Eclectus pair plucking?

LovebirdLover · Mar 21, 2014

Hey as some of you guys know i bought an eclectus recently. 2 weeks to be exact. The female just went in the nesting box and in the bottom is wood shavings. The male just started to pluck his feathers and use them as nesting material and the female but the female feather is still whole. The male is completely naked in the chest area. I shower them to keep the place moist shower the male only. The female usually is in the nesting box then comes out to eat. Are they laying soon? and also why is my male plucking? Is it stress or what. And i will also put my pictures of all my birds once my big aviary is finished. I just need to work on the roof gathering the materials. Also the diet of the bird is very good. Its about 10things. For mon-thurs i feed it same 10 things. For fri - sun i feed it 8-9ish diffrent things. They are eating fine drinking water and taking baths but i dont know why the boy is plucking. Please give me an answer fast. Thanks

Sterling1113 · Mar 21, 2014

-facepalm-
This follow-up makes me sad. I thought the aviary was to be finished before they came home(if they came home in the first place)?
What are they staying in? How big is the cage? How big is the nesting box?
What is their diet?(Specifically. Not 10 things. What 10 things? How much of it is fruits, veggies, pellets? What types?)
Plucking can be a range of things. Old habit, stress, poor diet, the list goes on. If he was fully feathered when you got him and now his chest is bare that is a HUGE RED FLAG. He needs to see a vet.
Speaking of a vet, have you had them vetted at all? It's only been two weeks, they're probably SUPER stressed, especially if the only thing you're worried about is babies.
How 'moist' are you keeping the place? too high of humidity will cause respiratory problems.
You need to get these birds to a vet, or to a home that will care for them and love them the way they need.

MikeyTN · Mar 22, 2014

Have you had them vet checked since you got them??? If not, you should!

This goes back to when I was asking you about breeding your other birds. You have absolutely no clue so I dunno why you went out and purchase more that you have no clue about to try to breed???

LovebirdLover · Mar 22, 2014

The chest isnt really bare but the vet is closed tomorrow. First thing on monday ill take schedule an appointment. Every morning around 10am i leave the mist on for about 10 min. If they want to go in there then they can if not they stay completely dry. The male goes in there usually but the female doesnt. And i am taking care of them. There cage is about 7 ft tall, 4 feet wide and 6 ft long about just estimating. All the feathers are in the nesting box to. None are on the ground or anywhere near their cage. Its all in the nesting box. A lot has piled up in there. In there is wood shavings and feathers

JerseyWendy · Mar 22, 2014

LovebirdLover said:
Hey as some of you guys know i bought an eclectus recently. 2 weeks to be exact. The female just went in the nesting box and in the bottom is wood shavings. The male just started to pluck his feathers and use them as nesting material and the female but the female feather is still whole. The male is completely naked in the chest area. I shower them to keep the place moist shower the male only. The female usually is in the nesting box then comes out to eat. Are they laying soon? and also why is my male plucking? Is it stress or what. And i will also put my pictures of all my birds once my big aviary is finished. I just need to work on the roof gathering the materials. Also the diet of the bird is very good. Its about 10things. For mon-thurs i feed it same 10 things. For fri - sun i feed it 8-9ish diffrent things. They are eating fine drinking water and taking baths but i dont know why the boy is plucking. Please give me an answer fast. Thanks

Let me address your last sentence first: Members answer as they find time, and as they see fit. A fast answer won't mean you'll have a quick fix.

As it's obvious that you've taken NONE of the advice you were previously given serious, or to heart, I will now give you a link to a website. Please call Laurella. She has been breeding Eclectus for decades. She loves talking Ekkis, and she may set you straight.
Eclectus Parrots For Sale Eclectus Parrot Breeder Eclectus Babies

Brodie · Mar 22, 2014

I actually put a deposit on a pair of ekkies a few months ago, my aviary iwas having built wasn't ready in time, I chose to loose my $400 deposit, then bring them home and put them in a small cage until their aviary was ready. I'm glad I did that, because for the pair this would have been stressful. as said above, you seem to be more worried about when they are going to breed. Maybe set some time and money apart from buying birds, to actually have things ready for the birds first. Before bringing them home to have them housed temporarily in a smaller cage.
Diet wise, what exactly are you feeding them? Maybe those ten things are not the right ten thinks? Did you find out what their previous owner was feeding them and go by their previous diet? Or completely change it to what you thought best for them?

antoinette · Mar 22, 2014

LovbirdLover

Have you ever breed birds before? Sure does not seem like it.

You have absolutely no clue, no knowledge and no experience in what to do yet you want to increase your flock.

You seem to ignore the advice given to you.

If they breed what are you going to do with the little chicks? hand rear them yourself?

It requires someone with experience and lots of time on hand to hand rear little ones.

labell · Mar 22, 2014

LovebirdLover said:
The chest isnt really bare but the vet is closed tomorrow. First thing on monday ill take schedule an appointment. Every morning around 10am i leave the mist on for about 10 min. If they want to go in there then they can if not they stay completely dry. The male goes in there usually but the female doesnt. And i am taking care of them. There cage is about 7 ft tall, 4 feet wide and 6 ft long about just estimating. All the feathers are in the nesting box to. None are on the ground or anywhere near their cage. Its all in the nesting box. A lot has piled up in there. In there is wood shavings and feathers

So this tells me you have them outside with no aviary, just a cage outside, is that correct? If you are saying a misting system staying on for 10 mins and no feathers on the ground that is what I am thinking you mean.

I really am appalled that you went through with buying them when you are having so many issues breeding much smaller, easier parrots.

