I have a one year old grey quaker. He was perfectly fine except the breeder sold him to me with chamydia.. which was medicated. I moved back in April and the movers were delayed so he was stuck in a small cage til they arrived and he started barbing his feathers. Now it’s plucking. He plucked under his wings badly and then he let it pin feather. Then he did his chest and repeat.. then his legs.. now his upper chest. So he is covered in pin feathers. He’s on bird hemp, avicalm, featherup and was on chamomile but not anymore. I took him to the vet and they gave him parasite and mite cream and anti inflammatories. They’re not working. I’m waiting for an avian light to come in, nothing else has been working. The vet wants to test him for feather wasting disease and X-rays and I think that’s all a waste. He wasn’t doing anything before I moved. I moved in April. Now he’s twitching a wing and raising both and just acting weird and nothing I’m doing is working. He does this when I’m in the room and when I’m not. I thought maybe if I got him a friend it would be better but I don’t think that will work either. I don’t know what to do I’ve tried everything. I couldn’t link a video here so here’s my Google drive with it and how he’s acting. I’m so stressed over this I don’t know how to fix this any parrot I had before didn’t do this.
drive.google.com
I am very sorry to hear about your Quaker. Feather destruction is a very frustrating thing to handle. I have an Ekkie who I adopted that does this. I adopted him over a year ago, and I was informed from the shelter I got him from that he has been doing this for years.
1. A vet is very important as they can test your quaker, and do a process of elimination to make sure there isn't something major going on. Nico my Ekkie was diagnosed with bornavirus. PDD is nasty, and is a wasting disease. If your parrot tested positive for this you'd want to know as your quaker is going to need supportive care. This is a very very nasty disease. There are medications that can help with pain, and things as well.
2. Once the process of elimination is made, and if your vet comes to the determination that there is no physical cause to feather destruction... you'll know its behavioral. Behavioral will happen even with a physical cause. Physical, or emotional will become hibitual if this has gone on for awhile. This is where the frustrating part comes in. There is no "quick fix' to a behavioral issue.
3. If it has became a hibitual problem at this point you are going to be joining the rest of us with this problem. It's a very frustrating problem. I do try to distract Nico by training him, getting him to play with toys, foraging, and so on. I myself although others will strongly disagree collar Nico at night when he is in his cage supposed to be sleeping. Nico self mutilates, and with his comorbidities I don't want him getting an infection. Collaring Nico has helped significantly. I haven't had him destroy his feathers to the extent that he did before (horrifying scene).
4. Diet... I am not sure what you feed your quaker, but diet is so important in parrots in general. Just review your quakers diet, and see if there are any changes that can be made.
5. Enviornment... Checking to make sure your parrot isn't scare of something in his enviornment. Something as simple as moving a vacuum can calm down behaviors. Trying to figure out what is bothering your parrot to the extent of feather destruction can be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. Random objects, or colors can be offensive to your parrot.
I hope something in here helps you. I am sorry you are going through this process. I hope your quacker starts to feel better.
