Science of Plucking

[PortaPerch]

I'm sure there have been lots of threads on plucking, but my primitive search hasn't found them. Please let me know if I'm going over well-trod ground.

Mozzie posted this on the nightstand thread: " When we first got peppers we put her in her cage at night, but she would pluck during the night. So we started letting her sleep on top of the cage. She never plucks now."

Could forced sleeping conditions be important in understanding plucking? Greybeard sleeps in an open night cage in the guest bathroom, and prefers it to be covered once he goes in. Chewbaca didn't like being locked in a covered cage in the bathroom, so we decided to leave her free in the room when Greybeard went to bed. After all, she had already destroyed everything in the room she could.

Upon being left free in the bathroom, she found a corner of the top rail of the shower stall to sleep. After a few weeks, she began sleeping in the doorway of his cage, so I installed a second perch near the door. She now has totally moved in with him, sharing the main perch.

Has plucking been studied extensively, or has it just been accepted as a fact of bird captivity? We saw a CAG recently who had plucked himself bare. His owner provided lots of toys, but was gone all day. I really hope we never have to face that.

PortaPerch.com

 

[suebee]

nut chews and clips her feathers when she is in season, regular as clock work, as soon as end of nov comes about, she starts looking ratty by end of feb, she is near bare in places, but by feb, she is over it, and now she is near covered again.

i have read so many reasons for plucking/feather chewing, as well as it being inbreeding/genetic flaws