Cockatoo eating his feathers????

Question

Hi I have a Goffins Cockatoo and he seems to be plucking out his feathers and eating the roots of the feather where the straw part begins. He seems to be eating the straw part and the the stuff inside it which I think is blood in there. But he does not eat the feather. So I was wondering if you guys or gals might know why hes doing that?

Answer 1

Ok Ali, Listen up because this will be detailed. Birds chew on their feathers to get a mineral called iodine. I'm going to get detailed here for a minute just so you understand how a feather is formed.

In order to form the feather folicle and feather sheath the bird must have two forms. Iodine and calcium. Both of those come in forms of the intake of food. If you are feeding a seed diet only, the bird is not getting what it needs, so the bird results in eating it's only source which is it's own feather shafts to replace what it needs.

To combat this, you need to feed better foods. The questions is this, how do you go about it with a bird that hasn't eaten these foods before? Tough question eh? Not really. You haven't said how old this bird is, but there has never been a goffin that i have not been able to remold into a great special bird. Goffins by far are not an untrainable bird. They are brillant birds and smart at that. One of the smartest i've even come across. They can pick a pad lock within minutes and then taunt you with the key.

These birds need iodized salt in their diet, along with calcium to combat this problem. Yes in the form of seafood or sea salt within moderation. You can not over do this as it will cause problems if you do. Here is the kicker. Get a bag of frozen mixed veggies and thaw some out. Place some in a fresh dish, and add some sea salt(just a tiny pinch) to the veggies. You can also get a shiskabob(found in the rodent section(guinea pig) and skewer veggies like broccoli, carrots, apples, pears and place it right where the bird perches and leave it there. The bird does not like it there where it perches. Soon enough it will get sick of it hanging there and start to chew at it to get rid of it. there fore tasteing the food. Whaaa laaaa, now it likes the taste of the food.

With this little trip, you now have a veggie eating bird, and it is replacing the iodine and calcium in it's diet. Now you need to change the seed out for pellets. i sugest you use Roudybush pellets, only cause birds love them because they are made with crushed apple. They take to them within 24 hour period. You spend less money then you would on seed diet, and you are not feeding them everyday, except for the veggies, and your bird is getting more vitamins, proteins and minerals that are needed for them to live a longer happier life.

The bird no longer will chew on it's feather folicles to get the iodine it needs for new feather growth, and the problem will solve itself in a short while.

Educating yourself is the root of all evil.. I hope i've helped you to educate yourself on why birds eat their own feathers. It's a behavior linked to malnutrition of minerals. Not behavior problems.

Hope i've educated you on what is going on with the diet of the bird.

Give your bird time to adjust to it's diet and you will see a big vast improvement on health and a whole new attitude. Your bird will also love you and be more affectionate towards you.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

It sound like feather chewing not plucking. This is usually caused by incorrect diet, not stress or boredom.

You need to look at is diet & correct any changes that need to be done. most cockatoos are on a seed diet only which can be very destructive to their health.

A good varied diet of pellets, SOME seed (remove sunflower seed) & grassy, sprouty greens for him, lots of bright veggies (the brighter the better the nutritional value, no fruit as it's too high in sugar, cooked mash sweet potato, rice, egg, carrot, zucchini & what ever else you can think of. Egg & cooked chicken without salt, fatm spices etc will give them the protien they need.

Harrisons is a good brand of pellets to get. Always make sure they're cockatoo specific pellets & preferably 100% natural.

I do not reccomend salt added to food. If given the correct foods you do not need to & shouldn't add salt to his diet in any way! A little added by mistake will not hurt however, continuing to do this will & it only takes 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt to kill a bird. There are plenty of foods which will contain salt, iodine in natural forms so PLEASE do not add it.

One more thing, add a cuttle bone & mineral block to his cage also.

Answer 3

For many birds this is molting season. That means that old feathers are removed to make way for new ones coming in. At this time the bird will look very ratty and have patches of feathers missing. He will also be grumpy sometimes, because the new feathers itch a lot. Molting is a natural event , and occurs every year.
Our Quaker is molting right now. Normally it takes a few weeks for the whole transition.
There could be other explanations, but the easiest is usually the right answer.

Answer 4

Your bird is very stressed out. He probably was taken out of an area filled with breeding birds. Depending on the facility many breeders get little socialization. You may never have the cuddly too you desire. The first step would be to get in touch with whomever you got him from . Find out what he DID eat. Everything is not an answer.Find out what his daily schedule was---Wake up and bedtime. Next give him time to settle in. Get him a vet check up. Unless you are quite experienced you are in over your head. You need help from experts (I am not one of them but I know when I can't handle a bird by myself) This is a really tough situation. I envy you not. Perhaps a good bird rescue could help with advice.

Answer 5

Sounds like he could be stressed and/or bored; try getting him some new toys and also watch where he is pulling feathers from in case you nned to apply some styptic if he is bleeding; definitely pay more TLC; he may be going thru a phase. If it continues, check with your vet asap.

Answer 6

He is either bored or his diet may be lacking. Be sure he's eating a balanced diet of fruits,nuts,veggies,and some quallity pellets. Be sure to provide lots of distroy toys and chew toys. Ask you vet if the plucking continues eve when he has toys and a balanced diet.

Answer 7

When was the last time you fed him? He may just be hungry.