Living With A Feather Plucking African Grey… Poppy’s Story
Poppy
I want you to meet Poppy, or Peeweegirl as our family affectionately know her. She has been living with us for three and a half years now since she was a 17 week old baby grey. She has always been a friendly happy bird, a family bird and an affectionate little lady. She is a charmer and the heart and soul of the family..everyone adores her.
Let me tell you more about our family..I work as a classroom assistant, Poppy’s “partner” Alan works from home as a watercolour artist. My children Adam and Abbey are coming up for 8 and 7 and we have several other pets, two dalmations and a collie dog, two lovebirds, a cat, two fish and a hamster. It is a lively busy happy household where we all come and go..and right at the heart of our home is this beautiful little parrot, bought for my husband when he was 50, three years ago, but loved and cherished by us all.
Poppy & Family
She is out nearly all day, someone is always home with her, she has a wonderful diet,(if I do say so meself..) tidy mix supplemented with loads of fresh fruit and veg, chicken, hard boiled eggs, a bit of salmon,cheese loads of tasty things. We make sure she has 10 to 12 hours sleep a night, and like all of us she is grumpy next day when she doesn’t get it. She talks, all the time..Knows each of us by name although i am still Mummy..she will shout Alan mercilessly. Adam and Abbey get called all the time too. She loves Cbeebies and shouts “IgglePiggle” upon the appearance of In The Night Garden… she still shouts “Wellard” at Eastenders..and when Top Gear comes on she makes the noise of a screeching car going around the track..yells “Hamster” when Richard Hammond appears, (mainly for my benefit it has to be said). She beeps whenever a car pulls up outside my house, says hello whenever my phone rings at home, tells the kids to get to school in the morning and shouts up night night to them from under her bed blanket when they go to bed at night..She says and does so many things that our life would be black without her..and its not just that she talks..there is a place in my world that only she can ever fill. She only has to give me a certain look or a certain cuddle..She is my best friend.
So you can imagine how worried we were when she began plucking just before last christmas. I had decorated the living room as usual with the exception of a new christmas tree. Had I known then what I know now it would have never left its box..hindsight is a wonderful thing. We decorated the living room in all its glory, much tinsel and dancing singing things, and this new big tree pride of place in the living room. She eyed it with uncertainty and then left it alone..we thought she was being a good bird and told her so, fully expecting her to leave it alone instead of try and pull it down as she had in years gone by.
Christmas is a busy period, all shopping and rushing around. My baby suddenly found herself spending more time in her cage than normal as my husband and I tried to get all the shopping done together..normally I would have gone alone but hadn’t been too well this year so hubby was with me most of the time. And we left the heating on for Peewee as the weather was cold. Within a week or two we noticed the living room awash with white feather moult dust..we knew this was the wrong time of year and consulted her breeder, who told us not to wory it was just the heating and to turn it down a few degrees. The feathers kept coming..we put a bowl of water over the heaters to make the air more humid and bought some Aloe Vera juice and added it to her water bottle giving frequent baths. But it didn’t ease up it got worse and so did my bird..she began withdrawing and wouldn’t leave the cage..it became obvious she was terrified of the tree. As soon as Christmas was over we removed it, we would have taken it down sooner had the kids not been broken hearted at loosing their tree before Santa had been, as soon as was safe down it came..but by then the damage was done. Poppy had begun plucking herself around the back and her tail end..and she continued even after the tree had gone and the kids gone back to school and life was normal. We tried everything, new toys, distraction, keeping her soaked..more time with her, I even took time off work to be with her more. But by early January she had a big angry bare red patch of skin aroud her back end from chewing and plucking, I phoned the vet as I thought she may have an infection in the skin and she looked in pain. The vet was away and an appointment was made for a week that Monday to see him and discuss Poppy’s condition. That same morning my husband phoned our breeder whome we got Poppy off for advice as the skin was raw and we weren’t sure what to put on it without causing harm..He told us to apply Iodine solution..please I beg anyone reading this.. NEVER EVER EVER put Iodine on a bird.. I’ve learnt from bitter and painful experience. It burnt her…suddenly I was demanding to see the vet asap and never mind the holiday!! That first vet was awful..not an avian one and pretty clueless so I consulted the Parrot Society who reccommended a lovely gentleman. We registered with him and he saw Poppy the same day.
