Can’t figure out what’s happening

Hi,

I’ve done quite a lot of research but cannot figure out what’s wrong or what could be normal lol. He plucked a lot of feathers and I am assuming the lump in the photo is the crop?

Thank you very much for any guidance

I’m not sure his gender, I believe it’s female but she is a beautiful bird

Ahhhm, well, plucking may be a very common problem, but it is not normal ...


maybe find a CAV and plan a visit?
(If you are testing for diseases and possible nutritional issues just throw a DNA-test in the mix, its about the cheapest thing there is when it comes to labwork and they only need a smidgen of blood for it)


Apart from the missing feathers you have a smashing looking bird there
I love the (for a macaw anyway) dainty looking feet.
(in the first picture)

Thank you so much, I was planning on taking him/her in but I am in Massachusetts so I am still looking around for the right vet. I have had her for about 1 month, and she is 4 years old

Well starting with the lack of ANY toys in the cage... the bird is probably bored out of its mind. These are intelligent animals and they need stimulation and enrichment in their daily lives.

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I agree 100% with lack of toys/boredom. Hormonal issues lead to plucking (assuming you have had a CBC /blood work done and all is well). Your bird should get 10-14 hours of quiet/dark sleep each night and you should only ever pet on the head/neck. Do not allow your bird to access dark or shadowy places (shirts, blankets, pillows, underneath furniture,covers, boxes, paper piles, low-ledges, tubes, etc) and make sure that your bird isn't getting too much sunlight. Check the humidity in your bird's room and run a very clean Teflon/PTFE/PFOA free humidifier in the room if it is below 55% (it depends on the species, but over 60% you tend to get mold). Dry skin/dry air=itchy skin. Finally, look at nutrition. What does your bird eat and how often is it engaged and out of the cage daily?

There is a spaghetti toy in the cage and a toy that you can tug on that’s made a wood, would you suggest more toys for the cage

noodles123 said:

I agree 100% with lack of toys/boredom. Hormonal issues lead to plucking (assuming you have had a CBC /blood work done and all is well). Your bird should get 10-14 hours of quiet/dark sleep each night and you should only ever pet on the head/neck. Do not allow your bird to access dark or shadowy places (shirts, blankets, pillows, underneath furniture,covers, boxes, paper piles, low-ledges, tubes, etc) and make sure that your bird isn't getting too much sunlight. Check the humidity in your bird's room and run a very clean Teflon/PTFE/PFOA free humidifier in the room if it is below 55% (it depends on the species, but over 60% you tend to get mold). Dry skin/dry air=itchy skin. Finally, look at nutrition. What does your bird eat and how often is it engaged and out of the cage daily?

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Have had the bird about a month, over the last two weeks he’s been plucking, and we are still looking for a vet to take her too. We do have a heater, the radiator style next to his cage run on the lowest setting. I will have to check the humidity.

He has the standard food for a macaw, and then he loves eating peanuts with the shells, bananas and apples as well. He is heavily interacted with our family of 4, and there are times he doesn’t want to interact. He probably gets about 8 hours of dark sleep a night

Always good to have tons of toys of different type, I linked an article on toys someplace, if I find will repost.
Lots of veggies are good, you can Google all the types that are parrot safe.
Peanuts harbor fungus that's bad for birds, most of us just don't feed peanuts ever, try pine nuts and pistachio instead, more as a treat than a regular part of the diet. Cooked plain popcorn is a good treat to my birds love it.
Good luck, start with vet on plucking especially if it just started, it can be medical. It's frustrating when it's behavioral.
Edit: toy link
Really like this article. Except the part on snuggle soft toys and snuggle huts. That info is wrong and will lead to threads jamming the digest system. The rest was excellent. Really helped me categorize the toy types the appeal of different toy types. And how great to have one of each type in cage. Toys near bottom of link article.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/parrot...to-chew-today/
__________________
May your joy be as deep as the ocean, and your sorrows as light as the foam.

YES your bird needs more toys. 2 is beyond inadequate, plus ideally you should rotate them out regularly so your bird does not get bored. Don't think you have a feathered sholder percher. You have a feathered child, every bit as smart and emotional.



Many people suggest 12 hours of dark a night, or a natural light cycle. Have you had a bird before? Do you know if this one plucked before you got it?


I see you have chucks pads/puppy pee pads in the cage bottom. Make sure the bird CANNOT get a hold of these!!


