Female CAG plucking

[aimige]

I have a female CAG named Earl. She came to me as a feather chewer but is now plucking. I have tried all the over the counter stuff, red palm oil, no chew, no pluck, flax seeds, avi calm, and so on. She is now in a collar and her feathers are coming back in.

Now her plucking pattern is only on her breast area which the doc said was hormonal. But she is only about 18 months old and I think that is kinda young for hormonal plucking.

She also eats all the time but doesn't seem to be gaing weight. She is about 386 with her collar but I don't know how much it weighs.

I am gonna see if she will let me hand feed her some Exact hand feeding food with some baby food in it at night to help her gain weight.

What is your opinion on the plucking/diet issues?

She gets beak appetite with veggies in the AM, pallets and seed mix all day long, nutriberries as a snack, then a bean/grain mix for supper unless she eats with me.


Thanks in Advance,
Amy Bryant

[Maggie-]

Hi Amy,

Did the vet test her and find hormonal issues? Did the vet do a nutritional panel? Did you have her tested for giardia and aspergillosis and zinc toxicity too?

Sometimes plucking on the breast could also relate to emotional insecurity issues. Realize she was just taken from another home, which certainly could be emotionally unsettling. I'm sure you do, but spend time reminding her how much you love her and how special she is and she will be with you forever!!!

Spoon feeding is a GREY'T idea! At 18 months she is still a young bird. She may not have been weaned appropriately anyway. In nature, bird parents continue to feed their babies by regurgitation while teaching them to eat on their own. They don't make them STARVE the way we appear to do by going cold turkey onto other foods from the formula. So, she may actually really be hungry but not able to communicate it. The feather picking could have related to that too but the last owner may not have picked up on it.

Is Earl a small Grey? If not, 386 is a very low weight. You may want to also do things like give her pureed beta carotene foods, such as butternut squash....or carrots, and so on. I grew Merlin and Sweetpea up on that stuff. I got a half butternut squash, put it in a casserole dish with a little water in the bowl...skin up...baked at 350 until soft...spooned out, pureed with a little water...sometimes combined with a little banana or other things good for them....and gave them a spoonful or two every night. They loved it and did gain some weight but it also helped them feel secure at night. A young bird that is "starving" at night can quite easily become a feather picker. I don't mean that she has not been fed food but realize that when they learn to go from formula to eating veggies and seeds and on, that is a lot less food and they get hungry. Wild parents kept feeding their babies as they learned to eat on their own and until they have learned to eat enough..... I'm not convinced most breeders do. That's my two cents. (One note: we should not EVER try to copy wild birds by giving them ANYTHING from our mouths to our birds. Human bacteria in the mouth can make birds VERY sick.)

Please keep me posted. I love it...a girl named Earl! Cool!!!

Blessings,
Maggie-

[Guest]

I asked my vet to do a blood panel on her but he said it would be a waste of money. So we did the collar instead and a dna test to check the sex. That is why she is named Earl...we though she was male so my husband named her after the tea.
I got her from a local bird shop where she was weaned by the owner along with a clutch mate.
She started chewing her feathers in the shop and even chewing the cage mates feathers.
I knew she was gonna be a chewer but I didn't expect her to pluck. The Doctor wanted me to put her on a all pallet diet and she plucked more and was agressive towards me so I gave her the seed mix back and just added the pallets to it.
She plucked her chest bare when I brought a Mollucan into the home but he was only here for a couple of weeks then I gave him to a breeder. He was a rescue.
She has tons of toys, I cuddle her when she lets me. I have her in the front room where she is the only bird in the room.

I am not sure if Earl is considered a small grey.. my vet said she needed to gain weight. I am trying to feed her everything I can find that she will take that is healthy for her.

Tonight I made some of the exact hand feeding formula and added some organic corn and sweet potato baby food and she only tasted it then ate some banana from my hand.

Thanks for the reply,
Amy Bryant

[Guest]

I forgot to say we got her back in February of 2007.

