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Post by emily8523 on Feb 29, 2024 20:24:37 GMT -5
Hello my Quaker has recently been pulling her wing feathers out now to the point where she can’t even fly I am concerned I brought her to the vet as well. She eats mainly high quality pellets making up 80 percent of her diet the other 10 percent is fruit pellets and the other 10 percent is various seeds nuts oatmeal veggies egg and healthy dinner foods. She has access to a tub of water for baths on top of her house as well. She is very sweet and loves attention and being pet . I have had her 11 years now and she just started pulling out her wing feathers so when she tries to fly to me she will just flap and fall to the floor so I put padding in her cage under newspaper in case she falls . Any info or help would be greatly appreciated
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Post by heatherg on Mar 1, 2024 13:15:38 GMT -5
Pulling flight feathers is very unusual and suggests a health issue. I would take your little girl to the vet before anything else.
Flight feathers are attached into the bone so that’s an extreme behavior. It’s not like a chest or back contour feather that’s just seated in a feather follicle in skin. I would’ve concerned that something is physically wrong which is driving this behavior. I’m not meaning to be alarmist but this shouldn’t be ignored or waited on. Good luck. Please let us know what you hear from the vet.
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Post by emily8523 on Mar 1, 2024 16:31:47 GMT -5
I have brought her to vet they only suggested more humidifier and a pellet based diet or a neck collar
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Post by heatherg on Mar 3, 2024 17:13:56 GMT -5
Did she have any workup? Any blood samples or skin biopsy?
And is she pulling flight feathers (the long long ones attached to bone) or small contour feathers?
If she’s pulling the long flight feathers I’m more concerned.
Otherwise my Quaker will chew his wing contour feathers on his shoulder if he’s anxious or really bored. He usually doesn’t do that.
Have you tried increasing humidity or giving lots of baths? Another option might be giving her lots of sticks and small toys to arrange. Some Quakers need to build or weave, so that’s another thing to try. Willow and also Ralph (I hear) like to pull around those plastic rainbow cage links. My birds have enjoyed arranging chopsticks or coffee stirrers, or toys involving shoelaces covered with beads. Maybe she just needs this Quaker-specific work to do.
It’s important to know if she’s pulling her flight feathers or smaller contour feathers. Please check!
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Post by emily8523 on Mar 3, 2024 21:02:00 GMT -5
Yes it is flight feathers long green feathers and the medium size blue feathers but yes they are flights. She has in the past pulled out her small feathers and left a bald spot on her chest it has grown back since then though and the problem stopped . This was 5 years back . But now she started up again. Yes i have started using a humidifier and have fresh water bath out daily for her to use she uses it twice a week usually when she wants to and i also spray her sometimes but she dosent like being sprayed so i tend not to.
I have used alot of incents and candles before which in my mind may have contributed . I have got rid of all inscents and fragrences after learning it’s not good for them .
I will try giving sticks and the such as well. But as far as toys she has a very big enclosure 4 foot by 4 foot and has alot of hanging toys in it
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Post by heatherg on Mar 4, 2024 17:46:17 GMT -5
There’s a possibility that her plucking has just become a habit. But pulling flight feathers is pretty strange. On my green and blue Quaker, both had dark blue flight feathers maybe 3-5 inches long.
It sounds like she’s had a plucking issue for a long time.
I would work in eliminating stressors from her environment, and yes, a collar might be an option. But I wish she’d had a blood workup too.
Sometimes psychiatric meds help with feather pulling; I don’t know if you’re at that point yet.
Poor girl. It’s a hard habit to break. Good on you for getting irritating fragrances out of your house.
Ralph’s dad, what do you think?
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Post by cnyguy on Mar 4, 2024 20:14:29 GMT -5
It is unusual for a parrot to pull out flight feathers. If physical causes have been eliminated, it may be a nervous habit. That was the case with my Grey, Scooter, who had been pulling out breast and tail feathers for almost her entire life. Veterinarians couldn't find any underlying medical issues. It was recommended that I try a product called Avi-Calm, but that was no help at all. I tried offering more baths, but Scooter hated getting misted, and would move away from the spray of water. I tried chamomile tea and that didn't help much. I tried full spectrum lighting and that did no good either. I gave her new and different things to keep her busy, but she was either afraid of them or just not interested. Other people have had better results with these things than I did. Feather pulling unfortunately is a problem without a definitive solution.
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