Health and Healing

Feather Plucking

I have a Scarlet male macaw that was a chronic plucker of his chest and legs when I bought him.
According to his band, he ws 17 yrs. old. Thunder was a "store" bird who was constantly teased
and harassed with kids tapping on the glass, and was abused (in my opinion) by store employees
that were intiminated by him. Thunder was well known in this area for being "mean" and a biter.

Some people think I'm crazy, but I do believe my soul and my macaws' are inter-connected. I
seem to be able to "read" their needs and wants. I knew he felt bad about himself and had no
self-esteem. He was also very neurotic. When our eyes met, I knew I had to buy him and bring
him home.

I started by using Kava-Kava- 3 to 4 drops in his drinking water everyday. It is a calming
herb. I have also used Passion Flower tea sprinkled on his food; and a calming essence
preparation (this has also been great to use when shipping birds to relieve stress). All of
these products have been purchased at a local health store.

He also has a tendency to have dry skin, which seemed to escalate the problem. In winter, he is
misted with a 1 part aloe gel to 3 part water solution. I have also used humidifiers in his
area when housed indoors for the winter.

He gets much postive re-inforcement for not plucking and chewing. I've had him for 2 yrs. now,
and he is a different bird. He is now with a mate, and even when breeding (and we all know how
aggressive Scarlets are when breeding), he readily crawls up into my arms and lays his head on
my chest, and laughs and laughs! I tell him how silly he is and he always mutters
"Thunder,Class-Clown"

FWIW, I don't always agree with vets (or MD's for that matter)! However, a
friend on the pi list took her bird in to Dr. Brian Speer for excessive
itching. She asked about adding aloe to the misting water. He was very
adamant saying "NO!" According to him, feathers harbor bacteria. Aloe (or
any organic compound) just gives them more food to thrive on, so to speak,
and can lead to more resistant bacteria. This made sense (they don't
always.) So, it's back to just plain water in this household.
Pat

My Avian Vet said the same thing: 
to be VERY VERY careful about applying
aloe vera onto a bird, as it is gummy and the birds
can develop lots of problems with ANYTHING on
their feathers other than plain water.

I told him that I only wanted to apply it to the scabby
parts of my one mutilated Grey Cheek. He again
cautioned me to be very careful.

He said if I wanted to use it, to use a cotton swab dipped
into the aloe vera and gently swipe the scabs, and then to
spray her with warm water within one hour to remove the
residue, before she swiped it all over her feathers.
He told me NOT to spray it onto the bird EVER.

So, that is what I have been doing, but it makes me nervous.
I think the water misting would do just as much good.

Sincerely,
Mary Sara Fields