My Galah is plucking it's feathers out & its beak looks dry..?

Question

My galah was rescued from a road where it had its wing broken by a car.. We have had it for 3 years now, and it lives in a large enclosure in the back garden.. Lately it has been plucking its feathers out ( on the chest and wings )& i have noticed its beak looks dry and is not smooth..,
We feed it mixed seeds, Should we feed it something other then mixed seeds,

Also, Allys cage is under an apple tree, Could pollen from the tree be making her sick also?

Thanks in advance..

Answer 1

There's several things that could be making your fellow 'sick'. The first might be what you're feeding your guy. Try switching him to a mixture of seeds, fruits , veggies and pellets. I feel seeds are important for mental stimulation but it's also important that they get other nutrition from other foods. Sometimes feeding a bird a new diet can correct a plucking problem. Since your guy has been fed seeds so long I would take the fruit and veggie diet slow. Some birds can take as long as a year to learn to eat pellets! Never expect a bird to eat the new food right off as they will and do starve themselves to death if the new food is the only thing in their cage. It's best to mix the old food with the new food and have them watch you eat the new food. The more you goof around while eating it will make your guy more willing to eat the new stuff ^.^ .

The other option is that it could be parasites. In cockatiels a protozoan causes severe itching that causes the bird to pluck under their wings and their belly. It could be that your Galah may be suffering something similar, especially if wild birds have access and can drop things through the roof of your bird's cage.

Another option is that the bird was spooked by something and started picking out of stress. Sometimes stress picking can turn into a habit. You won't know for sure until a vet does a check, including blood work and fecal examinations. Hopefully it's something easily fixed! Some plucker's can be hard to stop. My two green cheek conures pluck but they do it due to breeding stress. Once they are set up with a nest box the plucking stops. I know of other birds who sometimes pluck due to allergies, though allergies are harder to pin point in birds due to their relative new arrival on the vet scene. Hopefully a reason will come to light. Good luck!

Answer 2

The Galah can make an excellent pet, with even wild caught young birds capable of becoming affectionate and friendly birds. They will however often become a little unpredictable when mature. They are extremely playful and intelligent birds, which, like most cockatoos, need constant stimulation with toys to play with, and objects to chew, to keep them from getting bored. They are not generally noisy, apart from early morning and evening, although some are the exception to the rule. Both sexes can become good talkers, possibly with the males being somewhat better. Bored birds will sometimes pluck out their feathers.

This could definitely be the problem. Does Ally have a lot of toys to play with? Change them often so she doesn't get bored of the same things over and over again.

The difference in lifestyles between a wild and a companion Galah need to be considered when you are considering a proper and nutritious diet. A wild Galah uses a tremendous amount of energy on a daily basis, flying, playing, foraging for food, raising families, avoiding predators etc. A companion Galah does not expend the amount of energy to burn up the same amount of calories and because of this can easily become obese if fed the natural/wild diet that is high in fat.

A Galah needs to be fed a diet low in fat if it is going to have a chance of keeping its waistline in shape. Therefore a diet consisting, for example of sunflower seeds, would be totally inappropriate. Not only would this not be nutritionally sound, but would be very high in fat. Sunflower seed contents 35-49% fat, depending on the variety and would lead to an obesity problem for a Galah in no time. Cockatoos in general should be fed a diet consisting of no more than 5-8% fat on average, and a galah with its propensity towards obesity, should be on a diet of about 3-4% fat. This does not mean that a galah cannot have an occasional sunflower seed, or other seeds or nuts as a treat. The concern here, is the total fat percentage of the daily diet. Fat content, calories and carbohydrate intake all need to be considered.

Also a good diet does not consist of one or two items but a variety of items and those items should vary some on a daily basis.

Suggested foods are (organic foods if available): millet, sprouted seeds, grasses, vegetables, greens, cooked brown rice, grains, cooked legumes, wheat pasta, fruits, birdie bread.

Answer 3

Sounds like she is bored. Is it a fairly large cage where she can fly around or does she have to sit on the perch all day and do nothing? Put plenty of fresh fruit and veg in the cage as snacks - they love apples, carrots, celery - anything crunchy. Bread dried out in the oven so its like croutons but bigger is great too. If there's room in the cage, stick a gum branch in there for her to pull apart. Parrots are naturally destructive creatures, if there's nothing in her enclosure for her to ruin, her feathers are the next best thing. Its normal for the beak to look a bit dry, its not like a dogs nose that should be wet and shiny all the time. Only worry is if the beak and claws are growing faster than she can wear them down and the feathers are growing back real soft and not opening out properly - then it could be beak and feather disease but my first prognosis would be boredom, its quite common in caged parrots. (I own Sulphurs!)

Answer 4

Sounds like the little feller is sick.......you should probably take it to dr... other syptoms are plumage that loses lustre, looks ruffled or shows bare areas; loss of appetite; sneezing or discharge from the nostrils; slitted eyes plus excess sleeping, using both feet instead of tucking one up...Any change in the feces can also be a sign of illness.

Good luck