Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
How can I stop my cockatoo from plucking?
She is a rescue bird. She gets lots of love and attention. She is fed the right type of diet. She gets daily baths. We have even resorted to a collar which drove her crazy last night and resulted in her getting hurt. Took the collar off of course. If anyone can give me a suggestion that would be great!
She has been to an avian specialist. Here is the deal: she had been a pet bird with a breeder, the wife got two new birds who didnt get along with Betty, so they put her out in the breeding pens with the Macaws - this started the plucking process. She went from being loved and shown attention every day to being basically an outcast. She is such a delightful little girl and I absolutely adore her. She is not deficient in vitamins or minerals, she has plenty of toys (although I heard that a cotton one would be good to try as well as it is seen as some sort of a preening toy????). I make a mixture of brown rice, beans, varied fruit and vegies, and give that to both my cockatoo and my grey once a day. Other than that they are on pellets and perhaps seed consists of 20% of her diet (maybe if that much even).
She is bored. I dont think that she had ever had toys before I got her. She was afraid of them all. She has FINALLY started to chew up one of the block formation toys - she absolutely flat out refuses to get on the swing (although she loves to swing from my hand), I made a toy for her with all different shapes and sizes of wood pieces which are colored differently as well - she inst interested in it either. I think perhaps I will try something that hangs down and is all wispy (leather or cotton or something) to see if she gets interested in that. Oh yeah, she has a huge cage so plenty of room to play and climb. I cant think of anything else to add.
6 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
it sounds like you're doing everything right, but it can take a long time for a bird to recover. I'm sure she's been to the vet, but you might want to take her to make sure she doesn't have any skins problems which are making her itchy.
- MaryAnnLv 71 decade ago
Sounds like your on the right track and your providing a wonderful home for her!
This may take time alot of time for her to stop if ever. Once some birds start plucking it becomes a learned behavior and is impossible to stop. You can do the best you can by providing a good balanced diet with fresh foods, good pellets quality seed ect.
You said she didnt know about toys ... teach her distracting her and keeping her busy is key! They forget to pluck when they are busy beavers chewing or undoing toys.
My too Rico started plucking at age 6 no one knows why his previous mom had all the tests ran and reran on him there is no medical reason yet he still continues hes 15 now. Hes got good days and bad days so be prepared for those!
you can always contact me via email silverbraclt2000@yahoo.com and Ill be happy to help.
Source(s): 5 years experience with a plucking/shredding male M2 - humor4fmsLv 51 decade ago
Ok here goes a try at this.... Birds pluck for a reason... Mental stimulation. If you haven't had this bird long, give it time. She will stop. Attention is the most important part you are giving her. Watch out on those cotton toys. They are known for causing a lot of injuries in birds, by catching nails and wings. If toys are not her thing, hang them on the outside of the cage, she will play with them from the inside of her cage. Eventually you can place them inside her cage.
Slowly wean off those seeds. High fat diets cause an excess of over heating in toos. More like an over weight person putting on coats in 90 degree heat.
It seems like this bird had plenty of attention at one time, and then it stopped. Without having toys, toos tend to over preen!
Keep doing what you are doing, but not to much. You don't want to over do the attention or the bird will demand it to stop plucking.
Good Luck!
Source(s): 20+ years of breeding, avian certified, avian behavioral specialist, 180+ pairs of birds, rescue, & a sense of humor LOL - Anonymous1 decade ago
There is a lot of talk going around right now about the possibility of almonds causing plucking problems. It's worth a try to withhold these from your too for awhile to see if it has any effect at all. It's worth a try. Also, a lot of people have had a lot of luck spraying the bird with aloe spray. Just keep loving it and trying anything. I love my U2's and always say that they give back so much more than you give to them. Good luck!
- How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
- LISA GLv 41 decade ago
you sound like you are doing a great job ....birds can pluck for all diff reasons ...if like u have ruled medical out ..diet out ..she is stimulated ..has a big cage ..plenty of TLC..ample toys and is out of her cage every day ...then some times plucking is a habit..just like us biting our nails ..i have a 10 yr old grey and a 3 yr old ...the 10 yr old we adopted ..he had no tail feathers when we got him and only downy feathers on his chest ..we have had hime just over a yr now and he is almost there ..he still has a nibble of his tail feathers now and then ..with george he does it for attention ..like wanting to come out of his cage when it suits him ..his diet is great ..no medical condition..plenty of toys /stimulation and love ...when a bird learns how to pluck some times they will always pluck..plucking is a vicious circle
Source(s): grey owner UK parrot rescue member - Anonymous1 decade ago
it sounds like she might be bored, but if she has lots of toys and if this only started after the macaw deal, then it might be something else. give it a little time
