The parrot plucks its feathers what to do. Why budgerigars pluck their feathers. Reasons why birds pull feathers

- I can no longer be at home, I want to run away anywhere, I don’t have the strength to watch how sits and pulls out feathers. Blood sometimes flows along the cell wall.

This is a fairly widespread disease, and various types of birds kept in captivity are susceptible to it, but especially parrots, and especially large ones.

In addition, birds pull out feathers that have become oily. More often this happens in the treatment of skin diseases. The feathers, on which the ointment turned out, the bird tries to clean, and since it does not succeed, it pulls them out. What can become a habit.

The next reason, one of the most important, is improper feeding. Not to mention the usual mistakes in the preparation of diets, parrots, unfortunately, their owners are fed not as expected, but as they please. Parrots are given sausage, raw meat, naval pasta, meatballs, etc. and so on. Birds get used to such food very quickly, and their owners are happy: they eat with their pets from the same plate.

However, the hour comes - the bird begins to pull out its own feathers, and soon they remain only on its head and on its neck: where its beak cannot reach.

Owners rush about, looking for someone to help them save their pet, cure him. And they forget that until recently, when they were warned about the consequences, they firmly stood their ground: "For how many years he has been eating with us and feels great. He has never pulled any feathers, every single one of him is intact."

The body of the body is different, that of birds, that of people. That is why some parrots can eat food for a long time that has nothing to do with their own. However, the result is always the same: in the end, even the most resistant people suffer from metabolic disorders, internal organs, especially the kidneys, are affected. The bird is itchy, itches often, and accidentally or not once pulls out a feather ...

Parrots can pluck themselves, and when they feed the chicks: if they lack protein and minerals.

The next cause of illness, the second most important in medium-sized and large parrots, is stress. It arises as a result of the relocation of a bird to a smaller cage, due to separation from a partner, in particular after his death. It develops when keeping two birds of the same sex and, of course, only one bird.

In nature, parrots live in flocks for most of their lives, not counting the breeding season. Once in captivity, alone in a small cage, where not only is it impossible to spread its wings, it is impossible to walk, climb, the bird is constantly under stress.

Often she does not feel better, and if she lives in an aviary, if cats and dogs are in the same room where she is, all day long. Apparently, according to parrots, especially such as the Jaco, their companion should be an equal to them - a person, rarely - a bird of a different species.

Zhako, who lives in an open enclosure, where he has a bedroom and a large staircase, irritably chases a starling, other trifles that are released to fly around the room and which fly into his dwelling.

Among birds of other species, only a jackdaw can brighten up his loneliness and even make him forget about his own feathers, and then if her intelligence is not lower than his: animals of the same species, like people, differ in the degree of development of intelligence.

Who herself suffers from loneliness when she is let out of the cage, shows great interest in her neighbor, in his dwelling, checks what he eats, sits on the roof of his house, and if the door to the bedroom is open, and the parrot is below, dives into his holy saints.

Having such a companion, the parrot then goes down the stairs, to drive the jackdaw away from the feeder, then hurries up, to drive the jackdaw out of the bedroom. This is already becoming a game, and it can last indefinitely, until both get bored with everything. In addition, the jackdaw is able to play with the parrot in another way: knock on his head with his own, etc.

But if there is no such jackdaw next to the parrot and there is no person next to it, the likelihood that it will start pulling out feathers is very high. Therefore, people who, leaving for work, leave their pets alone for the whole day, should not get parrots, at least grays.

Spectacular and bright plumage is one of the most attractive advantages of exotic birds. Sometimes parrot owners face a serious problem: their beloved pet begins to pluck their feathers. If several pieces fall out a month, then this is not scary, but quite natural - the bird independently gets rid of unnecessary specimens. Sometimes a once beautiful feathered friend loses all its splendor and takes on a miserable appearance, constantly engaged in self-plucking. There are several sources for this behavior. Some of them pose a danger not only to the appearance of the bird, but also to its health. Let us dwell on the main reasons for plucking feathers in parrots.

Mistakes in feeding

As food for these exotics, it is better to purchase ready-made food for parrots in specialized stores. Additionally, you can enrich the diet with vegetables and fruits. Products are pre-washed, cleaned, cut and pitted. You can not use salty, sweet, fatty and fried foods. It is also necessary to diversify the menu with special vitamin complexes with mineral supplements.

With improper feeding, the body of a parrot lacks useful trace elements, and the bird compensates for this by plucking. Sometimes itching forces him to such behavior. It occurs with allergies or metabolic disorders, if the pet is fed with prohibited or harmful foods. For example, you can not give a lot of sunflower seeds because of their high fat content. The owner wants to please the pet with a delicious treat, but as a result, the pet has problems. You can avoid problems in this case if you revise the feathered diet.