Then began what i can only describe as four months of hell and heartbreak. The first thing to do was get rid of infection so Poppy began a course of oral Baytrill that was to go on for months twice a day by mouth. We also had antibiotic cream to rub on the sore bit..which resulted in many bites to my husband and I. There was no obvious improvement so the vet switched her treatment to a steriod spray which we sprayed on the sore bit, Cortavance spray..and later steroid tablets for her to take crumbled up on a spoon.
February 14th, Valentine’s Day, a day I won’t ever forget. I was at my computer as I so often am early evening..I looked up and blood was pouring from what looked like Poppy’s bottom..and I mean pouring. For weeks I had been fearful of an impacted preen gland or even an internal tumour..I was terrified something had gone badly wrong for her. My husband wrapped her in a warm towel and tried to stop the bleeding while I made all the arrangments, and at 7.30pm on a cold wet february night we rushed our baby to the surgery, for what we honestly thought was going to be the very last time. I can’t describe how I felt in that car holding her in my lap..I couldn’t see through my tears and I thought my heart was breaking. We had the children with us too and it was a sorry party who met the waiting vet that night. He examined her thoroughly and she was moaning and crying like a baby, so were my kids at the noises she was making. I was just shaking, trembling like a leaf. He looked inside her with what I can only describe as the tiniest of lamps..couldn’t find any tumours or other nasty things, but saw that she had torn the already inflamed skin with either her own beak or on something in the living room in flight. The vet stitched her up and gave her a little injection and we brought her home. I barely slept a wink that night but she pulled through. From then on it was weekly trips to the vets surgery for her. She lost loads of weight and her poo was like water, she looked ill and lost her sparkle. I began a frenzied search online for any information i could find..that was when i found several wonderful forums one of which was this one.. I was convinced my bird would die unles someone could help me. On the way I made some wonderful friends who i hope will be close for life.. I have learned so much..but still my bird was plucking..it was like a vicious circle..the feathers began to poke through and she pulled them out again. And again. And again. I grew obsessed with it..to the point of almost neglecting my family and home, all my spare time spent either with Poppy or online trying to get advise…
She was getting better finally..a new set of feathers growing..and staying there. I was considering a family holiday and also making plans to rehome two new greys which the whole family was looking forward to. We thought adding to our family would help Poppy, give her company and a new focus to help her keep from plucking. Then in April we had a burglary, the car got ruined and they attempted the house too. My parrot went nuts in the cage it was awful and heartbreaking to hear.
The police were at the house as you can imagine and everything was all over the place..that was a Friday night, by Sunday she had pulled the lot again and was back to square one…
I’m ashamed to say i lost it a bit.. I was very low and upset. We took her back to the vet who appeared at a loss, he said he could find no physical cause for the plucking now so it had to be emotional..stress related etc..he prescribed tranquilisers for Poppy. I remember breaking my heart and feeling that I had failed the bird I loved so much..Nothing I was doing could make her well.
