Liz Wilson tells us more about feather plucking.

Q: My bird is a feather plucker. He’s been to the vet a couple of times, but no medical condition was found. We’ve tried med­ications and topical sprays, but nothing seems to work. He’s worn a collar for a few months now and his behaviour has changed dramatically. He doesn’t talk nearly as much as he used to and doesn’t play with his toys at all. Help!

A: Due to the complexity of this subject and the brevity of my column, I will address the subject in a two-part series. This column focuses on the environ­mental stressors that can contribute to feather destructive behaviours [FDB] or feather plucking. My next column will be dedicated to psychological stressors attrib­uted to feather destructive behaviours.

FBD

As always with FDB, make sure your avian veterinarian has done a full medical workup before you make the assumption of a “behavioural” origin to feather damaging. Many experienced avian veterinarians con­sider medical and management problems the most likely causes of this behaviour, but there are also vets who automatically assume a FDB bird is “neurotic” or “bored.”

Such veterinarians are less likely to do a complete workup and, as avian veterinari­an Joel Bloomberg often said, “If you don’t look, you won’t find.” Indeed, experienced Parrot behaviour consultants often refuse to work with a FDB case until a full medical work-up is performed.

Feather destruction is a symptom of a problem; or in veterinary parlance, a clini­cal sign. It is not the problem itself; instead it is a response to some type of stress. Once the stress of a medical prob­lem is ruled out, experienced Parrot behaviour consultants then look for stressors in a FDB Parrot’s environment. In no particular order, environmental stressors include:

SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Many Parrots appear to need more sleep than they are getting in the human habitat. Americans are often sleep deprived and if our Parrots are keeping us company, they are likely sleep deprived as well. Offering a sleep cage in a room unoccupied by people at night can help this problem. Allowing for individual needs, many Parrots thrive with 10 to 12 hours of sleep, with eight hours the absolute minimum.

MALNUTRITION

I cheerfully drive my clients crazy regarding their birds’ diet. I am not interested in what they feed; I am only interested in what the bird eats. According to many avian veterinarians, the generic Parrot (a.k.a., not specialized feed­ers like Hyacinth Macaws and Lories) should consume approximately 50- to 60-percent pellets and/or formulated diet, 25- to 35­percent high-nutrition vegetables, with the last 10 to 15 percent composed of small amounts of high-nutrition fruits, nuts, seeds and animal protein. Incredibly, mal­nutrition is still the No. 1 cause of illness in companion birds and definitely con­tributes to FDB as well.

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IMPROPER CAGING

Cages that are too small stress Parrots, as does the lack of exercise and play that adequate-sized cages encourage. Another stressor is cage location. A recent study revealed that Parrots are more prone to FDB if their cages are alongside a wall with a door, constantly startled by people appearing abruptly. Many birds are also stressed when they are placed in front of a window with no hiding place.

Get the right cage for your Parrot here.

INADEQUATE BATHING

Rainforest species come from a high humidity envi­ronment, and the dryness of our homes is not good for their feathers. Bathing is an important part of grooming and most birds should bathe at least once a week, year round.

PROXIMITY TO PREDATORY PETS AND CHILDREN

Whether cage bars pro­tect birds or not (and they often don’t), it cannot be relaxing for them to be con­stantly under the eye of a hungry cat or dog. One client’s bird ceased FDB when the family cat was no longer allowed to sleep on the top of the bird’s cage. Another stopped when her cage was raised above nose level of the family’s two 120-pound Rottweilers. The same applies to high-ener­gy children, as many Parrots live in con­stant fear of them. How is a Parrot to know they mean no harm?

TOXICITIES IN THE HOME

Toxins abound in the modern household, but one of the most common is cigarette smoke. Smokers should take their habit outside. In addition, they should wash their hands and change their clothes prior to handling a bird. Many birds seem extremely allergic to the tars and nico­tine they might pick up from smoky hands and clothing.

TENSION IN THE HOME

Tension in the human household definitely con­tributes to stress for a companion bird. Birds are extremely empathic and adept at reading our body language, so they always know when we are upset. Anxiety is unavoidable at times, but if owners quietly explain the situation to their birds, their stress is often reduced. Who knows how much they actually understand? Also, mak­ing certain the bird gets just five to 10 minutes a day of direct, calm attention from its favourite person can also help tremendously during high-stress periods.

Lastly is the issue of habituation. The precipitating reason for FDB might resolve, but a habit may be formed that becomes a self-comforting behaviour, rather like chew­ing one’s fingernails.

You said medications and topical sprays have not helped. This is logical, since such things often don’t address the reason why the behaviour exists. For instance, no amount of topical sprays will help if the family dog is terrorizing a bird. Additionally, there is no magic pill that will fix everything, despite the pharmaceutical ads on TV.

Behaviour

You mentioned that your bird’s behav­iour changed dramatically when he was collared, and he no longer talks and plays like before. This isn’t surprising when you consider he is like a small child wearing a straitjacket. I dislike using collars with FDB and, in 20 years of working with avian veterinarians, I have rarely found them effective. After all, if a bird damages feathers due to stress caused by a medical, metabolic, manage­ment or psychological problem, it makes no sense that stressing it with a collar will help matters.

My next column addresses the psy­chological stressors associated with feather destructive behaviour; stay tuned! Read it here.

Please click here for products that can help prevent feather plucking.