Sometimes self-plucking occurs during the feeding of chicks, when the diet of adults lacks mineral and protein substances.

Poor conditions of detention

A cramped and uncomfortable cage, too high or low air temperature, low or high humidity in the room, insufficiently long daylight hours can cause the parrot to pluck feathers on the breast, buttocks or other accessible place.

It is necessary to give the bird the opportunity to swim in warm water, especially in extreme heat and with very dry air in the room. In winter, when the days are very short, lamps must be turned on near this exotic place for several hours to increase the length of the day. It is useful to let the bird fly around the apartment. The more often this is done, the better for the pet, because in nature he does not sit in one place for a long time.

Loneliness and boredom

In nature, parrots mostly spend time with their own kind. In the absence of such an opportunity, they may well engage in self-plucking. The likelihood of this behavior increases if the bird's sexual partner or cage mate has died. Sometimes a feathered one does this during puberty.

You can help the bird if you give your pet more time. You can buy new toys, get another feathered friend to reduce the feeling of loneliness.

Parrots pluck feathers photo

Lack of attention

A parrot needs to devote several hours of his free time every day. He is like a child who is constantly reaching out to adults. Developing activities, stroking, calm long conversations will help to avoid problems with self-plucking from a bright friend.

Stress

There can be many reasons for overvoltage:

change in habitual living conditions - new food, lack of sleep;
too noisy neighbors (children, animals);
new place of residence (or transfer of the cell to another place);
a low place in the bird hierarchy if there are other birds in the house.

Stress can lead to frustration. This painful condition often begins with the parrot plucking feathers on the pope or other accessible places. Then other symptoms develop. Depending on the individual, aggressiveness or depression is manifested. Serious mental disorders are possible - depression, neurosis, etc. You can avoid the problem if you eliminate its source.

Ticks, various types of fungus, downy and feather-eating, helminths cause serious discomfort to the parrot. The feathered one is carefully examined to exclude such a cause of plucking. If there are other birds in the house, when buying a new pet, a monthly quarantine is mandatory, and the newcomer's appearance is studied especially carefully.

Diseases

This is one of the most annoying causes of feather plucking in parrots. A variety of illnesses can lead to this behavior.

Inflammation of feather follicles. Often with this disease, the parrot plucks the feathers under the wings.
Pathology of the thyroid gland. For the prevention and stimulation of the thyroid gland, lettuce, beets, carrots and cabbage are included in the parrot's diet. The use of walnuts, oats and oilseeds is limited.
Dermatitis. There are many sources of its appearance, but as a result, a parrot can pluck feathers to blood, and the resulting wounds are easily infected and worsen the condition of the bird.

Plucking feathers is a serious reason to take a closer look at your pet. Sometimes there are several reasons for this behavior, and it is very difficult to find them on your own. If in a couple of weeks it is not possible to understand and eliminate the problem, and the plumage is catastrophically lost, you need to contact a veterinary clinic to help the suffering bird.

Often, in the initial stages, when the parrot is just starting to pluck itself, the owners mistake this process for molting. But keep in mind, usually a parrot molts only twice a year - in spring and autumn, and the molt itself occurs gradually. Old feathers are replaced with new ones, but there are never completely exposed skin areas.

The only exception may be the first molt of a young parrot when it is still a teenager, in which case it may lose a few more feathers than usual. The first molt is the heaviest for the bird. So, if you notice bald spots and bare areas of the body when buying a parrot, this does not mean that the parrot is shedding, most likely it will remain bald. If the process of plucking feathers from a parrot continues for a long time and cannot be stopped, then feathers will never grow in these areas due to damage to the follicles.

If the bird is bored, find her something to do so that she forgets, and she had no time to pay attention to her feathers, teach him, in the end, to talk or sing. Jaco learned from my son to repeat such words as plug-in, captcha, joomla 2.5 modules download after his son. Even I, I don’t understand many meanings, but the bird always inserts phrases in accordance with the moment, as if it understands something.

Parrot owners often face another problem - chewing feathers. Although there are no such obvious bald patches and bald spots noticeable on the bird, as when plucking, the feather in this case is also deformed and leave this one without no attention is possible. Moreover, the reasons as a result of which these undesirable processes occur and the treatment in both cases will be the same.

For Jaco, the reason for pulling out feathers can be a new toy, lack of communication, a change of residence, even within the same apartment, emotional stress in the family, because they are very sensitive to your mood. For young birds, such a disorder can be caused by a hormonal imbalance in the body, when the bird does not understand what is happening to it. An even bigger mistake would be to look for a mate for him at this time.