From phone. Good luck. Even if this is your first bird you can make this a successful situation if you commit to it. people here are way more than willing to help you out. We *want* to see you succeed.

Falcon690 said:

noodles123 said:

I agree 100% with lack of toys/boredom. Hormonal issues lead to plucking (assuming you have had a CBC /blood work done and all is well). Your bird should get 10-14 hours of quiet/dark sleep each night and you should only ever pet on the head/neck. Do not allow your bird to access dark or shadowy places (shirts, blankets, pillows, underneath furniture,covers, boxes, paper piles, low-ledges, tubes, etc) and make sure that your bird isn't getting too much sunlight. Check the humidity in your bird's room and run a very clean Teflon/PTFE/PFOA free humidifier in the room if it is below 55% (it depends on the species, but over 60% you tend to get mold). Dry skin/dry air=itchy skin. Finally, look at nutrition. What does your bird eat and how often is it engaged and out of the cage daily?

Click to expand...

Have had the bird about a month, over the last two weeks he’s been plucking, and we are still looking for a vet to take her too. We do have a heater, the radiator style next to his cage run on the lowest setting. I will have to check the humidity.

He has the standard food for a macaw, and then he loves eating peanuts with the shells, bananas and apples as well. He is heavily interacted with our family of 4, and there are times he doesn’t want to interact. He probably gets about 8 hours of dark sleep a night

Click to expand...

Okay- so have you made sure that the heater etc do not contain PTFE/PFOA/PFCS/Teflon? that can kill birds and it is an irritant.


Peanuts have a fungus on them (shelled or non) that is best if avoided.

bug_n_flock said:

YES your bird needs more toys. 2 is beyond inadequate, plus ideally you should rotate them out regularly so your bird does not get bored. Don't think you have a feathered sholder percher. You have a feathered child, every bit as smart and emotional.



Many people suggest 12 hours of dark a night, or a natural light cycle. Have you had a bird before? Do you know if this one plucked before you got it?


I see you have chucks pads/puppy pee pads in the cage bottom. Make sure the bird CANNOT get a hold of these!!


From phone. Good luck. Even if this is your first bird you can make this a successful situation if you commit to it. people here are way more than willing to help you out. We *want* to see you succeed.

Click to expand...

No I never had a bird before, but he does love to sit on my shoulder. I am very new to taking care of birds. We have two dogs and they all love to keep each other active and company lol.

Thanks for all the input guys

I’m not sure about the heated it’s the oil filled one that you plug in? Are you familiar with those ?

Yes I am and they are generally safe (phew!)



Birds do have very sensitive lungs though (totally different from mammals) and so for future reference, if you use anything that heats or is intended to heat, you need to call the manufacturer to make sure it doesn't contain PFOA/PTFE/PFCs or Teflon. This coating is very dangerous, and they sneak it into lots of things. When you call, you will want to give all of the abbreviations, as well as the full-chemical names.



What are you using as a cleaner? 99% of household cleaners are unsafe to use around birds (due to their respiratory sensitivity). They can also lead to skin irritation etc. Vinegar + water, grapefruit seed extract + water or an avian cleaner (exp F10 SC) are going to be safe. Things like bleach, Ammonia/Windex, Lysol, scrubbing bubbles etc are very harmful and shouldn't be used.

OKe, now you've got the short and condensed form of do's and don't -- try to read up on the Birdman666 threads here on the forum, they were a huge help for me, and he really, really knows his stuf.


He was a lifesaver when I got landed with a B&G last year - The largest parrot I had to that date were african greys, so it was an intetresting time...


(The macaw section had a few great stickies, but also read the HUGE one in the 'amazons' -> there is a lot of parrot-info esp. about bodylanguage. )




Oh btw...peanuts are food-of-death for most birds because the fungus(spores) that live on the shells and sometimes the nuts causes aspergillosis -> a horrible disease that gets in all your birds airways , lungs and airsacks and if not treated will kill your bird.

But you are probably feeding what the bird is used to atm right?


Grinn, we can be a bit intense at times, its all about the birds health and wellbeing... plze... dont be intimidated
First-timers are usually cuddled a bit more, but the size of the bird made us think you were an experienced owner already (most people start small/ not all of course!)


There is al list of Certified Avian Vets around here somewhere...

