-=> Quoting Kathy Johnson to Kandy Dietrich <=-
 KJ> Feather picking is a VERY complex problem, which can be caused by
 KJ> anything from allergies to sexual hormones, to behavior problems, to
 KJ> the bird simply not liking its owners. The FIRST thing you have to do
 KJ> is take your bird to a qualified, knowledgeable avian (bird) vet, and
 KJ> have a total physical exam done, complete with blood work, fecal exam
 KJ> and cultures. You have to rule out physical causes before you can try
 KJ> any other attempts at 'curing' the bird.
 KJ> Has she had a thorough physical exam within the last couple months?
 KJ> If not, start there. In the meantime, you can try some distraction
 KJ> toys.
 KJ> Get her some wooden toys that she can chew up, give her a clean
 KJ> (unused) corn husk whiskbroom to preen, clean safe wood branches that
 KJ> she can peel the bark off of, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies to
 KJ> destroy (even if she doesn't eat them). Giving a feather plucker
 KJ> textured items to chew on *may* help keep it from going after the
 KJ> feathers.
 KJ> If you don't know of a good place to get bird toys, a local friend of
 KJ> mine has an EXCELLENT line of toys, many of which are designed just
 KJ> for feather pluckers. Call Avian Antics at (313) 782-5270 to request a
 KJ> catalog.
 KJ> Once she's had that physical exam, let me know what the vet says. I
 KJ> can probably suggest other things to try after that. Good luck with
 KJ> her!
Hi Kathy. I had to find another BBS to pull this echo from, as the one
I was using moved into a different area code without me knowing about
it. It took me 3 weeks to find out what was going on and ask another
 BBS sysop to pick this up for me.
Your advice seems to go along with what I've been reading about
feather-plucking being mostly a sign of bordom and a need to be chewing
and destroying stuff...a natural need for most parrots, it seems! I
think took, that perhaps more social attention could be paid to the
bird. It could be that the poor thing simply needs his owner to play
with him more out of the cage and let him "hang around" with the owner
for a significant period of time every day.
C ya!
... "Cat BBQ? Sure! Save me a leg..."
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