Plucking?

[Dana64]

Hi there! We adopted a 7-year-old CAG just over 2 months ago... we are Mackie's second (and last) home. When I picked Mackie up, I noticed his chest feathers were "downy looking". He wasn't plucked, but still... not fully feathered. (I'll try to insert a pic...) She told me he was NOT a plucker and that he was just finishing up a molt. I accepted this explanation as reasonable. His chest feathers are not coming in. And now, just a few days ago, a woman I know was over at my house... she owns several parrots including 4 Greys and she told me that it looks like Mackie is "snapping off" his feathers... not plucking. This all being said, Mackie is doing incredibly well here... and aside from his EXTREMELY FOUL mouth (which is something I would like to address in another thread), we love him to bits.

My question is this... is there any training... or any product that I can buy... that can break Mackie of this "snapping off" habit? I have never actually seen him do it, so he must do it when he's been put to bed at night and covered....

Any thoughts, ideas? I would really appreciate the help...

Hugs, Dana

[birdiemommy]

Some birds do snap or chew the feathers rather than pull them out. Thankfully Indy is not plucking even though the previous home was bad. But we had a terribly abused, male ekkie that plucked. He tended to do his at night too while we were not looking.
The best thing I can suggest is to add some aloe juice to water and give him a spray bath. Look for toys that are shreddable and made of what looks like palm fronds. Anything that is easily shredded and torn up would be good for him to get that same feeling. Good luck!

[BirdCurious]

There are so many reasons for any kind of feather mutiliation. Illness, injury, stress, habit...the first thing to do (if you have not already) is to get a vet check to identify or rule out physical causes. After that you move on to looking for and addressing environmental or emotional causes.
Our Ernie does the kind of damage you are describing for two reasons: hormones ("feathering his nest" I suppose) and anxiety. We are moving and at the moment, most of his chest is just down. He's also been plucking and chewing on his wing, and on his leg. It makes me very sad but at the same time I know that it is situational, and this situation will end, pretty soon.
Can you post some pictures of Mackie's feather damage?

[fozzie62]

When I got my grey Maxine she would snap off her feathers. Her chest and tail look really bad. She was on a really bad Walmart seed diet. I got her to eat pellets and she has stopped snapping off her feathers.
Maybe see if the food that your grey is eating has any artificial colors in it. That may play a part in the problem too. This is what seem to help us.

[Tom L.]

I've heard of products for plucking but not for breaking. If you are able to take Mackie to a vet he/she might have some good advice on treatments/food supplements, etc. Good luck.

I'm glad Mackie found a home with you. It sounds like you only have his best interest at heart.

[janfromboone]

There is an excellent article in bird talk magazine on greys and feather plucking and other nervous behaviors. The magazine just came today so it's the one that just came out.

[Tobysmom]

Originally Posted by janfromboone

There is an excellent article in bird talk magazine on greys and feather plucking and other nervous behaviors. The magazine just came today so it's the one that just came out.

thanks i will be looking for it in the mail

[Lisa B]

I shall be reading it as well. My friend has a story in there about her princess keet who passed away shortly after moving back to the USA.

[Dana64]

Has anyone used "Pluck No MOre" by Kingscages? I have bought a bottle. I need to buy more, it goes pretty quick... and wanted to know if anyone here had used the product with positive results...

[Lisa B]

I have used it in the past. It seemed to calm them down. Are you using bottled water with it?