West Valley Pet Clinic Birds Page

Feather Picking

by Timothy J Govers, D.V.M.
Diplomate, American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, Avian Specialty

The most common reason an owner seeks veterinary care for their bird is feather picking. Often the owner is already frustrated, having "tried everything" per the advice of friends, relatives and pet shop personnel. Now, they want to know the cause and a simple cure. Unfortunately, feather picking is a nonspecific sign with many possible causes both medical and non-medical. The doctor will want to run some tests to rule-out medical causes first. If no medical problem can be found, behavioral modification is begun and or adjustments to the lifestyle and environment are attempted.

Although the concerned bird owner usually wants an answer today, the medical work-up must be approached in a systematic, stepwise manner. Not until all of the medical causes have been ruled out can a diagnosis of behavioral feather picking be made. The work-up starts with a good history. A good history helps create a list of possible causes and prioritize laboratory testing.

Familiarity with the species of birds is helpful as well. For example, a hand- raised, spoiled, and overly dependent cockatoo is prone to self mutilation, a type of feather picking for which a medical cause may not be found. On the other hand, cockatiels and budgerigars often present with ulcerative dermatitis of the wing webs, which is rarely a psychological problem in these species. Examination of fresh feces for Giardia or cytology and cultures of the skin for a bacterial dermatitis would be priorities in these cases.

Non-Medical Causes of Feather Picking

Non-medical, or behavioral causes of feather picking are considered only after the medical causes have been ruled out.

Nesting
Birds preparing to clutch will sometimes pick feathers to line their nest. This is obviously a normal behavior that only happens during the breeding season. Between clutches, the feathers appear normal.

Sexual Frustration
A convenient and overly blamed reason for plucked birds, feather picking as a result of sexual frustration would only occur seasonally in sexually mature birds.

Inappropriate Preening
Preening in birds is both instinctive and learned. The parents teach the babies the proper way to preen. Most birds we now see are either incubator hatched and hand fed, or hand fed after 3-4 weeks with the parents. So domestic birds may never learn how to preen properly and inadvertently damage feathers by overpreening, or leave new feathers encased in their keratin sheath (underpreening). Most of these hand raised domestic babies are in the company of a variety of species of birds at varying ages. It is possible that these young birds actually learn incorrect preening for their own type of feather.

Boredom
This is a real problem, especially for the more intelligent species such as African Greys and Cockatoos. Parrots that are left alone for hours at a time should be provided with four toys, one from each of the following categories:

climbing toys - ladders, swings, jungle gym
chewing toys - wood, rawhide, dry pasta, empty paper towel rolls
foot toys - nuts and pieces of corn on the cob that need to be held while eating, or toys that can be held and shook.
puzzle toys - boxes that hold a food treat that open only on one side, clamps that can be opened and closed.

The toys should be exchanged and rotated regularly to maintain interest.

Stress
This certainly must be a factor causing some feather picking in caged birds, even though it is impossible to measure or prove. We can only imagine what may be stressful to a bird. Too quiet an environment can be imagined to be stressful, because in the wild this could mean a predator is nearby. Television or radios set to turn on and off at various times may be helpful. Nature shows should be avoided. Predatory birds on the big screen can be imagined to be stressful.

Attention-Getting Devices
Many owners inadvertently reward their birds for feather picking, making a huge fuss and paying the most attention when they catch their bird picking. A history that the bird picks only when the owner is present is a clue.

Control Devices
Birds are very intelligent creatures; certainly smart enough to use feather picking to get what they want. Whenever blocked from what they want, they simply pick their feathers until the owners give in. This behavior plays on the owner's guilt and is then rewarded when the owner gives in.

Neuroses
Neurotic behavior is the final diagnosis after all medical and other non-medical causes have been eliminated. It is often the result of domestic breeding and hand raised babies. In nature, the parents would be teaching the baby birds survival skills, social interaction within the flock, and their place in the flock relative to the leader. Intelligent creatures such as parrots must sense this lack of survival skills, especially about the time they would become independent, between 6 and 18 months, depending on the species. This is the period when most serious behavior problems appear: excessive screaming, biting, territoriality and feather picking.

Conclusion

Some types of behavioral feather picking don't need to be treated, e.g. nesting and sexual frustration. Boredom can be dealt with. Stress and insecurity are best treated with nurturing dominance training. Attention and control devices require the bird's caretakers to change their response to the behavior. Psychoactive drugs like haloperidol only rarely need to be used. They are reserved for the most destructive behavior, and are used only in conjunction with behavior modification.

The Importance of a Pellet Diet

by Timothy J Govers, D.V.M.
Diplomate, American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, Avian Specialty

There are two things you must understand. First, switching your bird from seeds to a pellet diet is imperative. It is the difference between a long healthy life or a short life of recurrent illness. Second, it is easier said than done. It takes time, patience, and a plan. Some parakeets, cockatiels and certain cockatoos can be very stubborn and may require a 3-4 week plan. Some amazons take only a week. As a general rule, the longer they have been eating just seeds, the longer it may take to convert them to pellets.

There is no surefire method for converting to pellets that works every time for every bird. Start by having a bowl of pellets available exclusively during the entire day. Offer the "familiar" diet (seed) for an hour in the morning and evening, at least, until you are certain that your bird is eating the pellets. Another method is to gradually mix a small amount of pellets into the seed dish while reducing the amount of seeds over 1-4 weeks. Some birds are much quicker than others.

Remember that birds are very much creatures of habit. They do not have "likes" and "dislikes", they go by the familiar and the not familiar. They will not eat an item until they are familiar with it. Keep offering a food even if it is rejected for weeks.

You can assure yourself that your bird is not starving by monitoring the number of droppings in the cage. Twenty or more droppings in a 24 hour period is a good indication that the bird is eating enough. Once the bird is eating different foods, the color and consistency of the droppings may change. The color may change from greenish to brownish. The more fruits and vegetables that are eaten, the more watery the droppings will appear, which usually means that more urine is being produced. As long as there is some form or coil to most of the stool, there probably is not a problem.

Remember, switching your bird from seeds to a pellet diet may be a matter of life or death. It is time to stop trying. It is time to do it. Call our office if you have questions or concerns.