My Goffin's started plucking like crazy the last two days :(

I have a Goffin's cockatoo, and during the last two days, he started plucking like crazy out of nowhere. Two days ago, he had a full body of feathers. Tonight, he has picked through a large bit under his neck, approaching his chest. You wouldn't imagine the shock I experienced when I came home one day to a bunch of his feathers gone. It completely broke my heart

My girlfriend and I have been doing endless research on what to do. We have his cage loaded with things we know he likes. We put his food into a half-cut box on the bottom of the cage with ripped up paper towels and shredded paper to rummage for food. I have sprayed him a little bit with some mustard water to keep him from picking too much, but it's just constantly getting worse. We're talking within the matter of hours here. Even when I'm cuddling with the little guy, he seems to be more interested in picking at his feathers than even getting pet. He's in a very loving home, so this isn't anything due to abuse, of course.

What can I do??

how old is he? there could be an underlying issue causing the plucking. a vet trip would be my advise. it could be something simple like mites etc.
also i wouldn't spray him with mustard water, this might irritate his skin and make the plucking worse.

have any changes in the home stressed him out...moving cage, visitors, being alone, storms etc

Oh no. The bird was under a year in February when you got him, correct? I would check out a bird vet just incase?

I'd say either stress or mites go see the vet!!
& mustard water!!???!!! NO!!!!!

Hi, Not that it's any counselation, but I also have a Goffin, sweet as sugar.. I've had her about 6 mo. now and I got her with just her downey feathers, obviously she was used to a stressful or boring enviroment. She just started filling out when I noticed all her new beautiful feathers were chewed overnite! I could have cried right then and there! No rhyme or reason, I've been keeping her busy with new daily experiences every other day and "souping up" her old toys to make them more interesting like attaching treats to a new tree branch, newspaper, toilet rolls, etc; we even have cuddle time every day, so I'm very interested to learn more about this issue as well. I spent almost $300.00 on a vet visit and blood test which was very traumatic for her and showed she is in perfect health. I can only suggest trying something new and interesting to divert the attention of chewing feathers. I will also watch your thread to see if we can both try to solve this mystery.. hope my advise might help a little...

There's many different things that would cause a bird to pluck. Number 1 reason is boredom! Also the diet they're on. The length of time they're being left alone by themselves. When you interact with the Cockatoo often when your home often cause the bird to go through a withdraw when your not around, then they start to pluck. They really need to be self sufficient so they wouldn't do so. Mustard water is not the way to go! Do you leave music on or tv on for the bird to listen or watch? I have noticed by placing a Full Spectrum bulb really perked up my Cockatoo, we had her for over 6 years, she used to be a heavy plucker when we first got her, she's not as bad now, only the tip of her crown gets chewed on, but the rest of the body she leaves alone. Plus she loves to destroy wood toys now, she didn't used to. She gets to see other birds on a daily basis so she's not bored. A vet visit to see if there's other potential problem would really do you some good. Good Luck!

I completely agree with the last two messages!
Goffins aren't as "easy" as you would think, they do need alot of stimulation.
We take our Lily out to pet stores to socialize her, she loves to meet people & see the other birds! She has her own room, big cage & lots of toys, we like to switch them up as often as we can or when she trashes the older ones! lol
Also she has access to the outside of her cage as well (we keep her cage door open when we are home to watch her) She also LOVES to just waddle around (walk) on the floor & go exploring. We also take her outside, she loves the natural sun & it's good for her too! We have a harness we put on her with a leash so we can keep a close eye on her ofcourse!
As per above comments I would suggest just doing more for him if that doesn't help it just may be a mite problem & a vet visit is definitely recommended!

oh & talk talk talk talk talk talk to him!!!! They LOVE to listen even if you're not really talking about anything!!
My Lily loves talking, noises, even my crappy singing! lol

I also had a very healthy, happy, fully feathered bird and came home one day to a bird minus a lot of feathers! :52:

He is definitely not stressed or bored so the first thing I checked for was mites - but that wasn't it.

Over the next few days I got more stressed as the plucking didn't stop. Then finally we found out that the heater in his room (it gets very cold here at night!) was drying his skin and the dry skin was making him itchy so he was plucking his feathers because of that!

Solution: we bought him a heated perch (a marvelous thing!) so now we don't need the heater on at all (saves electricity too!)
Here's the link:
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000795ZEA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=saca-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399377&creativeASIN=B000795ZEA]Amazon.com: K&H Thermo Perch, Medium[/ame]
(you can find them in other places on the wed too)

And we fed him some feather oil vitamins to get his skin more moisturized. Also a little bit of vit E oil in a spray bottle with warm water helps to moisten the skin.