BIRDS FEATHERS PLS HELP

faran

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Jul 28, 2022
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Hi
I'm new in this forum
I have nearly 2 year old parrot . she is cinnamon.
she grows small and low quality flying feather with different colors. she doesn't let them grow completely and pick them out. she just pick out the wing and tail feathers.
what should I do!???
she is happy and active, she is interested in seeds and does not like fruits , eggs and vegetables.
please let me know what should I do.
thanks
 

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HeatherG

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Hi Faran, what kind of parrot do you have? Conure, cockatiel, Quaker Parakeet, Amazon, Ringneck, Senegal for example?

When did she start plucking her feathers?

Is she only plucking wing and tail feathers? Thatā€™s strange.

Please answer so someone can advise you.
 
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faran

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thanks for your reply
she is cockatiel and she is plucking her only tail and wing feathers for about 6 mounts, she tries to pick the dark feathers.
 

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HeatherG

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Hi Faran,

Plucking wing and tail feathers is pretty unusual. Iā€™m wondering if your bird could have a skin infection. Can you take her to a bird veterinarian?

Iā€™m trying to look at your photo more closely. Can you tell if your bird is pulling out the whole feather or biting part of it off?

She is certainly a beautiful hen! Iā€™m sorry you are having this problem.

I flagged two people who might know more about your birdā€™s problem.
 

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thanks for your reply
she is cockatiel and she is plucking her only tail and wing feathers for about 6 mounts, she tries to pick the dark feathers.
What is her diet? Had there been any sudden environmental changes? What's the climate like?
 

HeatherG

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It looks like she is biting the ends of the feathers off. I think thatā€™s a bit better than pulling them out. But Pipp asks some good questions. Did anything change or something new or bad happen when she started to do this?
 
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faran

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thanks for your all considerations.
In my opinion she is biting them and then cut them. the strange thing is that the new feathers are darker. she bites them!!!
1 year ago she injured her leg but she over come this issue in 10 days.
how can I cure the skin infection, unfortunately I went to pet shops they couldn't help me!
 

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HeatherG

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I am sorry. I thought she must have an infection when I thought she was pulling out those important wing and tail feathers. Now that I see sheā€™s biting them off, I am not sure whatā€™s going on.

I wonder if her leg hurts her? Or I wonder if this feather biting is a bad habit she learned when she didnā€™t feel good? Anyhow is there an avian vet you can take her to? She may be biting off her feathers because her leg hurts. Could that be the case?

Also your bird needs to have baths or showers often. She needs to have a diet of seeds and vegetables and maybe some pellets. She needs toys to play with and chew on so she doesnā€™t chew her feathers.

Do you live somewhere you can take her to a veterinarian who can check your bird?
 

HeatherG

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Itā€™s possible that your bird could be chewing her feathers because her leg still hurts, or that it was a bad habit she learned to do when her leg hurt. Is there any way you can take her to a veterinarian and have them check out her leg, her feathers, and her general health?

I am glad she is not pulling out her feathers on her wings and tail. That sounded alarming. That would suggest a bigger problem. Biting them off is not quite as bad. It may just be a bad habit.
 

Terry57

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Hawkhead(Darwin),YCA(Dexter),VE (Ekko),OWA(Slater),BHP(Talli),DYH(Calypso),RLA(Kimera),Alex(Xander)CBC(Phoe),IRN (Kodee,Luna,Stevie),WCP (Pisces),CAG(Justice)GCC (Jax), GSC2(Charley)
It does look like she is barbering her feathers, and a lot of pluckers start that way.
I would also suggest getting her to a vet to rule out any medical issues. Until then, make sure you mist her often, water can help with itchy new feathers. I would also suggest having lots of preening toys available to her. The longer that barbering goes on, the harder it is to stop.
Barbering or plucking wing and tail feathers isn't unusual at all. I have several pluckers & barberers who pluck extensively from those two areas. I just don't want you to be worried that this is uncommon, because it truly isn't.
It does need attention, though, and the first step is an Avian vet.
We have a list of vets around the world, hopefully we have one listed from where you live.
Avian Vet Resources

I hope you are able to get to the bottom of it:)
 
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faran

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thanks a lot
no she is now happy and healthy she goes up and down the cage ( I don't keep her inside the cage, actually she has tree branches and sit on top of the cage whole day). she walks without problem. even she tries to jump short steps.
she has sea sells, pine fruit and breads and some strings as toys. I would be glad if you can suggest me some thing as toy.
she is not a lone I have brought her a friend. another male cockatiel.
she does not like bathing but I try to do it once a week.
unfortunately I couldn't take her to vet she had one online appointment which was not helpful.
 

Terry57

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Hawkhead(Darwin),YCA(Dexter),VE (Ekko),OWA(Slater),BHP(Talli),DYH(Calypso),RLA(Kimera),Alex(Xander)CBC(Phoe),IRN (Kodee,Luna,Stevie),WCP (Pisces),CAG(Justice)GCC (Jax), GSC2(Charley)
I use unwaxed cupcake holders a lot, it's easy to create a simple toy from those and my tiel loves them. The ones in the picture are attached by sisal rope to an unused cardboard food container. I also used beads, paper straws and balsa letters.

toy1sm.jpg


I also use plain white paper that I dye with food colouring by just splattering a little food safe food colouring on them.
I used sisal rope (that has not been treated with anything, you can tell by the smell) and beads I got from a crafts store. Just don't get beads with glitter or anything added to them. This also has a couple of small pieces of cardboard in the centre and some paper shred.

toy3sm.jpg


This one has cardboard, sisal rope, plastic straws, beads and cardboard slices I wrapped like candy in cupcake holders.

toy2sm.jpg


What kind of strings are you using?

Are you sure there are no vets anywhere near you? I do think that a vet visit would still be best if at all possible.
I would also up the bathing to twice a week, will she take a bath if you place a small dish of water in her cage?
 
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faran

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thanks for your suggestions.
unfortunately she doesn't bath I need to spray water.
I'm grateful to get your advice
best regards
 

Terry57

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Hawkhead(Darwin),YCA(Dexter),VE (Ekko),OWA(Slater),BHP(Talli),DYH(Calypso),RLA(Kimera),Alex(Xander)CBC(Phoe),IRN (Kodee,Luna,Stevie),WCP (Pisces),CAG(Justice)GCC (Jax), GSC2(Charley)
thanks for your suggestions.
unfortunately she doesn't bath I need to spray water.
I'm grateful to get your advice
best regards
You're very welcome, anytime:)
 

HeatherG

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Apr 25, 2020
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My apologies; from reading the first post it sounded like this bird was plucking out primary and growing wing and tail feathers. That seemed concerning. (ā€œflying featherā€)( ā€œshe doesnā€™t let them grow in completely but picks them outā€; ā€œshe just pick out the wing and tail feathersā€)

I looked at the photo closely and the feathers appeared barbered and not bloody. So I revised my note to the owner, but still did not know much about the birds situation.
 

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