Me & Poppy
I had a phone call from a concerned friend from this forum, this lady knows who she is and is a friend in a million I love her like a sister and owe her so much. She put me in touch with a lady on another forum who uses natural methods to nurse birds back to health. This lady is a remarkable soul, she has kept parrots for 40 years and is gifted at nursing them back to health. Through her friend she passed me a treatment plan for Poppy, and told me not to despair it would all work out. Here is how Poppy looked at her bottom end as I began this new treatment plan…
Peewee Underside
Very sore you will agree. I was advised to go shopping and buy her some Cyder Vinegar, some Palm Nut Oil, and some F10Sc and also some Guardian angel. Here is what I was advised to do with the items…
Red Palm & Canola Oil
Aspall Cyder Vinegar
“Pop a teaspoon of cyder vinegar into the drinking water once a day..it will smell like scrumpy!! Perfectly safe to drink and that will help clean out the toxins from inside her little body (so will milk thistle if you have that it will help cleanse her liver too). As well as in her drinking water, fill your kitchen sink up with warm water and put a capful in it..and from this fill a 500ml spray bottle and bathe her with it..it will help improve her feather condition and also soothe the discomfort and prickle of bare skin patches and newly emerging feathers. This can be done as many times a day as you can. (It seemed odd to me as i have always been advised not to spray them too many times a day as it can dry out the skin) in this instance the theory is a wet bird cant or wont pluck, and as this is the bigger issue at the moment then try and keep her at least damp for much of the time if not saturated..” That was the hardest thing for me as I was convinced it would give Poppy a chill or make her skin more sore but it worked…
Now the palm nut oil.. This palm nut oil is reccommended because of the vitamins in it which a lot of pluckers are defficient in. I was advised to mix two teaspoons of palm nut oil with one of honey and a bit of butter and heat it all together in the microwave till its all runny, about 20 seconds..then drizzle it either on toast or better still on some of the fresh fruit or veg..all the parrots seem to go mad for it and it gets goodness into them.
I got a calcium and vitamin supplement and sprinkled that on Poppy’s food too, pluckers tend to be defficient in particularly vitamin A and calcium. Poppy loves this and eats her toast, but pluckers also benefit from foods rich in vitamin A, your “red” fruit and veg such as red peppers oranges carrots tomatos and so on.
After a full week of cyder vinegar spraying you are ready to move onto F10..this is an veterinary disinfectant that will kill any virus or outer infection on the bird causing them to pluck..its also good for feather condition..it’s what they use to treat bird flu apparantly. I had the horrors initially thinking it would be too harsh but I tried it and It does seem to work..Its F10 SC Sol Concentrate 100ml. It has to be the concentrate and not the ready to use/ ready diluted one. So on week two, carry on with the cyder vinegar drinking water, but in the spray bottle I put 1ml of F10 sc to 500ml of warm water..and spray as in week one with the cyder vinegar Then week 3 spray with Cyder vinegar again, and then week 4 with F10 etc etc etc.
As well as the spray treatments put 2 pinches of Guardian Angel a day over the fruit or veg feed plenty of fruit and veg and lots of orange/red fruits/veg ie red/orange peppers carrots sweet potatoes red grapes. the red foods provide the extra vitamin A content.Guardian angel is a natural herbal stress reliever for parrots so if birds are plucking from stress it will help them settle. Its available from many online pet suppliers.
As the weeks went by and I followed the above plan I was able to reduce the amount of times I spray Poppy per day..I have noticed an all round improvement in the condition and colour of her little feathers. I also bought F10 ointment to pop on the sore bits to help them heal from the inside out. It sounded a lot of hard work and a lot to remember but I was determined to try it, and I have to say it worked..as well as all the above treatments i bought Poppy some lovely new Pine toys to get her beak into..any parrot friendly toy will do as long as they can chew it..the theory being that if I give her beak something else to do while her feathers are wet, she will chew the toys instead…
Poppy Playing
I wasn’t sure any of this would work but I tried it…taking weekly photos of her progress as shown below
Peewee Underside
Peewee Topside
Peewee Sideways
Peewee Bum
Peewee
Peewee Feeding
Peewee
Peewee
Peewee
Peewee
Peewee
Peewee Better
As you can see from viewing the above photos she is well on the road to recovery..I never thought I would see her in feather like that again I am so pleased and proud of her. She has been doing so well that I was able to take a much needed holiday last week with my childen to Towyn, knowing I could leave my baby with my husband and that she would be ok. I am happy to say that she hadn’t plucked on our return and there were tears all round when we were reunited… I feel I am finally having my beautiful bird back again..there is nobody like Poppy she is the light and the love of my life and I adore her with a passion, I only hope I get to enjoy many happy years with her in the future..I am devoted to her and I want the best for her always. That christmas tree that started all this will not be making an appearance this year I can tell you…
How she will progress in the future..I will keep you posted.