Falcon690 said:

...........No I never had a bird before, but he does love to sit on my shoulder. I am very new to taking care of birds. We have two dogs and they all love to keep each other active and company lol.

Thanks for all the input guys

Click to expand...

You will do very well! You genuinely care about your new family member! And the biggie, you are teachable! As you have seen, this isn’t FB, we don’t eat our young!
As said, please! Read and study Birdman666! You Have some challenges coming due! Your baby needs to stay socialized(pass the birdie), and soon, he may try to become flock leader!

Welcome to the forums, I’m glad you found us.

From the information you provided and the photo you posted it doesn’t look like your beautiful big mac is a long time plucker, in fact it looks like a new thing. Your bird is four years old, I recommend a thorough exam by a certified avian vet as soon as you can make the appointment. There are so many possible causes for plucking, a CAV can help you rule out or pinpoint the possible underlying or even obvious causes.

You mentioned your dogs, if this is the first household your bird has lived in with dogs, what appears to be innocent interaction could actually be a major stressor for your bird. Birds are prey animals, dogs are predators, we can’t change that but we can make sure the bird feels safe in his or her own home. According to your dogs breed and prey drive, the dogs’ presence could be a contributing factor for your bird’s recent feather plucking. Most of our members, myself included never allow birds and other pets to interact or the dogs to be in the room when the bird is out of it’s cage.

Diet can have a profound effect on a bird’s overall health, there’s valid evidence that a bad diet can be directly linked to plucking.

Parrots are emotional beings, some make transitions into new homes and families very smoothly, others struggle a little more. We can’t create a perfectly stress free environment but we can make a difference. Birds like to feel safe just like we do.

Bigger beaks, bigger toys. Macaws can transform twenty five pounds of wood blocks into mulch in about that many minutes. Chewing wood is far better than chewing feathers and it’s a great exercise for the beak and the brain. Think big.

The important thing to note here is, plucking can become a lifelong problem but if you take measures to correct it now it can instead be a one time event. Here’s a couple of links you may find helpful.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

As one of our members mentioned earlier, we are very happy you joined us and all of us want to see you succeed. We aren’t trying to be critical in fact we applaud all the wonderful parents like you that ask questions to improve the lives of companion parrots. We’re looking forward to your success.

Hi, lots of good advice already. Pleas go through it and act on it. If the photo is your bird when you first got her and the first couple are how she looks now then you need to do something quickly.

Even in the feathered picture there looks like there are some gaps beneath her feathers so I would be surprised if she hasn't been a plucked for a while, but her pulling out as much as she has in a short period of time is serious I'm afraid. She is stressed, unhappy or sick.

Please get more toys, and then more, and then a few more. I'm not being sarcastic, you have a parrot with a wood chipper on its face. She needs to and should be destroying toys in a few days at most and changing them will keep her interested.

Having parrots is a change of pace, but not rocket science and once you've adjusted it's easier. I'm interested in what you mean by your dogs and your bird hanging out together? Not sure if someone else has mentioned, but puppy pads at the bottom of the cage can be a bad idea. They're toxic if chewed and can have chemicals to control smell or attract puppies (and their bottoms!) so can give off fumes.

She is lovely and I can't wait to start seeing the photos as she grows her feathers back.

Thank you for all your input, I will get right on it as I’ve already removed the puppy pads + and everyone is on page no peanuts either

As far as dog interaction, my macaw on day one put them both in there place, now they just pass by each other when she is on the floor walking around. Everyone once in a while she will chase them and both dogs are scared lol must be a dominance thing.

I’m gonna go get quite a few toys tonight. And hopefully Friday I will be able to get her to the avian vet.

Also the parrot knows how to say hello and I’m trying to expand his vocabulary lol

But I’ll take a look at those links as well.

Thanks for all the help guys

Great progress! There are plenty of healthy and safe treats you can give to take the place of peanuts. The Hyacinthe I had the honor of working for for a few years before he got sold from the parrot shop loved in shell walnuts, spray millet, and whole kale leaves(he would scratch his head with them).



I always think it is cute when birds say "I love you". Try to say whatever you want him to learn in the same way each time, and don't overuse the word or words. Be excited about it or the bird wont pay attention. High pitched voices seem to be picked up faster/easier.



You can also try making toys for a cheaper option. Mysafebirdstore.com has many bird toy parts and I've had good experiences each time I have ordered from there, but even a hardware store can have bird toy parts if you know what to look for.