Pluckers roll call?

[The Wooden Parrot]

Barney my G2 was a bad plucker before we got him but he now only plucks off and on. He does seem to like his breast downy (not bald just fluffy) most of the time. My other G2, Cuddles has been bardering her wing feathers, there are just "sticks" left, couldn't fly now if she had to. Her feathers always look bad because she slides her toys over her back from the back to her head, then trys to catch them when they fall off. My Macaw Josh pulls a bit when she's hormonal.

 

[Bokkapooh]

We have no pluckers. But we do have feather chewers.

Bokka and Moby (umbrella cockatoos) and Beeba, all have feather issues.

Bokka chews his feathers while he preens. Moby must do it secretly, Im not sure when he does it, but his chest feathers are ratty looking. But hopefully in the next few molts, he'll have regular feathers. He may of just been a chewer in his previous home.

Beeba only chews her flight and tail feathers.

 

[Barb]

This is my girl Migail, she has been with me for a month and is already getting new growth BUT almost every morning I wake to a feather in the bottom of her cage she is getting better though because at first it was 3-4 feathers every morning ! I know she will probably NEVER be fully feathered because I have no history in regards to her and how long this has been going on !!! I do know from the person I got her from she was housed with a scarlet (They did NOT get along) but she left them together because her scarlet needed company while they worked full time jobs ! (So Migail suffered) She has came a long way in just a month, I can hold her and she spends most of her time out on her cage or in the livingroom on her stand and we are even outside ALOT (on the stand or my arm) She eats her food and ours ... She is spoiled here with us now ........ And we will LOVE her with or without feathers !

 

[Yoshi]

Yoshi my quaker is a plucker. He was dropped off here about a year and a half ago by a friend. They had several birds but one of them kept picking on him so they ended up moving him into another room. That room had no windows and from what I understand he ended up getting aggressive and they hadn't taken him out of the cage for about 3 years. Finally she realized that he needed better and once she found out I was looking at getting a parrot she asked if I wanted him.

So he was my first bird and this is what he looked like when he was first dropped off in late Jan 2009. I was wondering what I had gotten myself into and looking back at these pics makes me want to cry.

All of his first pics were in the cage because I couldn't get him out of it. I had to use gloves the first couple times, but after only a few days he was wanting to come out and I no longer needed the gloves. It really didn't take long at all to get him friendly. He still gets some aggression - but its in his cage behind his favorite toy. All I have to do is grab the top of the toy and bring it to the top of the cage so its away from him and he is then already lifting his leg ready to step up. LOL.

So here are the most recent pics I have of him. It is the first time we have had both flight feathers and tail feathers. He is right now learning how to fly and control that flight & landings. He still over preens his chest feathers and they are always rough looking, but still so much better than when we got him. He has one spot on the side of his neck that I think has ruined follicles because feathers never grow there. On occasion he will still pull a feather or two for whatever reason -and usually it is around that bare spot.

You can see the bare spot still in this pic:

This pic was taken Aug 1, 2010.

 

[Grey Poizon]

Casey, Triton Cockatoo, came to me at 24 and aside from his head was very naked. To this day he is still a nudist and seems to think he looks hot that way but is mainly a flasher as his breast area (and a little on his legs) is the only place missing feathers these days.
I figure he did such damage to himself up front that he will never grow feathers there again...oh well. He's happy and that is all that matters.

 

[Kathie]

Ruby, my Vos Eclectus, is my only rescue. The rest of my birds are rehomes. Ruby came to me naked, with a plexiglas collar that was screwed on with bolts. Yes, bolts. That came off immediately. I have had her for approximately 13 years.

She has never refeathered, despite my trying. She was tested for everything and all came up negative. I love her for who she is. She is beautiful in my eyes (and she will tell you how beautiful she is)... because she is!

 

[gayla]

Well as most of you know, I am new to the Plucker club.

Pita just turned 4 in April, and he has started picking/barbering his chest, back, under his wings, and his legs. He never did it before, and I have been told that it's probably hormonal. I have him on Avi Calm, Featherific, Avian Solution, I've changed his diet, removed the paper from the bottom of his cage, and hidden all the blankets. He's been to the vet, and had a full blood panel done, and he's fine. He plays, eats, naps, loves his baths, loves his momma.

