Parrot Feather Plucking | Causes & Solutions | TheParrotTeacher

[@BirdNerdSophie]

Plucking is so complex, but I'm really glad that we worked through it with Kip :)

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Same! So glad he doesn’t do it now!

[@orianafisher3960]

Thanks David, thank goodness I have never had this issue with any of my birds, but I now feel more equipped to deal with it! 😊

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It can be really stressful for both bird and owner!

[@trevenkrenzke7569]

Underrated channel. Man doesnt have any gimmicks and just tells you straight. I bet if you had a few target training videos and techniques in action, your views would increase

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Thank you! I do have a few videos like that but sadly the training videos actually get the lowest views! Most of the content on KZbin that seems to get pushed is the click Baitey stuff!

[@BartTheBardOfficial]

I've been struggling with healing a rescue cockatiel. I've done hours of research online (besides going to the vet, of course) and discovered that most of the problems are very often traced back to Vitamine A deficiency... People should know about this much more. Vit A is so important. You can prevent a lot of troubles if you get your tiels to eat carrots and pumpkins!

[@TheParrotTeacher]

So vitamin deficiencies can be a cause, but there's also many other potential issues that can be a trigger or problem. It's best to approach it holistically and analytically.

[@BartTheBardOfficial]

@@TheParrotTeacher he was neglected and for months on a seed of just millet and sunflowers. He had a very thin layer of feathers in a poor condition when he arrived. We have been nourishing him ever since he arrived and his 'fur' has steadily grown thicker. He's now on antibiotics for 10 days (at day 3 now), because they found bacteria in his droppings. We hope it helps!

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It sounds like you’re doing everything you can for him!

[@ginatruiolo]

For me personally with my little gcc Squirt, her out of the blue feather plucking was her SOS to me because her body was changing and she didn't know how to handle it, she was physically showing me there was something wrong with her.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It’s true! It can be a sign of hormonal changes or all sorts and something we can act on to improve !

[@invadertifxiii]

Thank u for clarification on the difference

[@TheParrotTeacher]

No worries!

[@Bepo-dabirdie]

I dont know if my green cheek is plucking but I’m worried because he is losing a lot of feathers when preening :(

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Its also possible hes moulting. If he isnt actively damaging feathers and they are just coming out and being replaced its fine! If he is pulling them out and theres an audiable noise or its hurting him, or hes leaving big bald patches that could be plucking!

[@yesidtac7863]

Muy bien bro

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Thank you!

[@18elusive]

Thank you!

[@TheParrotTeacher]

You're welcome!

[@harlemscarlet]

My 1.5 year old Green Cheek got her wins clipped for the first time about 4 days ago and she’s now plucking as a result. How can I stop the plucking?

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Forgive me for being harsh initially, but don’t clip her wings? It so many more problems than it solves. Regarding how to solve it it’d be about reducing her stress, working through any issues the clip has caused and restoring her trust. All of these will be tough sells.

[@lovenike8284]

Would you recommend those feather plucking collars?

[@TheParrotTeacher]

I would not I’m afraid! They don’t solve the problem!

[@hockeynmma1992]

I’m about to get a green cheek conure in the next couple weeks. I’ve been waiting years doing research. It’s been a toss up of a hahns macaw and a green cheek. But I I found a person who hand raises baby green cheeks not to far from me.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

They are very cute little birdies! I have lots of videos about them!

[@sharylharris2372]

David what was the green mixture you were feeding in the cup?

[@TheParrotTeacher]

That was avian tea! The particular blend in that photo was from Pollys natural parrot boutique! I have a video on avian teas on the channel!

[@sharylharris2372]

Thank you I will check it out. My Pineapple GCC and I love your videos he especially loves hearing the others as he doesn't have a met yet but I am hoping to remedy that soon.

