why is my quaker parrot pulling his feathers?

Question

he has pulled all of the feathers off of his front and legs. why is he doing this?

Answer 1

He is "plucking." Plucking, UNLIKE molting, is NOT natural. ONLY birds in captivity do this. Wild parrots do not exhibit this behavior.

The problem is that plucking can happen for countless reasons.

How many toys does he have in his cage? Birds often pluck because they are bored. Imagine being locked in a closet 24 hours a day for the rest of your life with nothing to do. You would start finding things to do, even if it meant hurting yourself. This is often what happens when birds get bored. Put a variety of toys in your birds cage (3 minimum) of different materials (leather, wood, lace, string, beads, bells, mirrors, hard plastic, puzzle toys, etc etc).

Do you give him regular bathes? Bathing helps to keep their skin moisturized and their feathers free from extra powder. At least once a week (better more than that) offer him a dish of luke-warm water. More than likely, he will bathe himself. If not, put a peice of veggie in the water to entice him to get in. If he won't bathe himself, use a spray bottle and soak him to the skin. This encourages natural preening and cleaning as well as keeping his skin and feathers healthy.

What kind of foods fo you feed him? Quakers needs more than seed (actually, seeds are high in fat and should not be given except as treats). High quality pellets (harrisons, roudybush, etc) as a base diet and then a variety of fresh fruits and veggies, pasta (no butter or oils), cooked chicken or eggs (again, no spices or oils), etc etc are very good for them. it also helps break the boredom. Do a google or yahoo search to find more ideas.

Sometimes birds get parasites or mites. If your bird has either, his skin could itch horribly and he is just trying to stop the itching. Take him to the vet and have him examined for any infections/parasites.

These are just a few of the countless possibilities for plucking. Plucking becomes a deeply ingrained habit after a while, and even though the orginal reasons behind it may be gone, the behavior can remain for a long time. If this becomes the case, I would definately seek out a bird behavioralist in your area that can help you to break this horribly cycle. Good luck!

Answer 2

Your Quaker has most likely begun a very nasty habit called "Plucking". This isn't good.
I'm going to reference another answer I gave about an African Grey who plucked. This was the answer I had and it might give you a better idea about the issue:


I attended an Aviculture Federation convention last year. One of the speakers was Dr. Susan Clubb who has been doing research on feather plucking. The discovery of subcutaneal bacterial and fungal infections was found to be a major player in many instances of initial plucking. After the initial problem has been addressed, the "habit" of plucking might still remain.
As is the case in just about anything, ruling out a clinical issue is job one.
After that, you have to start working on the diet, and then the environment.
As for the diet: go very heavy on the dark green and dark orange vegetables: broccoli, kale. yams or sweet potatoes, turnip greens, carrots etc.
Get him a vitamin supplement: ProVital makes a good one. A calcium supplement is good as well.
I don't know where you are located in the world, but this link to "The BirdCare Company might be able to help you out with the plucking:

http://www.birdcareco.com/

There is also a technique known as "packing the cage". This simply means putting all kinds of things in his cage that he can play with: branches, wood pieces, anything he seems to prefer to chew, and put a lot of it in there. If your Grey is occupied with playing, climbing, chewing, etc., he is not plucking his feathers. Every minute he is doing something else, is one minute devoted to staying clear of his feathers. The object is to break the habit by keeping him totally absorbed with learning to chew and play with things other than his feathers.
I have found one thing that seems to help and you aren't going to believe this:
Shoelaces.
The plastic sheaths covering the ends of shoelaces are called "aglets". I have found that parrots absolutely LOVE to work on these things. It keeps them occupied forever, and if you keep him stocked up with shoelaces, if might help. It gets a little expensive so you want to get the shorter ones as you are mainly concerned with just the aglets. Simply tie them onto his cage bars...a LOT of them.
One more important thing: Make sure he is getting enough sleep. Make his bedtime dark, quiet, uninterrupted and at least 10 hours in duration.
Also, consider getting him a play gym or parrot stand. Natural wood is best, and see that it has eye hooks so you can attach toys to it. Time out of his cage might be very helpful.
Just for some comfort: I took in a rescued and neglected 15 year-old Grey in August that was almost bald. She is well on her way to being fully recovered and is busily growing feathers back. She doesn't pluck at all any more. Part of her problem was that she simply wasn't getting enough sleep. With a solid 10 to 12 hours a night, a good diet, some trick training that boosts her self-confidence and a lot of time out of her cage every day, she is coming along great!
It can be done and I wish you luck....

I hope this gives you some insight into this behavioral issue

Answer 3

Hes either stressed out....or bored outta his wits. You need to figure out which it is and fix matters. Since you say he has pulled off ALL his feathers on his front...I highly doubt this is due to molting. Its sad when birds go thru this....please read up about this and work on the problem. The owner is to blame sorry to say.

Answer 4

Quakers are very social birds and regularly stay in extensive colonies of a some hundred. He could be lonely. of direction conserving 2 ability you will possibly need two times the noise, yet they are going to be happy!

Answer 5

He's maulting. Parrots lose there feathers once a year, and grow back new ones. It's a process of nature.

Answer 6

when parrots do this type of behavior its not something good this either means he is stressesd or just misbehaving you need to give him more attetion then usaul i have a yellownaped amazon parrot she doesnt do this but i have done research in the s\worst case scenraio just in case she would... moslty because of stress or the casue of nutrition. promise you that...

Answer 7

this means your bird is not happy, maybe you are not giving him enough attention, get more toys, give him some new foods
move him into the room where most activity occurs

Answer 8

he is probably molting all birds molt around the different seasons mine are too there is nothing to worry about when they are molting it's nateral.