Pluckers roll call?

[shellbeme]

I'm curious to see how many of our members have pluckers, and to hear a bit about them.

Chico my CAG was hatched August of 1996. He started picking at about three years old. It's been a long time. His originated from a rather large infection he'd developed and he continued to do so after treatment. Our vet felt it was habitual. It now appears to be a seasonal thing too though, happening in the winter months when it's dryer.

Oh to clarify, yes Emily, barbering birds count too, Chico actually barbers his feathers he doesn't really pluck them off his chest.

 

[samccormack]

Topper is a C2 and is about 13 years old and is a bigtime plucker. She is so skilled she can get to everything including her crest. It seems to be a habit as much as anything else and she plucks most when she is stressed or feeling lonely.

 

[Emmilyy]

how about barberers? hehe.

We don't know how old Toc is. From talking with Cookies breeder (who wasn't his first home) he came housed with his brother. He fought with his brother dailey and one day REALLY bad, almost to death. So she seperated them (obviously).. He started barbering once seperated from his brother, and has continued to barber himself and any other bird he is with.

 

[ortegah]

Here's Petrie:

Petrie plucks especially when she's scared or upset. Her feathers are growing in pretty well now, but she still pulls out the fluffy down every night. Her belly is bald and I doubt it will ever grow back. She has done so much damage to the follicles that the feathers grow back in thin and red/pink.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

Percy was a plucker when I got him he is 23 years old G2
Little General was a plucker/barber when I got him he is 14 years old G2
Baby is a plucker when I got her I do not know how old she is Nanday conure

 

[M.C Bird Rescue]

I can take up a whole thread! hahahaha.....

Tiki

Remer

Teco

Lola

Sarah

Chico

Kiwi

 

[love4birds]

Six here. Five of them came to me as feather damagers, Leyla is the exception.

Leyla and Kermit both have polyfolliculitis (multiple feathers growing from one follicle). Kermit doesn't pluck so much as mutilate, so right now he's sporting a lovely, blue cone. Leyla plucks her rump and shoulders, she's actually killed most of the follicles on her rump, a good thing for her!

Spike barbers his flight feathers and occasionally his tail feathers. He's noticeably better than when we first got him, but he still barbers some. We don't know what started he plucking, or when it started.

Kiwi is a seasonal/hormonal plucker. His plucking started due to a bad home, though (kids were allowed to poke him with sticks, etc in his previous home).

Olly, we think his plucking is habitual. According to his previous owners, he started plucking when he was about six months old (before they got him), and has been plucking since. From the information we got, including a letter from his first owners, he started plucking after a traumatic flight experience.

Chewy plucks when stressed with the presence of new people. She never used to pluck when I first met her several years ago, but two bad homes since then changed that She is improving with how she reacts to new people though, so I'm fairly certain that one day she will stop the plucking. She was actually fully feathered during the summer.

 

[jmfleish]

I've got Reggie D2 here who pulls new feathers out as they come in but not every feather...he's choosy! LOL! He was diagnosed with zinc toxicosis about three years ago and I was convinced that this was the reason but we chelated three times and his zinc levels went back to what he originally tested at and the vets believe that 3.9ppm is his normal zinc level now. I've started giving him Quaker granola, about an 1/8th of a cup a day and he's starting to grow back his missing tail of three years. I hate to jinx myself but maybe it was a *missing fat* issue!

I also have two sibling SIEs, Cooper, who always barbered his wing feathers but never plucked and just recently removed a bunch of chest feathers, and his younger brother, Taco, who has plucked his tummy, legs, and under the wings for several years now. They have been on TOPs pellets for a while and I ran out about two weeks ago. Tiki Taco is starting to fill out and is looking good and Cooper is molting and looks like chemo bird and then pulled out a bunch of chest feathers and they are starting to get back to looking alike again! Oh boy...gotta get them their pellets back I think....

 

[JLcribber]

Tika destroys his flights only to the point of where they were religiously clipped from a very early age. He used to clip them off himself at that precise point. Now he just barbers them.

 

[dayjamyers]

Elizabeth-Umbrella cockatoo-8yrs been plucking the 4 ive had her,she leaves only her down
Fransisco-Triton cockatoo-20 yrs been plucking for awhile,mostly his middle area
I am really cracking down to fix this new toys, different diet, fail- so i am buying a humidifier, alovera, some other exotic sprays i found online
I WON'T GIVE UP!