[@garzoroberto7623]

Hi Pet Parrot Lovers, Our male Eclectus (Mambo) has been living with us for 20 years now (Australia). We hope this feedback "Comment" helps other pet parrot owners, as this is why and how we have had no difficulty with Mambo 🦜plucking his feathers: 1) Early in Mambo being our young, hand-raised, tame pet parrot family member we noticed that Mambo would intentionally bath itself when given its morning fresh clean drinking water 💦 (fresh water also given late afternoon before his tea), but he would choose to bathe himself only once weekly, and would also get our attention too! 2) We early read that the Eclectus parrots' original natural habitat is the Tropical Rain Forests of North Queensland and the Tropical Highland Rainforests of PNG (Papua New Guinea), & some of the tropical Pacific Islands. That’s when we thought that they would live with showers of rain 🌧 in their original tropical rainforest habitat, and we put this together with Eclectus’s also being a very high DANDER bird that Mambo would probably enjoy, at his chosen time to bath, with us also giving him a gentle shower spray with an indoor pot plants water 💦 spray bottle, set to the widest lightest water spray setting. Well yes indeed! Mambo LOVES his weekly bath 🛁 plus light water-spray shower all over and under his body -- he even spreads his wings wide so we can spray under both his wings and both sides of his chest. Mambo lets us know when he's had enough of the water spray by. heading to his roosting-nightly high sleeping perch. Mambo prefers this weekly wash in the morning, and he happily chats away after his bath and water spray. So pet parrot lovers, our take on why Eclectus parrots 🦜 (& some other parrots too!) have a reputation for being feather-pluckers is NOT necessarily a nervousness condition, nor consequent to a health issue or boredom either, but rather with their high dander skin-replacing body, the build-up of dander becomes irritating to them. Thus the scratching and pecking at their irritated skin (with feathers coming out while trying to relieve themselves of the dander skin irritation) is why parrots understandably scratch & peck their skin. I would be scratching my skin too if I didn't shower regularly, and I don't even have a high-dander skin!🤗 And yes, the stress-factor to the parrot with the DANDER irritation can understandably impact their general health and wellbeing, and happiness! This DANDER skin irritation probably adds to bad behaviour, like screeching, etcetera. We have 3 pet parrots, and they have never had the problem of plucking feathers. They all live indoors in our home with us to keep them safe from outside predators (snakes, rats, and predatory birds - e.g. Butcher Birds, Magpies). I have had pet birds most of my 70 year life - and approximately 100 racing pigeons as a young teenager and belonged in the latter 1960’s to the Brisbane QLD Racing Pigeon Federation (the best I got was a 3rd place 🥉 in a long distance pigeon race back to their loved home lofts -- birds love an easy resort-lifestyle and security). Enjoy wonderful pet birds, as they love human company too! Cheers, Garzo 🎶🦜 - see in the KZbin Channel “ILLUSTRA MEDIA” documentary entitled “FLIGHT: The Genius of Birds” Trailer on KZbin, and with a Google search, the complete documentary is available for purchase on DVD 📀, it’s an awesome documentary. Enjoy 😃

[@TheParrotTeacher]

While some of this is true one of the biggest reasons behind plucking with Eclectus parrots is diet related! Thanks for sharing!

[@samshadvhora]

i have a cockatiel baby bird it lives in a colony with 2 other baby cockatiels and two parents it is plucking its feathers and taking out blood. i can surely say that we give him a proper diet and there is no fear or stress please help

[@TheParrotTeacher]

The first thing to eliminate is medical causes or if any other bird is causing it! Sadly plucking is a really complex issue and a bit much to advise on in a comment with limited info!

[@samshadvhora]

👍

[@heathersault5006]

How old are conures when they have their first moult?

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It varies from bird to bird! Some can take ages to have theirs!

[@heathersault5006]

@TheParrotTeacher thank you, my 3 month old gcc has been losing lots of small feathers, she's doing a lot of preening and now has bald patches

[@TheParrotTeacher]

So generally they shouldn’t have bald patches but it’s tough to tell. I’d observe her closely and see what happens and if any new feathers are growing in

[@heathersault5006]

@TheParrotTeacher thank you, I can't see skin, just the white feather underdown, the ones with colour are the ones missing, I've just posted a photo on purely parrots Facebook to see if anyone has had this happen

[@TheParrotTeacher]

It’s unlikely to be anything but do keep an eye out!

[@oraliarodriguez130]

Avian tea? Is that what you said? Ty

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Yup! It’s very useful for many things!!

[@enes6349]

Better make sure my future birds dont pluck with watching this vid right now.

[@TheParrotTeacher]

Hope it’s useful!