MR>Does anyone own a Conure?  I have a few questions about my conure, and his
MR>habit of plucking his own feathers.  Is there a MAGIC POTION that I can
MR>spray on him so it will make FEATHER PLUCKING undesirable?
Welcome to Parrots! I'm the missing moderator.
Sorry I'm late getting in on this one. I've had 7 years of experience
with a feather plucking conure. I can (and will) probably tell you more
than you wanted to know!  Read on...
There is NO magic potion, unfortunately. Feather picking sprays tend to
just make the birds wet, nothing more...
Be warned now--stopping plucking has been an elusive goal thus far. Most
birds who start, never stop again. Nobody has come up with a "cure" for
plucking that works across the board. Be prepared to adjust your goal to
that of having a healthy, naked bird, just in case!
You've already gotten some good advice out here. Start with a THOROUGH
vet exam, including blood work and cultures. Many medical problems can
cause a bird to pluck--not just parasites. If he has an itch, an
infection or an internal pain, any one of those could cause him to chew
at his feathers trying to find the cause of the irritation.
Once the vet has determined that your bird is totally healthy, examine
the bird's diet. Conures (and ALL parrots) need a WIDE variety of
foods--fruits, veggies, protein sources (cheese, boiled eggs, cooked
low-fat meats like chicken, beans), pasta, rice, corn bread, a source
of calcium (a cuttlebone or mineral block) and constant fresh water. If
he's lacking in the proper vitamins & minerals in his diet, that can
also contribute to plucking.
If his diet is already top-notch, THEN you must consider it to be a
mental problem.  In most cases, despite what you hear, it's NOT
breeding season frustration. I have a feather-plucking jenday conure.
She's been at it for almost 7 years now. Two vets told me to get
her a mate. I did not do so immediately. After 3 1/2 years of plucking,
she laid some eggs. Then we got her a mate. They have raised several
clutches of babies in the past 3 years. She still plucks...
Birds pluck because they're nervous, bored, scared, because somebody
changed the color of the walls of their room, because they don't like
the view out the window...you get the idea. There are as many reasons
for plucking as there are birds that pluck.
First off, NEVER give your bird any attention WHILE it's plucking. If
you do, this reinforces the behavior, and the bird will continue to
pluck. If you see your bird plucking, LEAVE THE ROOM IMMEDIATELY. Don't
say a word--just leave. Try to set up mirrors so you can see the bird
before you enter the room--if he's plucking, don't go in. Mildly
startle him from outside first (whistle or clap), so he's not actively
grabbing feathers when you enter the room. This reinforces that you'll
appear when he's NOT plucking himself!
If you recently changed something, and the bird started to pluck soon
after, try putting things back the way they were and see if that helps.
This is the simplest possible solution.
You can try an Elizabethan collar on the bird, but I've never met anyone
who had good results from them--they make the birds MORE neurotic, and
the birds have always returned to plucking as soon as the collar was
removed. You can also try various drugs--but be warned, none of them
have been tested for long-term results in birds, so they may have
hazardous side effects that the vet didn't anticipate.
Many people have had good luck with distracting the birds, or keeping
them busy. You can try distraction items--offer the bird things that
FEEL GOOD to chew on, and hope that these work to keep the beak off the
feathers. You can try: clean, non-toxic wood tree branches with the bark
attached Apple trees are a safe bet, as long as they haven't been
sprayed with pesticides. Wash the branches with hot water and a scrub
brush, then bake them at 300F for half an hour to kill any bugs living
in them.
You can offer the bird a clean, brand-new corn-husk whiskbroom to chew
on--just stick the tips through the cage bars from the outside so he
can't get to the metal or thread parts. You can make a cheap toy by
cutting a square out of the side of a clean plastic milk jug, fringing
one side with scissors (make it look like a comb with long teeth), and
hang it from the cage bars.
You can purchase ready-made bird toys specially designed for feather
pluckers--"Avian Antics" carries a great line of plucker toys--(313)
782-5270. The "Polly Dolly" toy advertised in The Pet Bird Report is
another good texture toy for pluckers.
You can try TV or radio in the room where the bird lives--sometimes
having something to look at or listen to helps comfort them.
If none of this works, and the bird STILL plucks, you've about reached
the end of the line.
If you've reached this point, you have two basic choices:
you can spend tons of money and time trying to figure out WHY the bird
is plucking and do something about it, or you can resign yourself to the
fact that the bird is plucking itself.
In truth, other than the fact that it's unsightly, if the bird is not
HURTING itself (if it is not creating wounds on it's skin), plucking is
a harmless activity, similar to fingernail chewing in humans. There is
no reason you should love your bird less for being naked!
This is too long--better stop before it gets truncated. If you have
questions, feel free to ask!!
--Kathy
 * SLMR 2.1a * I xeroxed a mirror. Now I have an extra xerox machine.
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