Feather plucking is a very stressful situation for the owner and the bird. A parrot that looks like a chicken is an embarrassment to itself and its owner and this serious behavioral problem is very hard to prevent once it has started.
Early on it's possible to detect a "feather plucker". Simply a few feathers missing or in African greys a few chest feathers that are just starting to turn into a grey down. This problem more often occurs in the upper chest area initially. At this point it is not too late, but you must take immediate action by providing lots of entertainment for your parrot. A degree of overkill is required. Use all kinds of toys available and also natural twigs such as apple, pear and freshly sprouted willow, which is soft and juicy. You should always remove leaves from willow trees as they are slightly toxic in large quantities. Move his cage into a busier part of the house where he can be entertained by the family. Even if it is just by watching them move around and talking. It may be possible to bring him out at meal times because a parrot which eats what you eat and socialises with the family is less likely to become a feather plucker, as this is normally the trait of a lonely bird.
Other illness in a hand reared baby parrot is quite rare, but action must be taken immediately if you feel that your bird is not 100%. This could be indicated by simply not adhering to his normal routines, i.e. if you feed him a certain item in the morning, say toast, if he fails to eat there may be a problem. Droppings are also a large indicator and I believe that an experienced parrot keeper can tell precisely the condition of his birds without even seeing the birds providing he can look at the droppings on a daily basis. If your bird is on a dry diet then obviously the droppings will be more solid green and white. If birds have a fruit diet this will be watery and not as solid as a bird on dry seed. If you feed your bird pretty much the same routine on a daily basis then the droppings will be easily identified as different to the previous day and therefore should causing some alarm. Very watery and dark droppings are a sign of ill health. It is always better to be trigger happy in terms of visiting your vet rather than leaving it too late. Birds deteriorate rapidly once they are ill, if you cannot maintain a level of fluid intake and food consumption.
If your parrot is indeed ill then the next problem is finding a high quality vet, and that is no easy task. Good avian vets are few and far between, and you may have to travel a long way to find one with the competencies required to treat a sick parrot. Vetinary care may require intravenous feeding so you want to make sure that you visit a high quality vet.
So there you have it in a nutshell. Making sure that your parrot does not turn to plucking means that you have to spend a lot of time with them, and make sure that they have plenty of distractions. Beyond that you must keep an eye on your bird's droppings for the first sign of illness. - 32516
Early on it's possible to detect a "feather plucker". Simply a few feathers missing or in African greys a few chest feathers that are just starting to turn into a grey down. This problem more often occurs in the upper chest area initially. At this point it is not too late, but you must take immediate action by providing lots of entertainment for your parrot. A degree of overkill is required. Use all kinds of toys available and also natural twigs such as apple, pear and freshly sprouted willow, which is soft and juicy. You should always remove leaves from willow trees as they are slightly toxic in large quantities. Move his cage into a busier part of the house where he can be entertained by the family. Even if it is just by watching them move around and talking. It may be possible to bring him out at meal times because a parrot which eats what you eat and socialises with the family is less likely to become a feather plucker, as this is normally the trait of a lonely bird.
Other illness in a hand reared baby parrot is quite rare, but action must be taken immediately if you feel that your bird is not 100%. This could be indicated by simply not adhering to his normal routines, i.e. if you feed him a certain item in the morning, say toast, if he fails to eat there may be a problem. Droppings are also a large indicator and I believe that an experienced parrot keeper can tell precisely the condition of his birds without even seeing the birds providing he can look at the droppings on a daily basis. If your bird is on a dry diet then obviously the droppings will be more solid green and white. If birds have a fruit diet this will be watery and not as solid as a bird on dry seed. If you feed your bird pretty much the same routine on a daily basis then the droppings will be easily identified as different to the previous day and therefore should causing some alarm. Very watery and dark droppings are a sign of ill health. It is always better to be trigger happy in terms of visiting your vet rather than leaving it too late. Birds deteriorate rapidly once they are ill, if you cannot maintain a level of fluid intake and food consumption.
If your parrot is indeed ill then the next problem is finding a high quality vet, and that is no easy task. Good avian vets are few and far between, and you may have to travel a long way to find one with the competencies required to treat a sick parrot. Vetinary care may require intravenous feeding so you want to make sure that you visit a high quality vet.
So there you have it in a nutshell. Making sure that your parrot does not turn to plucking means that you have to spend a lot of time with them, and make sure that they have plenty of distractions. Beyond that you must keep an eye on your bird's droppings for the first sign of illness. - 32516
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For further information on parrot care please check http://hubpages.com/hub/Parrot-Care-How-to-Care-for-Parrots-in-the-Wild Once you learn how to care for wild parrots you will better appreciate their captive needs
