to this point (and I do think I see some improvement..I didn't hear/see her pluck yesterday, but she did today). It'll take time I imagine. Have you ever used an aloe spray (there's one at Birdsupplies.com) to mist your bird? I wonder if it would help soften the pin feathers and cause less irritation... Glad to see that there is hope!!
 

Hahns0hmy

Walking the driveway
Joined
6/1/19
Messages
250
Location
new york ny
Real Name
Adam
Thank you for your reply @Hahns0hmy. My green cheeks are on Harrison's. I've had budgies and cockatiels on Harrison's, also, with no problems. Kozmo doesn't even like corn (even fresh corn on the cob)...and Mickey can take it or leave it. I kind of feel that the Harrison's may have been the initial trigger..? And it's just gone on from there. I have found Kozmo to be calmer (overall....she still has her moments) since going back on seeds...continuing with the veggies/fruits/nuts. Also, she had a bit of "clicking" with her breathing (but no other noticeable health change...besides plucking) while on pellets, that has since resolved going back on seeds. They bathe in their water dish 1-2 a week (stainless steel dish)...usually she'll start plucking, and eating, her pin feathers after. I need to get into the habit of lightly misting them daily or every other day (my vision is bad without my glasses, so I don't shower with her). They get afraid/over-excited with nature shows (and hearing other birds)...I leave the radio on for them when I'm not home. I have a humidifier in the room...I try to keep the humidity about 50% (it's dry here in central Washington). I think I was hoping for a more immediate improvement after switching her back to seeds. It took probably 4 years to get to this point (and I do think I see some improvement..I didn't hear/see her pluck yesterday, but she did today). It'll take time I imagine. Have you ever used an aloe spray (there's one at Birdsupplies.com) to mist your bird? I wonder if it would help soften the pin feathers and cause less irritation... Glad to see that there is hope!!
I never spray any chemical on them aloe or anything else but water if I do. never been a fan or chemical sprays.. shouldn't be needed in nature they do it all themselves. focus on humidity if dry in there I'm in nyc and the cold dries it out too. I monitor humidity a lot during winter it will dry them out. the dish bath is good and a spray but give a shower at least once a week. I don't go in the shower with them I put a p v c perch and put him 5 min alone. It helps a lot more than the dish. they can't soak the wings in the dish only wet them.. but to soften the sheath around feather its best for a few min time. mine. The harrisons not fully to blame I think it adds to it all but I haven't proven it yet. humidity at 50 is good with showers. right before the plucking came I had gone a while without re arranging the cages. every month or so I usually go through both and move everything inside around. Mainly to help it all fresh and not be bored. My birds used to yell when hearing nature and alll but this channel is a little different its just birds not wild prey or predator occasionally squawking. it gets them excited but in a good way like they aren't alone. The radio I found is too boring if they are left alone but good here and there. I have noticed he will stay quiet for hours with it on and play. always hope just lots of work to find it lol
 
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