My Parrot Keeps Pulling Her Feathers Out...

[kitchenmares]

Please could someone help me. I have two rescue dogs and two rescue parrots. My dogs I have had for years and also the parrots (12 years).
My parrots come out everyday from their cages. The one I am asking for help about is Lulu who I have had from young (ish). She laid an egg last year and so proved she was a female!! She goes in the shower with me most mornings, she sits on my shoulders whilst I am around the house and gets a good variety of food from her usual seeds, veg and food from our plate. And so she gets around and has good food.
Ever since the egg business she has started to pull her feathers out and gradually she has 50% baldness. WHY!? It`s terrible, I can see her being bald completely soon!
I spray my parrots with a conditioner spray and clean them out regular as they also live in the house, in the conservatory. She lives on her own with Physco living in a cage next to her who is a Red Rump Rosella (they don`t like eachother).
Why is she pulling all her feathers out? Painful too as she screams out every time she pulls one out! When she is on my shoulder she still pulls them out, it doesn`t matter if she is being busy or anything.
I make sure she is kept busy with all sorts of toys etc. varied diet etc. It just seems like a habit, just the way children bite their nails!
HELP please, she is looking awful!
Thankyou in advance x

[jim360]

Is there any pattern to the area of her body where she's pulling the feathers out? How soon did it start after the egg-laying? For how long has she lived next to Psycho? Is Psycho a male? Does she ever preen normally?

As a first step you might want to try moving Lulu's cage somewhere away from Psycho's, preferably to another room entirely, and ideally a quieter place to sleep at night. You could also try covering the cage when she's sleeping. Diet, toys and time spent with you all seem to be productive, and the right things to do, so on the face of it there must be something deeper going on. I'm wondering if it's sexual, especially if the egg-laying appears to have triggered it.

[boxtops]

It sounds like stress to me - take her to the vet. As jim suggests - move her cage, she might be feeling threatened by Psycho.

[Linotype]

Hi there: do you have an African Grey perhaps? We had one for years (it escaped) but a pal of mine who also had one had the feather plucking episode ... I well remember him deducing it was simply down to jealousy (once he established it wasn't mites). You need a vet that specialises in birds ... an 'ordinary' vet just isn't up to the job ... no offence all the vets out there! Regards

[wildwood]

It is possibly due to her getting into breeding condition and being frustrated at not being able to look for a mate. Birds rarely pluck in the wild - apart from through insect infestation in the nest or limb damage/annoyance and itching ailments.

Having said that, we've had parrots that successfully breed and one of the pair plucks itself and sometimes the babies. Very annoying.

There appears to be no one cause for plucking but it surely is due to them being not happy or diet.

If the cause is deemed to be psychological, with some cockatoos a course of steroids and/or hormone injections are beneficial.

If anyone finds a sure cure s/he will become a millionaire.

[kitchenmares]

lap top had a break down, sorry being late answering....thankyou so much for all your interesting answers! She started "preening" a bit vicously a few weeks after frightening herself from laying her very first egg. I noticed she was frightened of it so took it away..she had rolled the egg onto the floot anyway. I think Physco is a male as he has never laid an egg and is always "feeding" the end of my nose or ear lobe! Lulu has been on a vitamin drop into her water, she is covered up at night (said goodnight to and everything!), she doesn`t preen normally any more..I can see the wing bone on the outside of her wings now which is very frightening for me.
I am moving her cage away from Physco`s now (although they have been looking at each other for 12 years now.) The pattern of area she plucks seems to be what ever she can reach!
If the plucking is sexual..do you think she needs a mate? She lives for me and likes me in her sight most of the time. When we have a shower together in the mornings she loves it and shouts out "weee weee"!THEN when you are sure she wouldn`t be bored...she screams and pulls a feather out. About every half an hour to an hour, it`is awful.
I`m reading every message fro you guys, thankyou so much...what do you think now? x

[kitchenmares]

Lulu is a Hahns Macaw and Physco is a red rumped Rossella. by the way...