Feather Plucking In Blue And Gold Macaws
If you have a Blue And Gold Macaw with a feather
plucking problem... I know how you feel.
It's painful to look at a Macaw that could be so
beautiful, if he'd just stop plucking his feathers.
That plucked chest, legs & wing tips are a contant
reminder of the bad shape your Blue and Gold is
really in.
That's why I recently hunted down one of the leading
experts in Feather Plucking and grilled her for
over an hour, on how to cure Feather Plucking in
Blue and Gold Macaws.
I'll admit... I'm not an expert in dealing with
Pluckers, and I was shocked at how complicated
feather plucking can really be.
It could be your Blue and Gold's diet, it could be
air quality in your home, it could be a medical
condtion etc.
There's no ONE solution that can fix feather plucking.
The only thing you can do to make sure your Blue and
Gold macaw doesn't keep plucking his feathers is to
act fast! Every day you wait to get him help, is
making it that much harder to stop his feather
plucking.
It's a habit that's hard to beat.
If you'd like access to my interview on "How to Stop
Feather Plucking" you can find more details here.
plucking problem... I know how you feel.
It's painful to look at a Macaw that could be so
beautiful, if he'd just stop plucking his feathers.
That plucked chest, legs & wing tips are a contant
reminder of the bad shape your Blue and Gold is
really in.
That's why I recently hunted down one of the leading
experts in Feather Plucking and grilled her for
over an hour, on how to cure Feather Plucking in
Blue and Gold Macaws.
I'll admit... I'm not an expert in dealing with
Pluckers, and I was shocked at how complicated
feather plucking can really be.
It could be your Blue and Gold's diet, it could be
air quality in your home, it could be a medical
condtion etc.
There's no ONE solution that can fix feather plucking.
The only thing you can do to make sure your Blue and
Gold macaw doesn't keep plucking his feathers is to
act fast! Every day you wait to get him help, is
making it that much harder to stop his feather
plucking.
It's a habit that's hard to beat.
If you'd like access to my interview on "How to Stop
Feather Plucking" you can find more details here.
posted by Chet Womach at
10:55 AM
5 Comments:
I have a strong hunch that plucking has a single cause, albeit a broad one: stress. Parrots are so adaptable in many ways that I think we may assume that they are simply tough across the board--and some of them are. Birds are afraid to display any weakness and can sometimes conceal the effects of even the major stressors (such as neglect, boredom, lack of exercise, bad sleep schedules, and low humidity) until a lot of harm has been done. A bird who "suddenly" begins to pluck may not even be reacting to a recent change. There are also plenty of birds who will be stressed by what seem to be quite small changes or sensory stimuli. There is no substitute for knowing your birds well enough to spot stress even when they are trying to put up a brave front.
The habit of plucking absolutely can be broken when the stress is resolved. We have seen this with two macaws whom we adopted after they had been breeders for a time--four years in one case, ten in the other. Both plucked while they were breeders but have not displayed any feather- or skin-destructive behavior since we have had them, as long as we maintain the humidity. Many follicles had been killed by repeated plucking but one bird has regrown a good many feathers on her chest.
By
Frank Wilhoit, at 7:58 PM
We had an issue with our caique overpreening. He never plucked, but started to look bad because he would preen his chest and leg feathers to small V's.
The vet recommended that we encourage foraging behavior. Birds in the wild spend their day looking for food, looking for a mate and building shelter. Since our bird didn't have to worry about food or shelter and there is little chance of a mate he was spending most of his day preening (despite our efforts to change out toys and offering a lot of items to shred).
Now, we put his food in four or five spots in his cage. We hide the food by stuffing paper on top of it, putting it in toys he has to chew through to get to the food, or in toys that have tops or lids he has to figure out. This has worked great for us. He looks great and he is leaving his new feathers alone. Foraging really gives him something to do while we are at work
By
stacey, at 8:28 PM
I have a product idea that may help reduce feather plucking. At least I think I do. I am curious to see what you and your readers think of it.
The problem is I can't develop it. I am trying to spread the idea virally in order to put it in front of someone that has the resources to develop it. I'm calling the product The Forager and the link to the product idea is here Forager Link. Any coverage or ideas of where else to submit the idea to would be great.
By
WebsterJ, at 3:41 PM
Hi,
My name is Ronald Joyce and I am trying to contact Chet Womach. I perchased his Dog training Program and have not recieved antything accept for these Dog Treats that keep getting sent to me.
I want to CANCEL these treats that are called, Multi-Tab Complete and I would like a refund on this program. I was only able to download 24 pages of info and never recieved any DVD or CDs and it was my understanding, that's what I was getting.
I can be reach at 630-702-9151 I have left a voice message on his voice mail.
Regards,
Ronald Joyce
By
Ron, at 2:19 PM
hi my blue and gold macaw is starting to squak every few secs and he just started to pluck his feathers could it be stress or can he be ill
By
Anonymous, at 3:20 PM
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