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| | From:  Halfnose1 (Original Message) | Sent: 11/12/2006 4:11 PM |
Hi, I'm not new, just haven't been in for a while. I am wondering. My bluefront is missing a patch of his feathers on his chest. Just the down is showing. I don't see feathers on his cage bottom or the floor. He isn't usually a feather plucker. He has jumped off his cage a few times out of fright. He can't fly or he tries to. When I feel his chest I can feel some feather growth. Do you think an injury occurred to cause the loss? He seems fine. He eats, poops are fine and temperment is good. Demanding as usual! I have had him for 3 years. Thanks, Mari |
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Welcome back. Do you see tiny little strips of green on the floor? My bird strips her feathers off in little tiny strips, like hairs. I do see small pieces of feathers, too, but there can be many different ways for them to pick at themselves. An injury might be able to cause this. A visit to the vet is essential to find out what is causing it or you could wake up one day to find him nearly naked. Has he been DNA or surgically sexed? Are you positive he's a male? Some female birds pick their feathers from the breast to build the nest lining. Are his wings clipped to short to allow him to land softly? Heavy birds can crack their keel bone if they crash too hard on the breast. Try to protect him from this happening since he cannot fly. Annie |
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Thanks Annie. I haven't seen any strips of feathers. I wasn't really looking either so I will keep my eye out. I haven't had a DNA test. Can you tell by behavior, stupid question I know but this is some of what he does. He tries to feed me sometimes by regurgitation. He gets low on the cage and flashes his red and yellow colors and bobs his head and body sometimes. Mostly during mating season he is obnoxious and gets very over excited and wants to feed me or be with me 24/7. His wings were clipped by a so called pro (ex male friend) one side has grown back and one side has half grown back. My poor baby Marvin. He is such a good boy, too. He doesn't get into any trouble. I will keep him safer from now on and keep my eyes open for those feathers. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again Annie. Mari |
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That certainly is mating behavior and obviously you are his intended mate. No, I can't tell if that is male or female. They both do the fancy movements to attract mates. Since you can feel some pinfeathers on his chest he is growing new feathers right now. Maybe his breedy season is over for now. You will see him preening the keratin off the feather shafts, which is normal. The keratin he picks off will look like white dandruff. Makes a mess but it's normal. Still, watch to see if you can see him pulling little chunks of feathers, or a shaft which will be dark maroon or blue on the unfeathered end. Annie |
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Hi annie, Ok, Marvin is pulling tiny strips of feathers from his chest and some chunks, too. He's acting normal other than that besides the mating stuff and being demanding. I can touch him there and he doesn't seem bothered. Last night he was doing a little back and forth dance on the cage with his neck feathers all puffed out saying "don't do that" and then he would go down with his chest on the cage and his tail feathers almost in the air and bob his head up and down. Now this is a mating attempt correct? Does this signify that HE is a SHE if the tail feathers are raised? My cockateil does this constantly. She masturbates all the time and the does this at the edge of her cage and she is a she. HELP!! Thank you. Mari |
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Two of my pet birds plucked/picked at their feathers and what caused that is beyond me... (ofcourse I blame a pellet diet from weaning since that's what those two only ate before I bought both and struggled to get them to eat anything else) and they remained picky...... But back to the feathers and the chest area or especially around the crop area is where the females who are getting into a hormonal mode will pull those feathers mainly as that area is where they would cover the eggs and if you felt there it is extremely hot enabling (check the area and see if it feels very warm) them to keep the eggs warm in the nest. I found that some of my females would also pull the male chest area feathers again to encourage him to sit on the eggs.... Have you noticed any change in the poop? loose and runny large poops culd be another sign of a change in the hormones, in the females... It is so upsetting when they pick or barber and we all feel for you going through this.... 
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Your description sounds exactly like my female pionus when she's in mating mood, but I am not positive that an amazon male wouldn't do the very same thing. I haven't had a male amazon who did that. Mine always got very aggressive and really loud. Lots of fluffed feathers and eye pinning. Looked pretty scary. I certainly knew not to touch them when they acted like that. Maybe other amazon owners will tell us if males do the tail up display. A yeast infection in the crop can cause plucking in the breast area, usually up high on the crop area. You really should check it out with the vet. A simple swab and culture will tell if that's what's wrong. It needs to be treated if that's the cause. Another very simple thing, to treat it. Birds with injuries to any part of their bodies will pick that area. Kind of like us with a toothache. We can't leave it alone. Same with them. If it hurts they either bite it or scratch it. Tell the vet he fell and ask them to check the keel bone for damage. Good luck. Annie |
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