Feather Pucking green cheek

[Connie]

Hi
I've joined the forum as I am looking to expand my knowledge on the care of parrots and get advice from other parrot owners on why my female green cheek has started to feather pluck.

We've been together for 10 yrs currently there is only the 2 of us in the house. Earlier this year after her molt I noticed a lack of feathers on her legs and breast. I assumed it was related to my stress as my father was sick pre Christmas. Its normal for her to travel with me to my elderly parents as I have to visit every few weeks as I am their only family member and mum has Alzhemiers and in a care home.I have always taken her with me when I visiting family and friends and its rare for me to be away from home over night.

In the last 3 years I am home more than in the previous yrs we've been together !

Connie is out of the cage every day, although a breeder had advised me to limit her time out of the cage,but I open her cage and allo her time out of the cage as much as I can safely.

Our routine is I let her out first thing and we go to the kitchen were I prepare a foraging treat whicch may havee sweet pea, apple, grapes, blue berry, celery, carrot or whatever parrot suitable foods I have in house. There are organic pellets plus millet in her cage. Sunflower seeds, dried banana are treats.

I don't believe in feather clipping so she may fly as she wishes, more often than not she doesn't. I have encouraged her to fly to me.

I have made the room with her cage my main room and spend more time here than any where else.

When I come home from work, I open her cage and she joins me in the kitchen while I prep more fresh food for her and my own dinner, than we eat and spend time together after dinner.

She has now been to see a vet who does treated birds, although hes not an Avain vet and is some distance away.

Todate she is on Evening Primrose oil, a drop a day, which she loves! She's also had an x-ray which was clear and a blood test to check her organ functions, awaiting results on that. I've also been instructed to cover her for 12 hours a day which I know she hates. Plus she's no longer allowed to bathe in tap water only rain or deionised water.

Aside from her feather situation she appears to be in good health. There is no issue with feathers growing back except on her legs and chest...

Any advice would be appreciated,

Thanks Eileen

[Pajarita]

Hi, Eileen and Connie, welcome to the forum and I am sorry your bird is going through 'changes'.

Now, there are 3 things that I noticed from your post.
1) It doesn't seem as if she is on a solar schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk (research avian photoperiodism) and the 12D/12L (12 hours of darkness and 12 of light) became obsolete years ago because will produce sexual hormones all year round on it (one of the main causes of plucking)
2) Diet is too dry and too high in protein (pellets, sunflower seeds -a big nono for GCCs). GCCs are mostly frugivores so they need A LOT of moisture (pellets are way too dry and processed for them and they have way too much protein. Mine eat gloop, a green and a large portion of fruit and veggie (diiferent one every day).
3) It doesn't look as if she spends enough time on you. GCCs main interest in life is to be on their human all the time - and I do mean ALL THE TIME.

At 10 years of age with the wrong light schedule and a dry, high protein diet will make a bird EXTREMELY uncomfortable both in a physical and psychological point of view. Physical because their sexual organs are hugely overgrown and psychological because the bird is extremely frustrated being sexually aroused for years without any relief. I am surprised she is not masturbating and/or regurgitating...

Change her light schedule to a solar one and make sure there are no lights whatsoever hitting her cage at night PLUS no artificial lights whatsoever until the sun rays are streaming into the room or after the sun is halfway down to the horizon because it is this twilight that turns on and off their internal 'clock'.

Change her diet to a wetter and low protein one and allow her to be ON you all day long and, in time (she's had ten years of a screwed up endocrine system so this is not fixed in a month or two) and if she has not plucked for long, she will stop plucking (most of the time, if they have gotten used to plucking, they keep on doing it even when you eliminate the original reason for it).

let me know if you have any quetions.