Parrots do not have the instinct of reproduction, and how they relate to the process of reproduction, they comprehend only when they are free and communicate with relatives. Therefore, if you decide to breed, then in this case you can subject the bird to even more stress when it fails. This is tantamount to forcing a teenager to marry when he is not yet ready to start his own family. In order for your parrots to be able to create a family, they will have to give up human communication and find a common language with a partner, but then you will have to come to terms with the fact that it will no longer be the same pet that devoted a lot of time only to you.

The most common cause of feather-pulling and chewing in Grays is boredom. After all, this is a very smart and sociable bird. Imagine what you would do if you were just put in a chair in the middle of the room for the whole day and not allowed to do anything? You, at best, will start biting your nails, and the parrot, out of boredom, begins to chew or pull out feathers, because there is nothing else for him to do. Therefore, when you need to leave a parrot alone, there are several options. Check if he has enough toys, you can leave the TV on, all some communication. Well, it is advisable to purchase or sew a special jumpsuit that covers those places that are intensively “processed” by a parrot.

Often the owners of parrots are faced with such a problem as plucking feathers. In order to avoid or cope with this problem, it is necessary to know what such actions indicate and what should be done immediately.

Features of the behavior of parrots

Parrots are one of the most finicky and vulnerable bird species in the world. Almost every action they take indicates a change in mood and level of satisfaction, or vice versa, dissatisfaction with something in their life. Any strange movement, sound, or action of a bird can be a signal that the pet is unhappy with something. Unusual behavior may also indicate health problems. Therefore, uncharacteristic actions of a pet should be detected in time and carefully monitored.

Usually the behavior of a parrot is due to two types of factors:

External factors - living conditions, food, change of scenery, the appearance of new animals or people.
Biological factors - the influence of age, hormonal disruptions, illness or puberty (this is strongly influenced by the appearance of a partner).

The most common manifestations of the internal state of parrots are:

Trembling is a very common manifestation of a change in behavior, it indicates sparseness, agitation or arousal.
Flying inside the cage is an indicator of good physical shape.
Strange sounds, or cries near people - the bird is frightened and ready to defend itself (maybe even attack).
Spread wings - the parrot feels uncomfortable in the environment, it is hot.
Lack of interest in food and water - most often this phenomenon is observed when buying a parrot, or moving, it is due to the fact that the bird is not yet used to the new and retains security measures for itself. Water can also be sufficient in the pet's diet, especially if there are fresh fruits and vegetables, then the reluctance to drink is absolutely normal.

Did you know? Parrots give their offspring names! It will be very difficult for a person to hear the difference between sounds, but for each chick it is individual.

Particular attention should be paid to biological factors. First of all, this is the period of incubation of eggs and molting. During these periods, parrots can become extremely aggressive and can even bite the owner. This is absolutely normal as they are just trying to protect their offspring and feel unsafe. During the molting period, birds experience discomfort - itching, slight pain, this leads to increased irritation.

Among the biological factors, there are hormonal periods: a parrot can feed the owner, or a mirror, because he sees another parrot in it, rub against the bars, coo, spread his wings, start making a nest. During these periods, the bird may show aggression, so you should remove the irritants (mirror, toy) and wait out this period.

Why does a parrot itches and plucks its feathers: reasons

During the molting period, when the parrot feels itchy, due to the growth of new feathers, he tries to pull out the old ones, in which case this is absolutely normal, but if the skin is damaged to the point of blood and the pet is constantly itching, you need to pay attention to this and start treatment. A number of reasons can serve as factors for the emergence of such a process.

Containment Breach

If the necessary conditions for life are violated, the pet's skin can be severely damaged, which in turn leads to pulling out feathers. Most often this is due to the wrong temperature and humidity for the parrot.

At very high temperatures and dry air, the skin of the bird begins to peel off, becomes covered with scales, like dandruff, and begins to itch a lot. The optimum temperature and humidity are + 20-25⁰С and humidity 70-80%.

Important! Placing the cage near a fireplace, heater, or radiator can be very harmful to your parrot's health!

Irregular cleaning of the cage can also lead to skin irritation and disease in the pet. Also, smoke and insufficient lighting can cause health problems for the bird.

Skin irritation

Improper nutrition can lead to diseases such as hepatitis, fatty liver, tumors of the liver and kidneys, liver rupture, nephritis. All these diseases proceed quite imperceptibly, their symptoms are apathy, lack of appetite, bad stools and skin problems.

Stress

Causes of stress for a parrot can be: moving to another place, travel, change of owner, separation from another parrot or death, neighborhood in the same cage with another parrot of the same sex (competition and tension arises), change of cage, having a dog or cat that is aggressive towards the parrot, physical pain. All such actions can immerse the bird in a state of stress. This leads to the fact that she pulls out her feathers.

Also, if ointments were previously used to treat a bird and they were poorly absorbed, it will be stressful for her and she will get rid of oily feathers. This can become a habit and even when the feathers are clean, she will still try to get rid of them.

