Jazz chews off her feathers

See her primary feathers on her right side?! MISSING! she chews them all off. She won't let them grow maybe cause they are causing pain? I guess I feel like I need advice to ease her discomfort, the vet wasn't helpful.

YUMgrinder said:

See her primary feathers on her right side?! MISSING! she chews them all off. She won't let them grow maybe cause they are causing pain? I guess I feel like I need advice to ease her discomfort, the vet wasn't helpful.

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How long has this been happening? As it could be new feathers growing in that's just irritating her as she preens... knowing for how long this has been going on is crucial...

an excellent point by Tropical. Along with annoyance it could be habit if going on for a while. If it's new and only on that 1 wing I would get her to a vet for a check-up just to rule anything out. Didn't she end up in a tree not too long ago? Maybe something irritated the wing

I like what tropical and lordtriggs had to say, but also are you sure it's Jazz doing the plucking, have you seen her do it and it's not one of the other birds? I know with it being just one side unlikely, but I'd make sure she is doing it and not being bullied.


Also it looks like the tail is a bit plucked out.....cockatiels usually have a lot longer pointed tail.

I have posted in the past about it. its ongoing. I've had her since January when she was a baby at the pet store. I don't have a hatch date though, she's roughly a year old I'd say. So when I got her, she was clipped and her other wing has since grown out full feathers but her right side will not. Yes I catch her chewing on them, she often let's out little squawks while preening that wing as if she's in discomfort but I am not sure if she's doing the damage or if they are growing improper. They sure look ragged. She often has blood feathers growing but they never reach maturity.

She doesn't let the other birds near her lol she's a loner. Has her own cage. It's not a small cage but it's not big either. Her tail feathers have never looked that great, my assumption is they are ragged because of the position she likes to sleep in, on top of a toy almost at the very top of her cage, so her feathers are always up against the bars. she has to bend over to stand, to tell you the truth it looks uncomfortable but that's where she goes when its time for bed. That picture showing her tail is like a month old. at that time they were growing back, one day a few months ago she was startled when I accidently closed my legs on her tail feathers (she was napping on my leg) and she jumped and all her tail feathers were plucked. They have since grown back but they don't look very nice. Her longest middle tail feather is broke in the middle currently. The second picture with the close up of the underside of her wing was taken yesterday. She has seen a vet and she just said they will grow out eventually but I'm skeptical at this point.

no she was never stuck in a tree that wasn't my tiel!

She's otherwise a happy bird. Right now she's on my forearm grinding away with her beak getting ready to nap.

The poor thing.
It looks like she is doing the same thing to her tail feathers.
I don't have any advice other than a vet. If your first vet visit was unrewarding maybe a second opinion if you can find another certified avian vet.

I have a lutino Tiel that pulls out her feathers. on her back mostly.
She also squawks as she pulls each feather. My opinion is she is doing it due to loosing her sister (had to put her to sleep).
good luck
texsize

aaaaaand she's currently picking at her wing as we speak. I'd hate to put a cone on her but maybe it'll keep her from picking long enough for her feathers to mature?

Here's a current pic of her wings as they look folded in. Her left side has beautiful full length flight feathers and there's none on her right side. And I wanted to show that her tail feathers aren't as bad as they looked in the previous image I shared.