Your book was the first book I bought when she came home with me.

Amy Bryant

[Maggie]

Hi Amy,

Earl started plucking because she was jealous of the cockatoo. The plucking bare on the chest sounds like a definite insecurity issue because she became very jealous. Think about it. She's had a crummy life with the store. You come along and there's hope. Then you bring in a competitor. Just tell her how much you love her and will not let her go. The emotional lives for these guys is so tough because we don't understand them.

Another thing: instinctively, birds do NOT eat something they do not recognize as food. In nature, if they did, they may die. Birds eat what their parents teach them to eat. We humans tend to make mistakes....if I put it in a food bowl, of course they should see it as food. But with Greys, it does not work that way. For that reason, it would take some time for Earl to learn to like pellets. Going cold turkey doesn't work. You also have to get excited and teach her how to eat the pellets. See the following article that we JUST added today to the public board:
http://www.africangreys.com/articles/be ... kills.html

I disagree with your vet. A nutritional panel is NOT a waste of money. If there is an area that she lacks or has too much of, you can adjust supplements and foods. Do you like the vet? Are there other avian vets in your area to try?

The one thing I do not like about blood tests is what the birds have to go through in having the blood drawn. Some vets put the birds under anesthesia, which would make me nervous. So I don't like to have it done often at all. If you decide to do one, make sure the vet has done MANY bird blood tests because having the blood drawn is stressful on the bird. Some get so stressed that they've gone phobic....some have actually died. Forgive me for writing this. As you can see, I am conflicted about the idea of blood tests because of the enormous stress on the birds.

Back to better things.....I love Earl's name! I thought Merlin was a boy too....but SHE came up with the nickname of Merle.

I am honored that you purchased my book. I hope and pray that it is being used to help thousands of these precious creatures out there!

GREY'T Blessings,
Maggie-

[aimige]

Thank you for all your advice on Earl. I am going to print out the articles and read them. Earl goes in for a check up around Sept 17th. I will ask the vet again to do a nutritional panel. I am going to look around for another avian vet for a second opinion about her plucking. I think there is one in the Destin area not far from me.

I will keep you updated on what we do. I feel grateful for finding your site and being able to communicate with you about Earl. Thank you for being here to help us. I sit and look at Earl and can't help but think I am doing something wrong and it breaks my heart and I love her so much. My hubby thinks I am crazy because I tell her that I do all the time.

Thanks again,
Amy Bryant

[Maggie-]

Hi Amy,

I am so pleased to be here to help. I feel like the Godmother for the species.

One thing to remember....our Greys are VERY telepathic. They pick up on ALL of our feelings. If you sit there and think something is wrong and it is your fault, Earl will feel that something is wrong with her. She doesn't understand EXACTLY what you are thinking but she picks up enough to feel insecure that something is wrong. So, take blame out of your head. My Pea is also picking but I know she will one day stop. Just sit there and tell Earl that she is the MOST beautiful bird in the world and you are going to do everything you can to make things better and better. Please do not beat up on yourself.

When I first got Pea, Merlin was so jealous that she started pulling out her tail feathers right in front of me. I took one away and she pulled another. Later, she said to Pea, "YICK! You're SO lucky!" That was the moment I knew Merle was not ready to share me. So, I found Pea another home for a year while helping Merle feel more secure. Then Pea came back. But Pea went thru a hard time at the other home.....so she has insecurity issues. I think MOST Greys have their insecurity issues. They were taken from their parents too early and not given long enough time to develop and grow as they would have in the wild. So, ALL we can do is love them and do the best we can.

You are doing a wonderful job!!! When you do look into nutritional panel possibilities, please make sure you understand how they will draw the blood and if they have done it a lot. Okay?

Thanks for writing. This board has been too quiet. Hopefully, this will encourage others to ask questions too.

Blessings,
Maggie-

PS: YOU and EARL are SO lucky to have found each other!!!