You have yet to answer what the 10 things are and I can only assume that you don't want to give that information knowing full well that you are not feeding them like you were told they need by many people on this forum, myself included.

Your list of parrots that you have and your claim to wanting to get many more concerns me as well, wouldn't it have been better for the lives in your care for you to get knowledgeable about the ones you already have before getting more? Your lack of concern for their well being and your obvious intentions of just having babies and making money makes my blood boil. I am afraid you are going to find that it is not as easy as you would like and it is the birds that will truly suffer.

By the way Laurella is a wonderful, no nonsense women, she really is the queen of eclectus and knows more than most ever will about these wonderful parrots.

Anansi · Mar 22, 2014

I think everyone here has already touched upon the pertinent points regarding the difficulty of breeding eclectus and raising their chicks. I hope the potential urgency of your situation has hit home.

That said, just a thought: if your male ekky, who I assume wasn't a plucker before now, feels the need to pluck his own feathers in order to line the nesting box, couldn't it be that you haven't provided adequate nesting material? Remember, the male is instinctively driven to provide for his mate and any future babies. So perhaps, in the absence of proper nesting material, he's simply doing what any good father and mate would... he's making do with what he has.

Please take Wendy's advice and contact Laurella. From what I've heard, she'll be in the best position to advise you further on this.

solrac13 · Mar 22, 2014

LovebirdLover said:
Hey as some of you guys know i bought an eclectus recently. 2 weeks to be exact. The female just went in the nesting box and in the bottom is wood shavings. The male just started to pluck his feathers and use them as nesting material and the female but the female feather is still whole. The male is completely naked in the chest area. I shower them to keep the place moist shower the male only. The female usually is in the nesting box then comes out to eat. Are they laying soon? and also why is my male plucking? Is it stress or what. And i will also put my pictures of all my birds once my big aviary is finished. I just need to work on the roof gathering the materials. Also the diet of the bird is very good. Its about 10things. For mon-thurs i feed it same 10 things. For fri - sun i feed it 8-9ish diffrent things. They are eating fine drinking water and taking baths but i dont know why the boy is plucking. Please give me an answer fast. Thanks

Hello

Is hard for me to believe your Eckies are breading, you say u got them only 2 weeks back!

It takes a lot of more of time for birds to feel comfortable enough to start breeding on a new environment!

Electus are very sensitive when relocating them into new home, some stop eating, others can pluck ect ect :green2:

LovebirdLover · Mar 22, 2014

@ Solrac13 once they came home they stopped eating and moving for one day but after then they ate and moved around fine.
@everyone else I do have them in an aviary thats much bigger then they need im pretty sure. The exact measurements are 8 ft tall 6 ft length and 4 ft wide.
@Food i use is (i didnt have time to do it anytime sooner sorry)
- brocolli, letuc, carrots, potato ( very little), cucumbers, apple, banana, orange, and lastly avocado. just kidding lol. and sprouts. also with a small cup of sunflowers so they could choose. I seperated the food in 3 diffrent bowls so it would be cleaner and a big bowl of water

JerseyWendy · Mar 22, 2014

Got some photos of how they are set up? You said you were going to post pictures a couple of weeks ago.

Did you call Laurella yet? I gave you the link for her site and her contact info is on there.

LovebirdLover · Mar 22, 2014

@Ilabel i buy a parrot or bird then wait a while to see if i can get more. I dont just get 10 at once and 10 at another. If i can handle it then i would buy it. Also i have a lot of free time and i spend about 4 hours after work everyday in the backyard. One day itll be trimming the trees and the other would be watching the bird. When im trimming the trees im also watching the birds closely. Bonsai trees are hard to maintain

LovebirdLover · Mar 22, 2014

@Jersey i said on the other post how do you post pictures lol. And i just got on this website this morning and read a lot of not so helpful comments besides the ekkie expert. Ill call her sometime today when im free or email her. How do i post stuff Pics

Terry57 · Mar 22, 2014

MonicaMc posted this link on your parakeet thread, but here it is again:

http://www.parrotforums.com/technical-support/6287-how-post-pictures.html

LovebirdLover · Mar 22, 2014

Will post pictures today if i have time. Really busy today but ill try to get it in. Maybe late tonight or late afternoon

labell · Mar 22, 2014

So having done Bonsai as well as Shohin which is actually more difficult because the trees are forced to be much smaller and trimming root ball and wiring limbs is much more frequent I can with experience tell you that it is not near as difficult as breeding parrots. You were told lettuce is basically worthless to feed and yet that is one you choose?? And potatoes..cooked I hope. Your avocado joke by the way was not amusing considering the real mistakes you have made thus far.

Just to prove that I am telling the truth I will add some pictures of my once prized trees.

JerseyWendy · Mar 22, 2014

<FAINTS> OMG, labell, those trees are MAGNIFICENT!!!! I am GREEN with envy here. Superbly done!

Sorry....couldn't contain my excitement when I saw your pictures.

Betrisher · Mar 22, 2014

Oh labell! Me too! I'm astounded at your beautiful work! Do you mind listing some of the trees you have there? Being Australian, they're not all familiar to me.

PS. A popular Bonsai specimen here is the Moreton Bay Fig tree which is a very large fig not unlike a Banyan. It makes a lovely and very expressive Bonsai specimen.

Anansi · Mar 22, 2014

I concur! Beautiful trees, Labell!
@LovebirdLover: Looking forward to your pics. And please keep us updated on what you hear from Laurella. I'd love to hear her take.

Eclectus pair plucking?

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