help; info on Cockatoo's w/ messy feathers

Hello, I'm new to this forum and would like a little information or assistance about Cockatoo feather disorders and grooming. I acquired my Cockatoos about six moths ago from an automotive garage, according to her band she is about 6 years old. Seems it was left there as a down payment on services? But because of the screaming and her now foul language, they called me to come take it off their hands.

Anyway, I have had her vet checked by our local Veterinarian and she seems to be in good health, but he assured me he is not a specialist. For the most part the cursing has stopped or at least decreased except the occasional “F’-bomb, lol. But what concerns me is her feathers? I don’t know if she is just a poor groomer or if there is something more serious going on. She isn’t plucking or anything of the sort, but her feather look like crap? Some are out of place; others look as if they have gotten wet? She doesn’t seem to be opening up her new feather completely either and I have to help her break open the feather casing?

Outside of this, she has been a fantastic friend. She isn’t excessively noisy in my home, she isn’t a bitter, quite the opposite. She isn’t messy at all, and loves to be held. So from what I have read, I’m very blessed to have found her. I f anyone has any information on what to do about her feathers please email me.

Thanx, Naja

[email protected]

Here is a website dedicated to cockatoos.
http://www.mytoos.com/forum/ubbthreads.php

Here is the agenda page for that website.
http://www.mytoos.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=126293&Main=14109#Post126293


The people on there are very helpful and know a lot about cockatoos.
Also it's a know fluff board with real solutions.

Could it be something the bird isn't getting in his diet?
You may need to wait till his next moult to enjoy the benefits of all the work your doing for him now.

Here is her daily diet, let me know if there are any suggestions on what might be changed or add.

50/50 seed and pellet mixture

25% veg, ie. green beans, broccoli, greens, green peppers, and spinach. Have tried others, but she tosses them to the floor of her age.

25% fruit, apples, peaches, berries, plums, pears, grapes, raisins. She doesn’t care for any citrus or bananas and again clears them out of her bowl.

I have read other diet suggestions where they say she should be getting a certain amount of meat in their diet. But dont really trust that idea. I might be wrong?

She only gets bottled water, mainly because I won’t drink our water here so I can’t expect her too.

OH, and French bread, not that I am giving it to her. Seems she just has a thing for it. If she finds it on the counter, it's hers, and I mean the entire loaf.

Sounds like a well rounded diet.
Worst case scenario is maybe you have to wait 12 months for his next full moult?
As stated before, I am no expert.

Welcome to the Parrot Forums.

You have her on a good diet so keep this up. I have a rescued Amazon that has horrible plumage. We are going through a molt now and they are improving but still will take another molt or two. Usually the poor plumage is the result of a bad diet. Do you know what this bird may have been eating before you received her?

50/50 seed and pellet mixture

25% veg, ie. green beans, broccoli, greens, green peppers, and spinach. Have tried others, but she tosses them to the floor of her age.

25% fruit, apples, peaches, berries, plums, pears, grapes, raisins. She doesn’t care for any citrus or bananas and again clears them out of her bowl.

Click to expand...

My diet suggestion would be to lower the seeds to maybe 05-10% and raise the fresh veggies and fruit to 75% of the daily diet.


I suggest finding an AVIAN vet to do blood work and other test that are needed. A regular vet just simply cannot help as well as an avian vet can.

Auto garages tend to be a dirty place (part of the job) so if any of the mechanics pet the cockatoo after working on cars I'm sure they got oil and what not on her feathers. I suggest lots of showers. NO SOAP OR CHEMICALS just water. A shower with a hand held sprayer works good or you can use a spray bottle as some birds prefer this over a regular shower.

Diet, lack of showers and poor health can cause feathers to not look right.

rockinseattle said:

My diet suggestion would be to lower the seeds to maybe 05-10% and raise the fresh veggies and fruit to 75% of the daily diet.

I suggest finding an AVIAN vet to do blood work and other test that are needed. A regular vet just simply cannot help as well as an avian vet can.

Auto garages tend to be a dirty place (part of the job) so if any of the mechanics pet the cockatoo after working on cars I'm sure they got oil and what not on her feathers. I suggest lots of showers. NO SOAP OR CHEMICALS just water. A shower with a hand held sprayer works good or you can use a spray bottle as some birds prefer this over a regular shower.

Diet, lack of showers and poor health can cause feathers to not look right.

Click to expand...

A trip to a certified Avian vet can rule out any biological nasties that might be causing a skin/feather disorder ... when this is ruled out then it's on to step two.

Let me make a more specific suggestion for you for a diet change ... leafy green veggies - Kale, Turnip Greens, Dandelion Greens, Mustard Greens, etc. are a great supplement for feathers ... I was told by my Avian Vet (who I trust 150%) that leafy greens help with plumage more than anything.

Then, I 200% agree with Rocks on the shower/bath idea ... all that grease, dust, yuck from the garage has got to be driving your new buddy crazy ... Take your buddy into the shower with you ... even just the steam from your shower could be beneficial to his/her skin ... let your 'too bathe in clean water (who knows when the last time this guy got a bath was) it can be lukewarm or cold (I don't know of anything that could happen either way ... my two prefer two different temperatures. My GCC likes cold water and my Sun Conure will go into the shower with me and just spread his wings and let the water soak him to the skin). Do this daily for a month and see if it helps, then after that a shower every other day should be fine.

I think if you take this course of action you will see dramatic improvement in feather health. I don't think you have anything biological causing an issue here, I think it's all enviornmental ... change the environment and you have a happy birdy.