Finally witnessed plucking, and it's awful!!!

We have had Kira since Wednesday night. She has a plucked neck and tail. I was hoping she is plucked because she's been boarded a lot lately. The previous owner told me that's when she started. Well, since having her I can say that it's just not true. Even when she steps up on my hand she begins plucking herself by pulling and snapping the feather. She is in quarantine and is going to the vet tomorrow. I'm worried about her. She also seems to do this head twitch that is almost constant. She is soft spoken and seems to only know very few words. The previous owner said she doesn't seem very capable of learning new words. Poor Kira :-/

Poor baby I'm glad to hear you're getting her to the vet.

Poor baby!!

Poor Kira is having a rough time. Have a full blood panel done and have her tested for heavy metals.

And by the way, although she says a few things very quietly, she has this chirp that pierces my eardrums!!!!

I actually do want to test her for heavy metals!!! Could it be?!?

I just went to a parrot club meeting last night and it was about avian illnesses, avian to human, human to avian, etc. One of the illnesses she talked about actually has a symptom of head twitching. Make sure to mention it to the vet. I have the hand outs, I'll go through them and see if I can find the name of the illness for you.
GOOD LUCK!!

Edited to add:

I found it...there is something called Newcastle Disease (paramyxovirus)..birds can ahve tremors, abnormal head position, circling and seizures. It is shed in oral and respiratory secretions and droppings for up to 1 year. The Dr last night said that the birds twitch with this disease and remembering her saying that she has seen one with it.

You said this bird was boarded a lot lately..illegal Amazons can be a source of it as well as wild birds and poultry. Who knows what has come in and out of the boarding facility. So if the place where this bird was boarded was not super clean then it is possible that she could have picked something up there.

Can't hurt to see what the vet says and mention this disease and the fact of the frequent boarding.

Good luck! Gracie did that to me, when I brought her to the vet she was sitting on my hand and snipping her feathers off in front of the vet's eyes. Her blood panel (I did everything, metals, diseases, etc) came back normal We think its a stress trigger now.

You know what she just did? She pulled on a feather so hard that it stretched the skin of her neck out then snap! It tore out. It's terrible.... Safira - I can't stand watching it. I was under the impression that she just plucked while being boarded and that it wasn't an everyday thing. That's what the owner led me to believe.

Purl - thank you so much, I am definitely going to mention it, and I'm definitely going to mention that she was boarded a lot, something I may have forgotten to mention!!! She is a sweet little bird. Her chirps pierce my ears though, I actually went deaf for a second in my right ear for a few seconds.

The best thing you can do is not watch it, or pay attention to it. It will stress you out and in turn stress your relationship with the bird. Gracie was nearly bald from the neck down when I got her. She has some feathers growing in, including tail feathers, but she's already started shredding and mutilating some of them. But yes, its horrible makes me sad to see it.

Wife has read that some Grey head twitching is normal. You better hope it's not Newcastle, and I'm sure it's not. Millions of chickens were killed to stop its spread.

I just noticed in Fran's book, "African Greys" the technique of notching the lower beak so feathers slip through rather than being gripped and plucked.

It would be highly unlikely that it is New Castle disease. I am leaning toward heavy metal poisoning, Giardia, bacteria or yeast infection of the skin. Ask your vet to test for these. If you can try and get some chamomile tea into her to help calm her. She may definitely need a collar to get her through this. The important thing is to alleviate this behavior before mutilation behavior occurs. Unfortunately, plucking is a most difficult behavior to change when it becomes a habit.
Till you see the vet, get chamomile tea into her, spray mist her with a mix of 50/50 aloe gel/water. I know what you are going through. I have a grey that mutilates under his wings. He lives in a soft collar. I have included a pic for you.

Let us know how the vet visit goes. It's not a easy thing to witness but you shouldn't pay attention to her when she does it. They will do that to get your attention as well. She can still be stressed from just moving in with you. IF nothing else is wrong with her, just give her time to settle in. Have you given her a bath yet?

This is so sad. I hope that you find a solution or the cause soon.

As greycloud suggested, try the misting option, and look at a colour or jumper/sweater to see if that stops the self-mutilation.

There is Sock Buddy or Flight Suit as an option.
Home - From what I gather, it can take the bird a while to get used to it, and more often then not they will shred it - but in some cases, persistence has paid off and it has allowed feathers to return.

