Plucking?!?!?

[JJcotw]

I was away for most of the weekend. Just got home. There seems to be some white fluff sticking out of Kiwi's chest. How can I tell if he's plucking his feathers or not? I have seen him preening and cleaning himself quite a bit, but never yanking feathers out. Can excessive cleaning do this? Or perhaps he is molting? I've seen pics of molting birds, but I haven't seen what it looks like right when they start. Maybe he JUST started... or maybe he's plucking? Or maybe a couple feathers are just out of alignment?

Advice?

[kimsbirds]

Before we can make any suggestions, we'd need to see some pics if you have any...otherwise, molting comes to mind...

[JJcotw]

He seems to also have some rough feathers on his head... it's probably molting. Plus I've been watching him all morning, and he doesn't seem to be plucking. I was told that he is about 4 months old. Is it normal to have a good molt at this age?

[kimsbirds]

First molts usually occur more about the 5-6 month age. Could his age be a bit off perhaps?
Are you seeing lots of fuzzy white feathers around his cage bottom daily? Extra baths can sometimes help...and also some extra safflower or hemp seed, if you can find them.

[JJcotw]

Yes, his age is probably incorrect. A woman my husband knows from work gave him to us for free, and I think she wanted him off of her hands, so told us a younger age to sweeten the deal.

Tonnes of little feathers at the bottom of the cage. I've put a large bathing dish in the bottom of their cage and he took a little splash earlier.

[JJcotw]

Well I'm a little bit alarmed right now. I saw him cleaning himself, which is normal, but then I saw him rooting around in his chest feathers, and a feather came out! Then he chewed on it a bit and spit it out.

Do feathers ever come out like that during preening? Or is he a plucker?http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh139/JJcotw/DSCN4060_edited.jpghttp://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh139/JJcotw/DSCN4059.jpg

Hopefully these attachments work -- you can sort of see where there is a patch on his chest of white -- it is kind of indented there, like a lot of feathers are missing.

What should I do guys? He wasn't plucking when I got him, and he was stuck in a TINY cage with two budgies. Now he's in a HUGE cage with another lovebird, and they love each other. I don't know what can be wrong to make him pluck himself.

[thebubbleking]

Sounds like preening to me when sunshine and boo take a bath they preen out a feather or two.
If it does not cause him pain or irritation sounds normal.
Michael would know more about plucking then me i am just saying what my birds do and seems normal.

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Well, first of all, don't panic. :) Several of us have lovebirds who pluck
feathers from time to time.

I would start by looking at his surroundings. Eliminate any air fresheners or strong scented cleaners. Is there anything that has changed recently that might be causing him stress? You said he had a small cage before; do you think he might be missing his old cage? If you still have it, put it out and see how he reacts.

Another thought, how is his diet? Does he eat a variety of different foods? Is the water good in your area? Where I live, the tap water smells very strongly of chlorine; I give my birds bottled water instead.

If you can't find an obvious reason for your little guy to be plucking, please do call a qualified avian vet.

Another thought, there is a theory among some avian veterinarians, that pet birds pluck to fill the time in their day that they would normally spend foraging for food. Birds in the wild spend a LOT of time foraging for food. The rest of their time is spent socializing with other birds, and preening. If you take away the thing they do most (foraging) then they have to find other things to do to fill their day, and they end up overpreening, which becomes feather picking or plucking. So the idea here is that if you make your bird's food a little more challenging to find, they will spend more time foraging, and less time preening. Do a search on this site and see what you can find under "foraging" "plucking" and "feather picking" - several folks have posted suggestions and good advice.

[sphinxface]

This kindof thing happened to me too when I first got my Beezle. I gave it a day or two and it stopped so I think he might have been molting. He also likes to chew on everything whether or not it's a feather so :P