I'm doing all I can, but if this is what he wants to do, and he's healthy, which he is, then so be it. After all, it's not the feathers that make the bird.

I also want to say, that I feel better about it, because after reading all of your posts, I realize that I'm not alone.

 

[poochbabe]

I have Ganesha, a 2 1/2 yr old CAG rescued at 10 mos from a breeder. I was told she was fine until she was sold at 7mos to a family who wanted her clipped. She got to the new home and for the first time she was away from her only "mommy" the breeder, and all the Greys at the breeders Grey room, AND could not fly. The family also had a Yorkie that was jumping the barking at he cage for a solid week. Within five days she had all her tail and most of her wings and back gone and the family returned her to the breeder. She was about to go into sanctuary when I came along and convinced the breeder to let me take her for what the local avian rescue charges for a rescued Grey. I had just lost my best friend, my first Grey Ruben who died with all my other birds when a kitchen product that was supposed to be teflon-free and safe up to 550 degrees burned in the oven after a year and a half use and killed all my fids in 20 minutes, including my baby girl. She was 10 and also a plucker. I am finding from what I have heard and seen that a lot of female CAGs pluck...not scientific just observation and conversation.

 

[Birdiemarie]

My Ruby is an habitual plucker due to a food allergy. She's healthy every other way.

 

[Jally]

All your babies are beautiful! Kathie, I can not fathom a plexiglass collar with bolts!? So glad you saved her!

We only have one plucker and that is Buddy. He came to us with no chest, belly, and leg feathers in December. He had a good home, but there was some stress in the home. His daddy loved him, but the females of the house did not. He has a fear of blankets and each night at his former home, he was covered up with a blanket. He was caged a lot because he was feared by the females in the house.

I do not know what caused his plucking. It could have been what I described above, it could have been his diet, it could have been the fact that all his things smelled of detergent/perfume, or it could have been that he was an only bird. I don't know. But I do know that he is getting better. No matter what though, he will always be my big beautiful grumpy boy

 

[Amaterasu]

Gus, my Senegal, was barbering when I got her. I was also told she used to pluck as well. She mainly focuses on her tail feathers which she barbers to a specific length and leaves them alone until the grow out again. She also has a patch on the top of her wing that she chews. She used to chew on both wings in the same spot but stopped doing it on one of her wings.

Tiki is a plucker but only on her breast. It has gotten a bit worse from the stress of moving to a new home.

I just ordered some Featheriffic and AviCalm which I'm hoping will help both of them. Neither of them are chronic cases. I've also started letting Gus spend time outside in her travel cage on days when the weather is nice. I'd eventually like to do this with Tiki once she gets much more acclimated and emotionally stable.

 

[NikkiLS]

Well here is Bella. I just got her back. I had her for a year she was part of a pair and the breeder (friend of mine) who I sold her to repaired her mate with one of his females and just brought her back to me with some other birds he was dropping off for me yesterday. She had started plucking before I got her but not to this extent she just did a bit here and there and always plucked her tail feathers. This is how she has been for the last year or so. I get some to come in here and there but she just plucks them too. I still haven't figured out why she does it. Maybe as a single lady now I can get her in better shape..she gets stressed out very easily though and sometimes it sends her into a seizure if you try to handle her. Her leg band has slipped up higher than it should be and I want to move it down but am trying to let her settle in. I definitely have a major soft spot for this little girl though and am actually pretty happy to have her back. ​

 

[Greytfeather]

Sage is my CAG whom I've recently took home from a local rescue. Mine is his third home, and his vet records say that he has plucked for the majority of his 15 years. He also picks at his nails kind of like a nervous habit.

 

[iluvsunconure]

My sun is a lil plucker. Just a tad on the belly.

 

[Welshanne]

Leroy my African Grey started to pluck while poorly and kept it up afterwards. We tried everything to no avail, it was as if it had become a nervous habit. Now she insists on covering me with her down while out and preening on me. Also still plucks the odd feather but the area on her chest is now only as small as a halfpenny piece instead of it being the lot.
Found regular showers helped and taking her mind off the over preening also worked wonders. Thank goodness the other four have not tried it ....yet!

 

[birdstuff]

I don't have any pluckers per say but my little Diesel (p'let) will over preen his chest whenever he gets stressed. Each week or two I roll their cage all outside to enjoy the sunshine & fresh air. I can always count on Diesel to do a job on his feathers afterward