Plucking Quaker

[Bluebell]

I have a 4 year old female Quaker parrot. She started plucking 2 weeks ago for no apparent reason. I am desperate. I took her to avian vet and he went over options.
1. Put a collar on
2. Put her medication (haldol) small dose which is a human antidepressant as a last option
We opted for a collar. That night she worked so hard to take the collar off that she plucked her neck raw. We removed it. I ordered another collar that was costly but I don’t care at this point. There hasn’t been any changes occur. She is on 2 different pellets and fresh veggies. I do not feed her seeds but I do give her a piece of pecan that she chews on but 50% is left. If you have any suggestions please help

 

[April]

@Pixiebeak

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Plucking is frustrating. It starts with ruling out health issues, there are many health issues that do lead to plucking.

When it comes to behavioral it's just as complex . The best chance of resolving is when it first begins. The basics are increased time out of the cage, the advice I was given and seen was to aim for at least st 6 hours out of cage time . Increase activity and mental stimulation. Checking and observing for stressors in the home and outside of home . Once I had a snake move I to bushes outside my birds window, it was a lot of stress on them naturally! As the have inste fear of snakes .

Increasing self directed behavior, allowing them to be flighted , offering the chance to choose to take and when to take a bath. Options for climb, exploring and destroying stuff.

Quakers are at high risk of behavioral issues, due to their extreme social complex large society and flocks and community living. As well as they are very intelligent and an active species.

Unfortunately they can can even self mutilate, when it reaches thst level , behavioral modification medication is usually needed.

I know it's easy to feel judged , please don't feel that way . Many of us wonderful members here have it have in the past delt with plucking.

But it can be helpful to show the bird , so we can see what areas are being plucked