Avian Fashions - Home of the Revolutionary Bird Diaper, the FlightSuit! - Not sure if this is the original Aviator Flight Suit, but to give you an idea of what they look lile.

Some posts on other forums if you're interested: Sock Buddy: Sweater sock for plucking parrots

Alisana said:

This is so sad. I hope that you find a solution or the cause soon.

As greycloud suggested, try the misting option, and look at a colour or jumper/sweater to see if that stops the self-mutilation.

There is Sock Buddy or Flight Suit as an option.
Home - From what I gather, it can take the bird a while to get used to it, and more often then not they will shred it - but in some cases, persistence has paid off and it has allowed feathers to return.

Avian Fashions - Home of the Revolutionary Bird Diaper, the FlightSuit! - Not sure if this is the original Aviator Flight Suit, but to give you an idea of what they look lile.

Some posts on other forums if you're interested: Sock Buddy: Sweater sock for plucking parrots

Click to expand...

Here we go. Feather Protector: Avian Fashions: FeatherProtectors

might need to get pickle one of those sweaters. X) he will look so dorky

Beako_N_Kiwi said:

You know what she just did? She pulled on a feather so hard that it stretched the skin of her neck out then snap! It tore out. It's terrible.... Safira - I can't stand watching it. I was under the impression that she just plucked while being boarded and that it wasn't an everyday thing. That's what the owner led me to believe.

Click to expand...

Give her time - she doesn't know she is starting the next & better phase of her life.

Look at this from the bird's perspective - your original post was on Friday & you said you only had the bird since Wednesday. That is a VERY short time. Now it is like 9 days later, still a very short time. Folks who rehome birds have told me that it often takes 4 full seasons before the bird really settles in, so hang in there - the journey has just begun.

Maybe she really only plucks when boarded - and doesn't know, yet, that you are her new home.

By all means get that bloodwork done, but stay calm & don't expect immediate miracles.

If it helps to see this from a little further down the road, our Grey arrived 9 months ago with a fully plucked chest & legs. He stayed plucked for a while. People suggested we get him preening toys (they terrified him) or a phone book that he could shred in lieu of his feathers (it was too big & he was terrified of it, too).

But we gave him old paperback novels & they were small enough they didn't scare him, so those worked - he'd work his way through a book & we'd give him a new one & his feathers started to grow back. As his confidence grew, we could give him bigger books (that lasted longer). Now he is fully feathered, although you can look at some of the feathers & see the ends are shredded.

I am not saying he will never pluck - he still occasionally nips off a feather or pulls one out. But I think it gets less and less.

Again, keep an eye on her health & consult a vet, but time might be the cure, if she truly does only pluck when boarded. She does not yet know that you are her new home. Give her time to figure it out.

greycloud said:

It would be highly unlikely that it is New Castle disease. I am leaning toward heavy metal poisoning, Giardia, bacteria or yeast infection of the skin. Ask your vet to test for these. If you can try and get some chamomile tea into her to help calm her. She may definitely need a collar to get her through this. The important thing is to alleviate this behavior before mutilation behavior occurs. Unfortunately, plucking is a most difficult behavior to change when it becomes a habit.
Till you see the vet, get chamomile tea into her, spray mist her with a mix of 50/50 aloe gel/water. I know what you are going through. I have a grey that mutilates under his wings. He lives in a soft collar. I have included a pic for you.

Click to expand...

Hello! I just joined this forum after reading your post. A friend saw an anti plucking collar on a tv show and I'm now on a hunt to find one! My amazingly sweet and well behaved Eclectus girl just started plucking this year, I think because she just hit 'puberty', my vet ran tests that came back clean and he wants to Rx prozac?! I want to see if there's another solution. Can you tell me where you bought that collar? OR did you make it? Thanks so much! Hope your greys are well!

Hi EccyMom310 and welcome to the forum!
This thread is from 2012, and I think you will get more responses if you create your own thread
Here's a helpful link
http://www.parrotforums.com/technical-support/49121-how-start-your-first-thread.html

Beako_N_Kiwi said:

And by the way, although she says a few things very quietly, she has this chirp that pierces my eardrums!!!!

Click to expand...

Oh boy Do I know that CHIRP! Smokey did it when she wanted to tick me off! It went right thru me!


Jim