Baby is plucking again :(

[henry0reilly]

She's about 5 years old. We took her to the vet 2 years ago when she had plucked her chest bare, changed food, got more regular with feeding and sleep time and she got better.

A month ago I noticed she had plucked a small patch. It is slowly getting bigger and I'm not sure what to do about it. Due to COVID-19 a vet visit is out of the question for at least a month.

 

[noodles123]

Yous sure? We are under lock-down and our vets are still seeing patients.

 

[noodles123]

that's a hormonal period of time for cockatoos-- make sure you aren't petting anywhere other than the head or neck-- no cuddles or access to bedding, under shelves, dark spaces, huts, blankets, boxes etc. They can all be massive hormone triggers and cause a bird to pluck out of sexual frustration. Also ensure roughly 12 hours of sleep each night (cockatoos need more than most) and make sure that you aren't using chemical cleaners, personal care products or other irritants in the household (candles, sprays, glues, aerosols, scented oils etc).

Side note- please try to get your bird to the vet AT LEAST 1x per year. They should get blood-work and a wellness exam every so often....multiple years in between is a lot to risk.

As always- any change in behavior merits a vet visit. Birds can often pluck areas of their bodies that correspond with internal pain/problems.

 

[Scott]

Not sure where you are located, but veterinary clinics are open with precautions in most areas of the U.S.

Plucking is one of the most challenging behaviors to understand and manage. Please check this thread for overview: http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

 

[henry0reilly]

got some toys

I ordered some toys. They hold cardboard "bagels". I put one directly in Max' cage right away and he has chewed up some of them. I left one outside Baby's cage for a bit, then after I saw she had chewed on it some I moved it inside.

Her bald spot had kept getting bigger but I'm hoping this and trying really hard to give them more quiet time after sundown will help.

 

[noodles123]

paper can be a trigger for cockatoos....shredding toys, that is....but do make sure you consult a vet.

 

[Cycletim]

Our new to us grey plucks his chest a little and makes little nests in his cage. So we are trying to only give him wood when he's in his cage with the door closed. After 3 days he is not going for his chest. I'm a carpenter and plenty of poplar wood molding scraps to chew up. We used to give him paper to chew while we was on his own. He still chews the wood but, its very time consuming. Maybe that's keeping him busy...? Hope so good luck

 

[Jottlebot]

I'm sorry to hear this. My male Alexandrine started to pluck this year, out of the blue, when I first saw it I said to my husband (only slightly over-dramatically!) "This is my worst nightmare!". A vet visit later and bloods and the diagnosis is puberty and breeding season, he is about 3.5 years old. I wonder whether your girl is going throughthesame thing? Being a bigger bird she might mature a bit later than an Alexandrine? The vet said it's something he might just do every year. Maybe your girl is the same? He plucked a brood patch, which is almost a rectangle between his legs to his chest. He did bite off the ends of feathers on his shoulders too. He only pulled out the coloured feathers, not the fluffy ones, is this the same for your girl? I thought we had gone through puberty last year, he got very grumpy and bit, but this year there has been none of that behaviour, but the flipping plucking! Did you see amy hormonal behaviour in the years she didn't pluck?

I've managed it by reducing the energy in his diet (no fruits, moving from Harrisons High Potency to Adult), daily misting (I worried at first that this would encourage plucking, but it didn't seem to), sunshine in the outside aviary and using "preening" toys, which I've never done before. I put one on the perch he usually presents on in his cage so that it pretty much had to touch him and I saw him preening it quite a few times. (Fingers crossed) it seemed to stop after about 3 weeks and now he's starting to moult. His sleep was good even before this. He also likes changes so I did a big overhaul of his cage and I've been changing and moving toys more regularly than I was because this doesn't stress him, but it sounds like your girl might not like this as much?

 

[Jottlebot]

Just remembered I have been very strict with his bed time. If he's out in the evening he goes into his cage at 9 and is covered at 9.30, he won't be woken up for at least 12 hours at the weekend and more like 14 in the week. I can hear he's awake sometimes, but he's quiet and I don't uncover him. He now settles down on the cage door just before 9 waiting to be put inside with an almond piece! He used to go to bed himself and occasionally still does, but he more often waits for the almond piece!