Much love Mandy and Poppy x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.
20 Responses to “Living With A Feather Plucking African Grey… Poppy’s Story”
xxxx Tears & joy, they always tend to go together xxxx
Mandy & Peewee
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”
im so happy she is on the mend, i really felt for you while reading that (im soft i no lol) we have had coco about 4 weeks but a big part of us already i want to find out now the best food to feed him with any hints thankfully recived, hope she carries on getting better, all the best to u and poppy. xxxxxxxxxxx
Dear Mandy and Poppy, I really hope I can find these items so I can also improve the health of my feather picker..Gabby 7 yrs old, African Grey. I have tried many different things to get a handle on this. But your combination of natural products…seems worth the effort. The Bird Doctors tell me it’s just boredom…His cage is large and full of toys I switch often. I even picked up a rescue bird..an Orange wing Amazon “Coco”..thinking he might need a friend close by. They both accompany my husband and I to our cabin up North on weekends, with all the extra special attention they both get there. They are both out of their cages often and get a breakfast buffet every morn along with their seed/pellet diets. I have read so many books on Greys and find no simple solutions. I’m anxious to give this a try. Thank you so much. Sincerely, Yvonne
I am so pleased your grey is now recovering. It’s also good to know that the milk thistle I am giving my Oranged Winged Amazon is doing her some good. We’ve only had our parrot for 11 months, we rehomed her after her previous owner died but she was in a bad way when we got her. The road to recovery is such a long process, 11 months down the line and I am still working very hard to get my Amazon back to health. Hats off to you for hard work! I also give my parrot red palm oil, a must have for all parrots! I also provide her with an avian light for D3. I am taking my Amazon to the vets tomorrow for more tests (like you, this is the second vet! As the last vet didn’t have much Avian knowledge, he had a little but not enough). I never thought a parrot would change my life like she has, so much so that pending her tests results I am looking to purchase a grey. I have reserched this thoroughly over the past few months, and have many of the required necessities in place. I also feel that a new parrot could teach my Amazon some of the skills that she lacks, as i’m sure she’ll be able to teach a new parrot a thing or two aswell!!
I’m praying that the test results come back clear and that all my hard work is finally paying off!
Keep up the good work!!
Love to all
Soo
x
Hi there
It was great reading your story and I am so pleased Poppy is doing well.
My Anni will be 8 in Spet and she started her plucking about a year ago. Nothing major at first, just around the legs. a few things happened..we got an Australian Bearded Dragon, whom I do not think she took to kindly, 6 months later we went away and could not take her with ( which we normally do) and then she laid her first egg. So whatever it was that triggered the plucking I am still not sure.
Anyway she has ended up with a chest that was about 80% bare. Fortunately no broken skin or infections.
Eventually when I took her to my Vet( a reputable avian vet). He immediately advised the fitting of an e-collar and took skin samples for lab analysis. E-collar is heartbreaking, but she has adjusted very well. Skin tests came back negative, so it is all in the mind.
On advice of my human dr I have put her on PROZAC!!! I ask you, and she has all of a sudden become as loving and endearing as she was 7 yrs ago. I never realised that she had undergone a personality change, because it happened gradually. She is talking non stop, even digging up phrases that I thought she had long forgotten. She is cuddly and friendly and a major pleasure to be with.
So the collar has to stay for 6 months and who knows, the PROZAC maybe forever. As long as she is a happy birdie I’ll continue.
I will however get some palm oil and Cyder vinegar, because I will do anything to help her and what you said about this made a lot of sense.
Thanks for valuable input and good luck to you and Poppy.