 

[Deej]

Popcorn has been plucking for years, but is still my cutie little girl!

 

[Kristy]

Besso my IRN is a plucker and has been almost his whole life.

Somewhere along the way I must have made a mistake, it wasn't him.
I think it was clipping him.

 

[whitewolf3307]

My oldest quaker just started to pick his when I was in the hospital but has stoped now that I'm home.

 

[GreenParrot]

This is Phoebus almost a month and a half after she came to live with us. It was when she started leaving some of her feathers grow back in. She had also plucked her back, her legs, under her wings and had started on the upper side of her wings. She was on an only seed diet and the worst thing is that she wasnt fed everyday. She was in a cage with 2 perches and not a single toy. Apart from all the above she had been sick with a cold for a long time that had begun to turn into pneumonia.

Here she is enjoying a piece of banana.

And this is 3 years later, that is today.

She has stopped plucking as you can see from her pics, but she may still pull a feather out or barb it if she gets too bored or for reasons I dont really get .

I believe that her new healhy diet and her frequent showers, I'd say everyday, and all the toys and interaction with us have kept her busy and helped her a lot.

 

[LaceyRead]

oh my, Phoebus's eyes are goregous!

 

[allison]

Harper I got almost 2 years ago. She was fully feathered and lived happily in my bird room until recently when she chewed all of her chest, wing, and tail feathers off within 1 week. A few days ago she had some coming in but chewed them off yesterday. I am not really sure what caused her to start barbering/plucking and am hoping that the humidifier I recently got will help.
Harper pre and post plucking.

 

[Zelle]

When Tiki was about 7 she started to pluck her breast feathers during her hormonal time and then let them grow back during the rest of the year.

But she has been getting worse over the years. Lupron injections help but they are so expensive, plus she has to get 3 injections (I think they come to the vet in the syringe in small amounts). I feel so bad when she has to go through that.


Bongo started plucking the first time we left him alone to go on vacation. He lets them grow back when we are home. As you can tell from the photo We were on vacation not too long ago.

 

[Vega]

Harvey, patagonian conure, stress plucker/mutilator, almost 6 years old.

I adopted Harvey when he was 9 mos old from his 2nd owner (the first was the breeder). He started stress plucking when I was sick about 4 years ago. It was a fast series of major changes...first we moved homes, 3 days later he was moved into a larger cage, then a few days after that I was hospitalized for 5 days. Then he was stuck in his cage for 3 months while I wasn't allowed to handle him. It was torture for us both...

So Harvey started plucking and Gypsy started screaming (not fun). Gypsy grew out of her fits when things returned to normal. Harvey did allow 90% of the feathers to grow back in. Then a little over a year ago another life-change happened and he's plucked his tummy, legs, and back bald. He's also begun plucking his shoulders. *sigh* Sometimes he'll begin mutilating his legs/feet. (we move between home and my mom's house a couple times a month. His cage at my mom's is smaller than his home cage)

I started him Avi-calm and Featheriffic a little over 2 weeks ago, I'm already seeing improvement. We just went back to my mom's last night, so I'm anxious to see how he handles things with week.


Gypsy began hormonal plucking 2 or 3 years ago. You can see the yellow feathers that grew back in the plucked area. Not sure why they are coming in yellow, but I've heard damage to the follicle can cause discoloration.

 

[Angelicarboreals]

Wesley, my cockatoo will pluck her left leg every single winter. I have no idea why, maybe it is a nesting thing or something?? She will pluck and then let them grow back and the next year the cycle starts all over again.

Joey Bear plucks under his wings and his legs. This started right after he came to live with me, I seriously think it was due to a horrible wing trim that aggravated and itched him. He will let some of them grow back and then it starts all over.

Chico has plucked in the past, the vet thinks it is due to separation anxiety. The first time he plucked was in 2005 and I was on vacation and left him with my parents for the first time. Now, anytime he is away from me he will pluck, or if he senses I am under extreme stress.

 

[Holiday]

Elvis plucks her down and her inside leg feathers She has always done this, since before I got her, but she seems to get worse when she's had to spend more time in her cage. A lot of out time and quality interaction does help, but I'm not sure she'll ever stop completely.