Quaker plucking please help

[Skitizer]

My quaker is plucking his feathers. He has been doing this for almost a year and he's 5 now. I've owned him for 3 years. His whole chest and only his chest is bare and I'm really worried. I miss his beautiful fluffy chest feathers. I have tried that sock vest for plucking on him and he hates it. I don't know what to do and I want him to stop. I have school and I'm gone from 7am to 3pm and I spend at least an hour with him almost everyday. No one touches him or talks to him until I get home because he hates everyone in my house (and everyone is at school or work) PLEASE HELP

 

[mrgoogls]

Hi, sorry to hear about your bird's plucking. Being at school should be fine. Most people who have birds either have work or school(or both) and it usually isn't an issue. You can work around that. But, if nobody is around during that time, maybe leave the TV or radio on for him. It can help just by having some noise for stimulation. Also, make sure he has a nice variety of toys and he eats a good diet. I don't have any personal experience with a plucking bird so I can't help much more, but there are plenty of others that will hopefully chime in soon! Good luck!

 

[Allee]

Hello, I'm sorry your little quaker is plucking. A good place to start is a vet visit to rule out medical reasons for his plucking. Diet could be a factor, an organic pellet based diet seems to help. Aloe baths are helpful too. If he isn't in a large cage already I would consider getting him one with a lot of foraging toys.

 

[MonicaMc]

You need to first rule out medical issues.... which can be expensive.

He needs blood work, fecal and crap swabs, X-Rays, skin scrapings, maybe testing the feathers, check for heart problems, check for metal toxicity, etc.


Once you rule out medical issues for plucking, *then* you can try behavior modifications.

 

[TeenageBirdMom]

My eclectus has the same problem and I know that once they start it is almost impossible to have them stop. My advice, from what I have done to help my Ekkie grow at least his down feathers back was lots of stimulation. A sock will usually only agitate him more (mine hates the sock too). It is usually a behavior rather than medical issue (although he should still see a vet). To help distract mine from the behavior I have given him LOTS of toys and LOTS of fruits and veggies to keep him busy and happy. He is also ALWAYS out of his cage when I am home. An hour of attention for a bird, who is nearly as intelligent or twice as intelligent as primate and just as social needs to be out far more than an hour. Remember, birds are highly social flock animals and need to have interaction with you if they do not have other birds of the same species to keep them company. So, what I've done to help my plucker is:
Lots of toys, keep some light music on while your gone, LOTS of fruits of veggies (make sure you know what they can and can't have, ex. avacado and other common foods are toxic), make sure the room is bright and lively, and most importantly, LOTS OF ATTENTION. Good luck! It is very hard to stop a plucker from plucking but it is possible!