Plucking down feathers

Jay · Feb 6, 2016

I'm wondering if it's normal for greys to pluck a large number of down feathers in one preening session?

My grey is 6 years old and there are always little fluffy down feathers around but last night she pulled out a huge amount of them. She has a perch in the shower that I occasionally put her on instead of putting her to bed. She's there all the time and it's dark and quiet. There was absolutely nothing different about the routine.

The pile of down feathers was quite large but there was only one tiny red tail feather in there. It certainly wasn't like she was plucking normal feathers.

I put her to bed and throughout the night she pulled out another large pile of the same down feathers. Tonight was similar but not as many.

I'm quite concerned and was wondering if this is normal during a change of season? It's February in Brisbane and we've had some hotter than normal days. I've also run the aircon a lot so that could dry her out.

There have been no other changes to environment, diet, routine...

Everything that I've read has been about plucking normal feathers, nothing much about down feathers!

plumsmum2005 · Feb 6, 2016

Hi as far as I can see plucking is plucking. It's a case of working through to see what the problem is 'cause she's telling you there is. Luckily down plucking doesn't cause as much destruction initially and let's hope it doesn't progress. Go back to the routine that's normal and/or what she's happiest with. Does she like to be sprayed? Warm water in a gentle sprayer/mister may be pleasant. Would she like to be dried after? Birds change their minds on what they like too, one minute it's bedtime in complete darkness, then it's perhaps with a night light on. Did something give her a fright - noise etc during the night?
Please be patient, don't stress but do think through possible reasons. Please keep us updated.

Jay · Feb 6, 2016

I just took the cover off her cage and there's another small pile of the down feathers in there. I changed the paper when I put her in there so I could make sure it was all fresh feathers.

The thing is that I covered her so it was complete darkness and she's still preening? Must be something causing it because lights out normally she just goes straight to sleep.

You're right about there being something that's causing it. She doesn't really like water but she has a shower perch and she's with me and my girlfriend for every shower... It's at least 3 showers per day that she gets the mist/steam. I also bath her under the water once per week.

I'll try spraying her with some mist over the next few days.

plumsmum2005 · Feb 6, 2016

Hi the steam in the shower is good but not sure about three per day though? Does she look happy to be there each time? Please make sure that your water mister is kept scrupulously clean, emptied each time and dried if poss to ensure that nothing nasty starts to inhabit it. I'm afraid it's trial and error until something clicks. If you make too many changes in one go you won't know which one is a successful one(s). Is bedtime too early? Has she had chance to eat enough? enough playtime/cuddles? Helps to keep notes 'cos sometimes you may see something you've written down that's important. Diet/bedtime/sprayed/lit bedtime/unlit bedtime/time of bedtime and rising. You'll get there.

Jay · Feb 6, 2016

I'll monitor it and hopefully she stops.

I have an open shower (no door) and she flies in herself. She actually gets really upset if she's in her cage and hears the shower on. We have a large house and she is out most of the time that we are home. Her bedtime is generally around 8pm as we've been home from work for a few hours and we will just be setting into bed to read or watch a movie. She starts putting one leg up and drifting off around 8 - 8:30pm.

The part that is strange is that at this point, it's only when she's in that sleep time. She preens all day but it's just straightening out her feathers. I would have thought that if it was environmental stress or boredom that it would occur when she's bored, not when she's going to sleep.

Stimulation and interaction seem unlikely... She's pretty much our daughter and is included in our routine.

Piasa · Feb 6, 2016

Is she in the bedroom only at night? Perhaps there is a smell or something in there that is irritating. Air freshener or carpet freshener, stain guards on upholstery, dirty heat registers or air vents, even certain LED lights on electronics. Plucking is completely frustrating. I hope you are able to locate the problem soon.

plumsmum2005 · Feb 6, 2016

Hi found this - may be of use?
http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

Jay · Feb 6, 2016

She's in the bedroom all the time. We spend most a lot of time in the bedroom and she has a large O ring perch setup in there. I can't think of anything at all that changed environmentally. No new chemicals, cleaners, sprays...

Thanks for that link, I had read it before posting this thread but I wasn't sure if down feathers are part of a molt that occurs every few years. That thread highlights feather plucking but I was hoping my situation would be different.

It's really hard because right now she's foraging around the rooftop of her cage, singing and being her normal self. I'm dreading putting her to bed and waking up with more feathers on the floor!

I'm going to go buy some aloe spray and give that a try. I hope it's just some skin irritation and I can treat it.

plumsmum2005 · Feb 7, 2016

Jay said:
She's in the bedroom all the time. We spend most a lot of time in the bedroom and she has a large O ring perch setup in there. I can't think of anything at all that changed environmentally. No new chemicals, cleaners, sprays...

