Advice on plucking needed

[Soonix]

My Yellow Crowned Amazon, Maya, is almost a year old and has taken to pulling out her feathers.
In the beginning it was every once in a while but now happens once in 10 days or so. She has a variety of toys and she gets constant attention from my husband and I or from the children. She's also quiet aggressive and only lets you pick her up if she's on the floor.

Does anybody have suggestions how to stop the plucking before shes naked?

[DebsC]

Weel, I'm certainly no expect on the subject but our African Grey was a little less than a year old when she took over our house. She was almost completely naked.

I've read articles that recommend putting yarn type or string type toys in the cage. We did. Special foods. I cooked and baked them. Get a bigger cage. I got one.

I don't know if one or all of these actions helped but she did eventually get better. I've read that some birds never get better. How sad.

There are lots of informational sites on line. Good luck with your bird.
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[camille1585]

I'm sorry to hear about your bird. Plucking is such a horrible thing. Have you had him checked by a vet? It could be caused by an underlying medical issue or feather mites. He could be missing something in his food. The big problem with plucking is that it easily becomes a habit even when the problems are solved.
If you also have other birds, I also read this study not long ago (when dealing with my canarie's plucking issues) that if you have parrots from different continents it can stress them out to the point of plucking. They would never naturally associate in the wild, and seem to realize that and are wary/scared. Sounds wierd, but seems true.
A good place to try to find some help (if you haven't tried there yet) is the bird forum called Birdboard. They are knowledgeable and nice bunch of people, and they have helped me out when I had trouble with my canaries. A few of the members are veterinarians, which is a big plus!

[Gin]

Sorry about the plucking kinda like nail biting .
I had a Blue and Gold Macaw that started to pluck when she reached breeding age 5 .. Had a complete Vet. work up done on her several times nothing showed up . She did it in cycles especially bad when she was in the mood . I tried everything daily baths , lots of things to chew up ect ect varied diet , attention, large cage . Different medications from the Vet .plus the anti pluck spray, no other birds around . Nothing stopped her I finally sold her as a breeder . She also was aggressive off and on . The articles are interesting .. Gin

[Soonix]

Thank you for the advice and the great articles, I joined the BB which is great. Maya has a huge cage, lots of toys, no other birds around, her colour is nice and bright, so maybe its dry skin from the weather, mites or just plain badness. I'll look at her food and wait till the weather gets better to see if it will make a difference other wise it will be a trip to the vet. I feed her mixed seeds with fruits and nuts and fresh fruit and veggies maybe I'll keep her off the seeds and see.
Well thanks again.
Soonix

[caseydoll]

I'm sorry to hear about your parrot! I have an African Grey that has plucked for years. In her case it's because she came from a bad breeder who never bothered to socialize her and then she spent the next 4 years in a tiny cage in a pet shop. She plucks like people nervously bite their nails. I've tried everything but she's determined! But I worked at a pet shop for 9 years and we had an Amazon that would pluck in the winter and stop late spring. He would just let his feathers grow back like nothing happened. I think it was the dry winter air myself but who knows? Sorry that i don't have much advice since I'm in a worse situation but I thought that might give you hope!

Have you ever tried pellets for your parrot? They are much better for them then seed and my Baby LOVES them. There are some people that think that certain seeds when eaten too much can trigger plucking. I have no idea if it's true but it can't hurt to try it sometime.

[Gin]

A post note My male Alexanderine plucks starts in the fall then stops . I can't give him sunflower seeds he had a liver problem to much fat in them and he will pig out . he is on mostly pellets without the food coloring they use .. Gin

[Soonix]

One thing i noticed is when she pulls the feather she will sit there with it for hours playing with it. Even if it falls she'll climb down get it and go back up again.