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Urgent plucking feathers

Zulal

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Zulal
Hello
I have an indian ringneck pair who recently had babies and i've been hand feeding them for 3 weeks now (they are now 6 weeks old).
I have noticed that the male (father) ringneck has been shedding allot of feathers as it is with the female aswell. But my concern is that the male looks more baldish on his back and has more destroyed and battered feathers than the female, I also sometimes catch him while he is aggressively scartching himself.
Today when he was flying, he dropped one of his HUGE tail feathers, which got me concerned.
I have realized that they were very depressed after we've pulled away their babies.
and plus they can hear them from upstairs when te babies are eating and begging for food. In the beginning when we first pulled them, the pair was screaming all day and going back and forth to were the nest box door was, to look for the babies.
Before the babies we used to give them lots of attention, we dont have much time for that now so the fact that we dont give them attention is a bonus. (although i thought non-tamed pairs dont need attention, but i'm guessing i could be wrong).
I need some advice and ideas on what the reason to this should be, and the resoluion for it.
Thanks :)
 

expressmailtome

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Zara

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Is that the fefmale plucking the male? Or is he doing that to himself?
 

Zulal

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Is that the fefmale plucking the male? Or is he doing that to himself?
They are doing it to themselves, their feathers look very worn out and I think they look kinda sick.
 

Shezbug

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Bump is used when the person posting has nothing to offer in the way of advice but can see not many have answered or offered help. A post with the word Bump will just move your thread to the top of the what’s new list for more members to see :)
 

Zara

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themselves
Oh, both birds?

Is there a vet you can take them to? Seems strange to have two birds plucking at the same time, and if you say they look sick, it is best to take them to a professional to have a look at them. Sometimes there might not be a vet in your own town or city, and have to travel to another city to get help.
 

Zulal

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Bump is used when the person posting has nothing to offer in the way of advice but can see not many have answered or offered help. A post with the word Bump will just move your thread to the top of the what’s new list for more members to see :)
oh ok thank you
 

Zulal

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Oh, both birds?

Is there a vet you can take them to? Seems strange to have two birds plucking at the same time, and if you say they look sick, it is best to take them to a professional to have a look at them. Sometimes there might not be a vet in your own town or city, and have to travel to another city to get help.
i have spoken to my vet and they said it might be because they can still hear the babies but theres nothing i can do , so thats why im asking for advice
 

Zulal

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hello i have posted an earlier thread saying ;

Hello
I have an indian ringneck pair who recently had babies and i've been hand feeding them for 3 weeks now (they are now 6 weeks old).
I have noticed that the male (father) ringneck has been shedding allot of feathers as it is with the female aswell. But my concern is that the male looks more baldish on his back and has more destroyed and battered feathers than the female, I also sometimes catch him while he is aggressively scartching himself.
Today when he was flying, he dropped one of his HUGE tail feathers, which got me concerned.
I have realized that they were very depressed after we've pulled away their babies.
and plus they can hear them from upstairs when te babies are eating and begging for food. In the beginning when we first pulled them, the pair was screaming all day and going back and forth to were the nest box door was, to look for the babies.
Before the babies we used to give them lots of attention, we dont have much time for that now so the fact that we dont give them attention is a bonus. (although i thought non-tamed pairs dont need attention, but i'm guessing i could be wrong).
I need some advice and ideas on what the reason to this should be, and the resoluion for it.
Thanks :)

I have not received much replies on this, and I got more concerned over the two three days because he has been shedding allot of big feathers (including tail feathers) which is not normal. They are not only plucking but shedding too much as they fly Wich is a sign that they are weak I guess. Here are some of them in the pic. Please give some advice, I have spoken to the vet but not able to see them anytime soon. 16204383619776086509226874272409.jpg
 

Shezbug

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My guys drop feathers like that twice a year. It’s more obvious with my macaw than with my budgie as it’s easier to see gaps where new feathers are still growing.
Have you seen the plucking?
If so can you post some clear pics of the feathers you say are plucked?
Plucked and moulted feathers have a slightly different appearance.
What diet is your bird on?
 

Zulal

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My guys drop feathers like that twice a year. It’s more obvious with my macaw than with my budgie as it’s easier to see gaps where new feathers are still growing.
Have you seen the plucking?
If so can you post some clear pics of the feathers you say are plucked?
Plucked and moulted feathers have a slightly different appearance.
What diet is your bird on?
Hello no I have not seen plucking lately
But he has become very skinny and dull.
He is on a seed based pellet mix and nut diet his first has changed due to the babies being pulled away, because he was eating lots of veggies and pellets for feeding the babies but he is no longer touching his pellets nor does he eat any veggies. Here are some photos. 70C3A914-7AC4-4DFA-9516-569DDDC0CCEF.jpeg 11B49897-40E9-4530-BA58-D44CC5450E1A.jpeg 6E65E004-497C-42BC-B7EA-B1FCE9FD45B5.jpeg 72F1A7C4-5067-4DF6-B2AD-B599FAA394E0.jpeg 0031153C-E58C-4867-BBD8-0FDDB02D8544.jpeg 5C1DAA83-76E4-43AA-AFCB-A1950FA2243E.jpeg
 

