Pulling out pin feathers and screaming - Advice much appreciated!

[Ozzythemacaw]

Hi everyone,

Newbie here. Before I begin I just want to say how grateful I am that you are reading this. I am just about at my wits end with my 4 year old female Hahns Macaw, Ozzy (named before she was sexed!). I adore her - we have a very close bond, and I spare no expense on her despite earning minimum wage! I have know her since she was 4 months old and helped hand raise her. I would love some fresh eyes over a problem that's causing extreme stress in regards to her.

Last August, our dog passed away suddenly getting his teeth cleaned under general anesthetic. 2 days later, Ozzy spent 3 weeks barbering off most of her feathers apart from tail and wing feathers. I took her to the vet, she had a full blood count which all came back perfect apart from slightly low calcium (she now has a supplement in her diet). I was sent away with a calming drug and a pain killer for pin feathers as we wondered if it was stress from moulting as well as the atmosphere in the house. I struggled to medicate her - hated towelling her, so I left it and decided to just see how it goes.

By November all her feathers had grown back, she had bitten off a few of the new ones on her chest but hardly noticeable really. Everything was fine apart from the odd bitten off feather up until March this year. She started pulling out down feathers under her wing and screaming as she did it. She then rolled them up in her beak and spat them out. As she began to moult she began to pull out pin feathers as she was preening, screaming in pain as she does it. This had been going on all through lockdown, and as things eased I decided to take her to the avian vet again. Her faecal test was clear, bloods clear, zinc toxicity clear. My vet asked me to try the medication again. I tried for about a week but didn't notice any difference and felt awful shoving it in her beak, she absolutely hated it.

As the FDB went away last winter, I wondered if it was hormonal, so decided to try a hormonal implant to suppress the stress from her urges that she cannot carry out in her domestic situation. It hasn't made any difference. I have seen a behaviourist who has told me that I am doing everything really well, she has a good set up, I know how to positively reinforce her effectively etc.

When she's busy foraging, she doesn't do it. It's only when she is full and settles down to preen that she eventually finds a pin feather and rips it out, again, screaming in pain each time. She has never pulled out a fully grown feather, only ones just coming through the skin. I don't want to collar her as I believe this will make her more frustrated. I can't keep her busy 24/7, there's always a point in the day where she will search out pins and rip them out, sometimes there's a few tiny specks of blood and clotted holes where the pins would've been.

I adore this bird. I spent all my time reading about parrots, talking to people, and researching the issue as much as I can. I know that FDB does not happen in the wild, and I fully understand she should be mating in the rainforest right now! and I feel infinite guilt for this.

I just want to know if anyone has had a similar situation with pin feathers specifically. She has a good diet, a huge cage, showers with me, explores all areas of the house, loves to forage, loves to fly and do recall, sleeps well, goes out in her back pack etc. She has a UV light on for a few hours a day, a diet of vegetables, nuts and fruits and pellets...

I feel like I have tried everything and still have a parrot who is hurting herself. I am beyond stressed out. Sorry for the long rant

thank you SO much.

 

[wrench13]

Hi and welcome. from what you're saying I think you are doing as much as medical advice dictates. It sounds like Ozzy has developed a nervous habit and that is one of the hardest reasons for plucking to deter. Its much like nail biting in humans. Our behavioral sub forum has some good threads on ways to deter this. Please don't beat yourself up over this.

 

[wrench13]

Bumping, for visibility.

 

[Ira7]

Have you tried Aloe, both as a liquid spray and solid food?

I recently learned a lot about it, and plucking can be the result of simple skin irritation resulting in itching which becomes plucking.

It’s 100% safe, so it’s worth a shot.

https://www.parrotwebsite.com/can-parrots-eat-aloe-vera/

 

[Laurasea]

Hi, sorry you both are going through this molting does seem to make parrots that already have started ir have a history of feather destruction worse.

A lot of the feather destruction has its roots in how the baby parrot was raised and weaned. Baby parrots raised by its parents have almost no plucking, parent assisted next best, raised with clutch mates fair better than those pulled and raised by themselves.

Macaws seems to be sold off while still being hand fed, that puts a lot of stress, a lot of stress, on the baby parrot. All of a sudden they have a completely new person being their parrent .....its a shock that can register in adults as behavior disorders..often stunts growth briefly, ( sometimes they can make that up) and leads to delayed weaning...

Offering comfort warm feeding to adult parrort before bed is an idea the article I link finds helpful, it also has ideas for stress reduction .

https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/
Before the next molt I would speak with your vet about mood altering medication, and any proactive ideas.

Its so hard to deal with when it gets established, its a way to self sooths, deal with stress, and not learning proper preening as a baby from role models , and they get addicted to the chemical rush from this behavior. Usually how they were weaned and supported after weaning effects how they deal with stress. These parrots would have an extended support system and spot feeds from the parents well into their first year of life. I've been working on an idea to get information together on weaning and post weaning baby parrots because its such an important time in their life and development and the impacts are felt for the rest if their lives.....

I have a plucker, and I have had to except that st times it stops, but then restart, and that she is still having a happy life. She has poor skills at dealing with stress or change. But what my avain vet suggested to me. Work on confidence building, rituals and soothing techniques, preen toys, and try for a half an hour a day outside, great diets, and misting during molt.....and acceptance that I may never be able to end this, but only limit it....

 

[noodles123]

Hi everyone,

Newbie here. Before I begin I just want to say how grateful I am that you are reading this. I am just about at my wits end with my 4 year old female Hahns Macaw, Ozzy (named before she was sexed!). I adore her - we have a very close bond, and I spare no expense on her despite earning minimum wage! I have know her since she was 4 months old and helped hand raise her. I would love some fresh eyes over a problem that's causing extreme stress in regards to her.