Did you know? Parrots have been pets for 3,000 years! The Egyptians and Chinese were the first to tame them.

Failure to meet all needs can also lead to the fact that the pet will get rid of feathers. Often it is associated with loneliness. For example, Jaco parrots require communication, and if the owner leaves the house for the whole day, then the bird starts to get bored. The same goes for the need for space, food and entertainment. When there are no toys in the cage at all, boredom can become the cause of depression.

Full and sound sleep is very important for birds, if it is not due to external stimuli, constant noise, then the bird will be aggressive and may begin to get rid of feathers.

Important! A holistic care of the parrot is necessary, the absence of at least one element of care can lead to severe illness and stress for the bird.

What to do?

Once the cause is identified, immediate action must be taken to stop feather loss.

Inspection and observation

If pulling out feathers leads to skin damage to the point of blood, and is also accompanied by symptoms such as apathy, lack of appetite, poor stools, aggressiveness, peeling of the skin, the presence of black sticks (feather-eaters, lice) on the body you must contact your veterinarian immediately.

But if it happens during a molt and is not accompanied by the above symptoms, then this is normal, since new feathers cause itching and irritation. If the molt is delayed, then this is also considered an alarm.

Veterinary care

First of all, a visit to the veterinarian will help determine the exact cause of feather loss, since some variants (diseases of the internal organs, fungal diseases, mites) are very difficult to determine on your own.

If the cause is stress, then most often a bitter spray is prescribed, which does not contain harmful substances and stops the bird from pulling out. An aloe vera spray is also prescribed, as it is a natural antiseptic that helps soften and moisturize the skin, as well as stop bleeding. Often used calcium pangamat and vitamin B 15. The doctor will be able to determine the best treatment option individually for each pet.

Help and treatment at home

If there is no opportunity to go to the veterinarian, you can resort to home treatment. First of all, it is necessary to determine the cause of the phenomenon.

When an inexperienced poultry farmer sees for the first time how his feathered pet tortures himself, he is perplexed and horrified. The bird pulls out feathers, and blood runs along the bars of the cage. This picture makes you run away from home. So say the owners on the forums. What happens to the feathered pet? What is the reason for this behaviour? How to help a parrot bounce back?

But the diet is wrong...

Chaotic bird nutrition is one of the most common causes of itching. Many owners make an irreparable mistake, allowing the bird to eat up the leftovers from the master's table, allowing them to eat pasta, meatballs, peck pancakes, fried seeds, raw meat. Parrots get used to such food quickly. It is convenient for the owners, because you do not need to spend money on special food, you can eat with the bird. But this happiness ends quickly. One day, the bird begins to pull out its own feathers, and at such a pace that soon they will remain only on the head and neck. It is simply impossible to reach there with a beak. It must be understood that food that is suitable for our body is taboo for birds. And if you allow the parrot to constantly eat from the master's table, then his metabolism is disturbed, his kidneys and liver are affected. The feathered pet is experiencing severe itching. He often itches, and therefore pulls out feathers. Also, females can do this during the period of feeding chicks, when their diet lacks protein and minerals.

And stress is typical for birds

Emotional experiences can also cause a bird to pluck its own feathers. Stress in parrots can occur as a result of moving to a smaller cage, after the death of a partner or separation from him, or a change of owner. Sometimes the causes of emotional upheaval are physical punishment. Some owners beat birds for pranks, unwillingness to learn to speak. And stress can also be the result of keeping two birds of the same sex in one cage. One will dominate, the other will be weaker. She just may have a stressful condition with plucking feathers. Cats and dogs can also scare a parrot. If the cat attempts to get the bird out of the cage, then it experiences a strong shock.

And life all alone, when the owner rarely communicates with the parrot, can also lead to stressful conditions, because in nature these birds are flocking. They don't tend to be lonely. People who leave their birds alone for the whole day should not get a gray parrot. They are very sensitive to loneliness and more often than others experience emotional discomfort about this.

The thyroid gland is responsible for the growth of feathers in birds. It produces hormones that affect oxidative processes in tissues, metabolism, and thermoregulation. During molting in birds, thanks to this organ, the level of oxidative processes in tissues increases. The blood contains a high concentration of nitrogen and sulfur, which are necessary for the development of feathers. When the parrot deprives itself of them, then the thyroid gland, as during natural molting, begins to work hard. The feathers grow back, but the stressed parrot is left without them again. The thyroid gland again intensively synthesizes hormones. The bird plucks its plumage again and as a result, the main organ of the endocrine system is depleted. It stops producing hormones. Then the bird can become completely bald. Only large wing feathers, flight and tail feathers will remain on her body. That is why you need to carefully monitor the condition of the birds and create emotional comfort for them.