Cockatoo Feathers
Umbrella Cockatoo that picks it feathers, any ideas?
I have a 16 year old Umbrella cockatoo. We've only had her for about 2 years. And she had already picked out most of her feathers at the time. She still has some down feathers on her body and some flight feathers on the wings. But nothing new is growing or if it does, she picks it out before it can. I think that she might be without feathers for the rest of her life, just because she'd being doing it for so long and the feathers probably just wont grow regardless, but.....are there any training tricks or sprays or anything to help the feathers to grow? Help if you can....
This is a very serious problem for large birds. I've heard stories from bird experts that birds (a cockatoo, in fact, in the case I've heard) can pick their feathers until they literally bleed to death. It's a behavioral issue that indicates that the bird is stressed or bored.
In the wild, large birds spend a good deal of time preening each other's feathers. When left to themselves in captivity, all this energy can often be used on themselves, and they over-preen or pull out their feathers until it causes them health problems. They also can do this as a result of a new situation (it sounds like your cockatoo is nervous about her new home).
The best quick fix I've heard came from either Animal Precinct or Animal Cops on Animal Planet (the ASPCA police officer shows). They rescued a cockatoo who was preening her feathers to the point where they were useless. To help solve the problem, they put a feather duster in her cage so she some different feathers to pick at. I'm not sure if this would make a difference with a plucker vs. a preener, but it's worth a shot.
I would also highly suggest taking the bird to a veterinarian (preferably one who specializes in small animals/birds) to see if there is anything else you can do or any health problems that need to be addressed.
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