Thanks for that link, I had read it before posting this thread but I wasn't sure if down feathers are part of a molt that occurs every few years. That thread highlights feather plucking but I was hoping my situation would be different.

It's really hard because right now she's foraging around the rooftop of her cage, singing and being her normal self. I'm dreading putting her to bed and waking up with more feathers on the floor!

I'm going to go buy some aloe spray and give that a try. I hope it's just some skin irritation and I can treat it.

Hi would you try something different? Try putting her in another room at bedtime on her own so she can switch off completely, where there's no stimulation and importantly she can get the amount of rest that she needs. This has worked with one of the fids I am holiday mum to. He goes in another smaller/travel cage for the night & is much happier (plucking ceased). BTW it doesn't work with Plum in the same room as us at night as he is constantly listening for me so every cough, sniff, sneeze etc throughout the night alerts him and so he doesn't rest sufficiently. This causes them some stress which will build. Please don't ask why now has this happened / changed because that's a million $ question.

Jay · Feb 8, 2016

I did try the aloe spray and it's stopped! I just lift her wings and give her a raspberry and my girlfriend sneaks up behind and sprays her. She's catching onto our trick but it's working.

We sprayed her Sunday arvo and no plucking since then. It's only been one night but she was home alone all day today and no new feathers.

We'll keep it up for a few days and I'll keep posting to let you know how it goes.

Piasa · Feb 8, 2016

Thanks for the update Jay. I really hope the aloe continues to work.

Jay · Feb 9, 2016

Whilst it seems to be settling down, I lifted her wings to look for the site that she's still picking at. This is what I found!

I've sprayed it with aloe as it looks really dry...

Anyone know what this could be? I don't think it could be mites but I've never seen them so I can't be sure.

plumsmum2005 · Feb 9, 2016

Hi Jay I would take Zola to see an AV to get a proper diagnosis and something that will clear it up.

hummer77 · Feb 9, 2016

We have a crimson bellied concure and he started to pull out all his pretty red belly feathers, and small green, we started him on pluck not more and seems to be helping , it has only been 10 days. Went to the vet and he feels it is hormons and diet and not enough sleep, he told us to try pluck not more he heard good reports on it. Gigio is coming up on two years old, not sure what else to do. Any ideas.

Piasa · Feb 9, 2016

I second the idea of going to the vet to get that checked out. They can do skin tests to tell if there is bacterial or fungal infection involved.

Jay · Feb 9, 2016

I've got to fly out for work this morning and I'm back Friday. Hopefully the next 48 hours don't get much worse.

There were a few new bits in the bottom of the cage again this morning so she's still at it. I'll book an appointment for Friday afternoon.

It gets even harder as I am going overseas on Sunday! My mum will be looking after Zola and she's great with birds but she's in a cage at my mum's house. She's been there plenty of times before so she won't be stressed but my mum won't be able to apply any medicine unless is just in her water.

ARRRHHHH!! The stress of having a feathered child...

Piasa · Feb 9, 2016

I think sometimes it is topical medicine for skin issues, but I don't know specifics. Some clinics allow you to board your parrot there, and if she needs medicine, they can give it. Even if you have to wait until you are home again to administer medicine, just being in a peaceful familiar place with your mum is healing.

Zola is such a beautiful name for a parrot, by the way. Hope you get it figured out soon and she is back to her normal fluffy self.

Jay · Feb 11, 2016

I've just come back from the vet and now waiting on blood test results for cell count, organ function, etc.

There's no sign of any physical problems and it's not a skin irritation. Also highly unlikely to be psychological based on the behavior and how it started.

If the tests don't show anything then the next step is x-rays. I really hope the blood tests show something mild and treatable. I don't want to be going down the path of blindly stabbing in the dark for answers!

I'll have the results tomorrow so fingers crossed.

plumsmum2005 · Feb 12, 2016

hummer77 said:
We have a crimson bellied concure and he started to pull out all his pretty red belly feathers, and small green, we started him on pluck not more and seems to be helping , it has only been 10 days. Went to the vet and he feels it is hormons and diet and not enough sleep, he told us to try pluck not more he heard good reports on it. Gigio is coming up on two years old, not sure what else to do. Any ideas.

Hello I was following up on a thread and spotted your post. Are you following your vets advice on improving your Conure's diet and improving his amount of sleep? FYI you will probably do better if you post in the Conure section of this forum for any additional queries you have. It takes time to improve diet and amount of sleep and things dont improve overnight. Obliviously if it's also hormones then that will take time to play out.

Plucking down feathers

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