Zulal

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Zulal
hello i have posted an earlier thread saying ;

Hello
I have an indian ringneck pair who recently had babies and i've been hand feeding them for 3 weeks now (they are now 6 weeks old).
I have noticed that the male (father) ringneck has been shedding allot of feathers as it is with the female aswell. But my concern is that the male looks more baldish on his back and has more destroyed and battered feathers than the female, I also sometimes catch him while he is aggressively scartching himself.
Today when he was flying, he dropped one of his HUGE tail feathers, which got me concerned.
I have realized that they were very depressed after we've pulled away their babies.
and plus they can hear them from upstairs when te babies are eating and begging for food. In the beginning when we first pulled them, the pair was screaming all day and going back and forth to were the nest box door was, to look for the babies.
Before the babies we used to give them lots of attention, we dont have much time for that now so the fact that we dont give them attention is a bonus. (although i thought non-tamed pairs dont need attention, but i'm guessing i could be wrong).
I need some advice and ideas on what the reason to this should be, and the resoluion for it.
Thanks :)

I have not received much replies on this, and I got more concerned over the two three days because he has been shedding allot of big feathers (including tail feathers) which is not normal. They are not only plucking but shedding too much as they fly Wich is a sign that they are weak I guess. Here are some of them in the pic. Please give some advice, I have spoken to the vet but not able to see them anytime soon.

D8F0E9D6-33DB-41A7-A705-2781BCDDF549.jpeg 593F6467-7508-4B0A-BD21-A8F659690265.jpeg 73C6C623-CA15-4371-BD94-33CEE48D3109.jpeg E540CB74-EDD7-41F0-89E4-0FF95F693508.jpeg
 

Hankmacaw

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I'm sorry, but I'm not terribly knowledgeable about feather destructive behavior. The one piece of advice I can give you is to get him to an avian vet to make sure the behavior is not caused by a disease or infection. If physical issues are ruled out you can then go on to phycological issues.

If he is losing weight quickly he may need to be gavage fed by the vet.
 

tka

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The big feathers look like they've been moulted normally. You can see that the ends are clear, which means that they're mature feathers with no blood supply, and that they are rounded at the bottom. This means that they have been shed normally rather than the bird snipping them off above the skin. Being shed in flight is pretty normal - I think it's because of the effect of air movement on loose feathers.

If they are engaging in feather destructive behaviour, then the first thing to do is get a physical examination and blood tests. You and the vet need to work together to make sure that they are not plucking because they are in physical pain, that they are not deficient in nutrients, that their organs are all working properly and that they haven't ingested any heavy metals.

If the bloods and physical examination are clear, then you have to investigate the behavioural aspect. It sounds like the pair were extremely distressed by the removal of their chicks, and this level of distress could certainly be a trigger for plucking. Unfortunately plucking can become an ingrained habit that is very hard to break, even long after the original trigger has been removed or resolved.. Given how depressed the pair became after you pulled the babies, I do not think that this pair should be bred from again - or, if you absolutely must breed from them, I think they'd be much happier if they were allowed to raise their own young.

It would be useful to know more about their environment.

Where do they live?
How big is the cage?
Do you have other birds?
What is their diet?
What opportunities for foraging and play do they have?
How much time do they get out of their cage?
How do they interact with each other?
 

finchly

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Molt comes at the end of the breeding cycle... so I think losing the feathers is normal. If you can give them a bowl of water each day for a bath, it helps the molt. Or you can spray water from a bottle above them and lelt it fall on them like rain.

BUT. The poop I can see in one of the pictures does not look normal, so maybe they are sick or have made themselves sick with stress. It must be awful to hear the babies screaming and not be able to get to them... so that is very stressful on them.

Sorry that’s all I have. I don’t have experience with self mutilation, and I can’t see the poop enough to determine what’s going on. I’m very concerned that one isn’t eating.

Have you been weighing them? So that you know if there is weight loss each day?
 

Monica

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Mirrors are not necessary and are a poor choice, IMO, of a toy.

A good soaking bath might help with feather appearance.


They could very well be stressed since you removed the chicks. Do you plan on breeding the parents still? If you aren't, you ought to make sure they have no access to a nestbox. If you can't increase attention (even if hands off), you can look in other ways to engage them. This could be appropriate toys, foraging activities, playing soothing sounds, etc.


But, as mentioned, if they are indeed engaging in feather destructive behavior, it's a good idea to get bloodwork, x-rays, fecals, etc done to rule out medical reasons.
 
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