Last August, our dog passed away suddenly getting his teeth cleaned under general anesthetic. 2 days later, Ozzy spent 3 weeks barbering off most of her feathers apart from tail and wing feathers. I took her to the vet, she had a full blood count which all came back perfect apart from slightly low calcium (she now has a supplement in her diet). I was sent away with a calming drug and a pain killer for pin feathers as we wondered if it was stress from moulting as well as the atmosphere in the house. I struggled to medicate her - hated towelling her, so I left it and decided to just see how it goes.

By November all her feathers had grown back, she had bitten off a few of the new ones on her chest but hardly noticeable really. Everything was fine apart from the odd bitten off feather up until March this year. She started pulling out down feathers under her wing and screaming as she did it. She then rolled them up in her beak and spat them out. As she began to moult she began to pull out pin feathers as she was preening, screaming in pain as she does it. This had been going on all through lockdown, and as things eased I decided to take her to the avian vet again. Her faecal test was clear, bloods clear, zinc toxicity clear. My vet asked me to try the medication again. I tried for about a week but didn't notice any difference and felt awful shoving it in her beak, she absolutely hated it.

As the FDB went away last winter, I wondered if it was hormonal, so decided to try a hormonal implant to suppress the stress from her urges that she cannot carry out in her domestic situation. It hasn't made any difference. I have seen a behaviourist who has told me that I am doing everything really well, she has a good set up, I know how to positively reinforce her effectively etc.

When she's busy foraging, she doesn't do it. It's only when she is full and settles down to preen that she eventually finds a pin feather and rips it out, again, screaming in pain each time. She has never pulled out a fully grown feather, only ones just coming through the skin. I don't want to collar her as I believe this will make her more frustrated. I can't keep her busy 24/7, there's always a point in the day where she will search out pins and rip them out, sometimes there's a few tiny specks of blood and clotted holes where the pins would've been.

I adore this bird. I spent all my time reading about parrots, talking to people, and researching the issue as much as I can. I know that FDB does not happen in the wild, and I fully understand she should be mating in the rainforest right now! and I feel infinite guilt for this.

I just want to know if anyone has had a similar situation with pin feathers specifically. She has a good diet, a huge cage, showers with me, explores all areas of the house, loves to forage, loves to fly and do recall, sleeps well, goes out in her back pack etc. She has a UV light on for a few hours a day, a diet of vegetables, nuts and fruits and pellets...

I feel like I have tried everything and still have a parrot who is hurting herself. I am beyond stressed out. Sorry for the long rant

thank you SO much.

It does sound like a coping skill (like a human who cuts)
Did you have the special panels run to check for PBFD and has she had an x-ray? a full panel is great, but PBFD is a separate test and it won't always cause flags on a panel I doubt that is the issue, but just putting it out there.

The loss of your dog likely upset her and made her feel anxious, but hormones on top of something like that can still alter behavior a lot (they mature around 2-3 and those hormones are in overdrive for a while during the "teen years"). Does she have at least 10 hours of sleep per night on a set schedule? When you pet are you touching anywhere other than the head and neck? Does she have access to any shadowy spaces or boxes? No petting anywhere but the head and neck, no access to huts, blankets, tents, under furniture or shadowy spaces...10 hours of sleep nightly on a schedule each night.

How often is she out of her cage daily?
Has your routine changed due to covid because that could also be upsetting her. I went back to work and mine laid her first egg ever despite the fact that I was seeing her less (and I wasn't doing anything to stimulate her--no boxes etc).

 

[Teddscau]

Has the vet checked her skin for yeast?

One (unlikely) possibility is that she could potentially have polyfolliculosis/polyfolliculitis. My girl Trixie has it, which causes her to try to dig deformed feathers out of her skin. It's believed to be caused by a virus that causes the feathers of certain follicles to develop improperly, leading them to coil up beneath the skin or have multiple feathers trying to grow from the same follicle. It's an extremely rare condition that I doubt many vets have heard of, so it might be worth taking note of what areas she tends to pluck, then restraining her to carefully examine those areas to see if there's multiple feathers coming out of the same follicle, or if there's "ingrown" feathers anywhere.

The fact that she's only plucking pin feathers is good. Although it's unfortunate, you might have to put a collar on her for a couple of weeks whenever she has a lot of pin feathers coming in, just to give them an opportunity to develop.

 

[Ozzythemacaw]

Thank you so very much for all of your replies. It is much appreciated. What wrench13 said really made me think, and it does definitely seem like a nervous habit. What’s odd is that she also.. eats them!! I wonder if she also has a nutritional imbalance not picked up on bloods, perhaps lack of protein? I have recently started her on Harrison’s high potency pellets and will see if that makes any difference after a few months. I have been experimenting with different bed times, she plucks a lot of pins if I put her to bed ‘too early’ and can hear us moving around still. She is on her 24th day of pluck no more by kings cages, which I believe has reduced the frequency of the plucking, but we will see. I am not giving up! I just hope this repeated pulling of pins doesn’t damage her feather follicles? Or does that take years?

She still isn’t plucking any normal green feathers. So strange!!

 

[wrench13]

At 4 yrs old, she might just be hitting her first really full head on mating season and its accompanying bucket full of hormones. I'd also read up on the threads here about ways to lessen the effect; 12 hrs sleep, no soft warm mushy foods, no petting except on the head, no dark corners or hidey holes, no beak wrestling, not encouraging butt rubbing, and I;d have her checked for egg binding. When parrots have an internal issue, they dont know what is going on and can sometimes pluck in frustration of the pain or irritation.