Glad to hear Poppy is recovering. I have printed out your program that you used for future reference, it really seems to be doing the trick. Good Luck.
Good article, lots of intersting things to digest. Very informative
I added your blog to bookmarks. And i’ll read your articles more often!
we have a 7 yr old african grey called ali who has started to pull his feathers out again we will try all of your tips and wait for any improvement glad we found your site ali is sitting on my head has i write this thanks from mick and ali
Our parrot started breaking his tail feathers about a year ago. For some reason he stopped and when the tail had grown back, he started on his chest. He is around us most of the time and only spends a day in his cage about once or twice a year. His food is on the kitchen window sill and my husband has tied wonderful branches for him to climb on from the kitchen window. We have tried a few ideas to stop him plucking but nothing has worked thus far. Will be trying your remedy from tomorrow and am looking forward to good results. We find it very distressing to see him the way he is and wondering what his problem is. Thanks for the advice.
Thank you all so much for your lovely comments Poppy and I appreciate them all..she is still doing well and still not plucking..I am glad that her story has helped other birds and owners with similar difficulties. All I can say to anyone going through this..is it does get better. Many thanks for reading! God bless Mandy Taylor- African Grey Parrot Centre xxx
what a wonderful, inspiring story. im so glad to hear poppy is on the mend. best wishes for u all in the future x
This looks like one of the most helpful sites I have visited so far with this problem. My Kiki developed this habit shortly after I adopted him 6 yrs ago. He had been found in the wild so his history is unknown. He is so loved & spoilt & is a free flyer – is only caged when he goes outside & at night to sleep. The only time he mutilates his feathers (chest, wings, shoulders, neck) is when he goes to bed & I wake up to broken feathers littered on the cage floor. I first thought he didn’t like his cage, but he won’t anywhere near any other cage, and never mutilates when he is outside during the day in the summer, so I wonder if it some sort of separation stress disorder. I will definately give this treatment a try – I am getting desparate for a cure. Fingers crossed.
Carole & Kiki xxx
I notice that you mention Milk Thistle which I have obtained, but nowhere can I find what dosage to give. Is it possible for you to advise on this – I am rather anxious to start this regime.
Many thanx
Hi Mandy. I really felt for you, reading your story. I’m so glad that Poppy is so much better now. We have had our African Grey, Billy, for a month.I never thought I could be so close to a bird! He has given us so much pleasure, so I can understand what a trauama it must have been to you, to watch your baby going through all that.Thank goodness she had such a caring owner. Well done on nursing Poppy back to health.
Reply to Carole Henty:
Dear Carole, you mention obtaining milk thistle – in which form – capsules, tinctures or seeds? Depending on the form of milk thistle the dose will vary of course. Feel free to join us on the african grey parrots forum and we can discuss milk thistle and your particular parrot and his plucking in detail too and come up with more personalised advice too! The address is http://www.african-grey-parrots.co.uk/parrot-forum/ or you can find the link to it at the top of this page.
A Message From Poppy… | African Grey Parrot Centre Blog - December 23, 2009
[...] may remember Poppy the parrot and our feather plucking African Grey. I know that as her Mummy I am proud..but she is undoubtedly one of the success stories of 2009 as [...]
A truly inspiring story, I will definately be following your routine. I also know how difficult it is to find a good avian vet, at the minute I travel 200 miles round trip to my vet, but he is highly recommended and I would travel to the end of the earth for my parrot. Heres hoping it works as well for me.
Thanks and all the best for the future.
Rick
hi mandy,
i hv bn searching for a solution for my feather plucking rani(parakeet) nd i m happy tht i hv found one….
but the only question that goes on again and again is for how long do i hv tooo continue the spray technique….
regards
farah
thank you for the feather plucking information i will be trying this method om my afrian grey, charlie he is roughly3 years old..and started plucking.his chest and neck area .i get a poor response.from the vet…so happy to have come across this article..thanking you kindly..good luck to poppy..
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