Poor Kiwi

[xxxClaire]

Awww, poor Kiwi. I hope she feels better soon.

[Sparky]

I spent today CLEANING. I put Kiwi in her old cage and took her big one apart; I had to take it to the car wash area at our apartments to wash it. I cleaned all her stuff and then cleaned the closet (yes, Kiwi lives in a walk-in closet - hey, it's her room! She's actually always lived in a closet. It sounds weird but it works well; of course I leave the door open). I sprayed a bird-safe mite spray around because it's possible there's bugs/no-see-ums - I know I get chewed up when I'm in my room. I sprayed Kiwi herself with a skin-soothing stuff, maybe that'll help. She did not pluck last night, but that may simply be because she's got nothing left to pluck off. Anyways she's still acting happy and healthy so even if cleaning her home doesn't end the problem it'll be nice for her to have a clean house...

I'm really tired.

[Lynnie]

How's Kiwi today?

Well, although I myself don't care for the birds that my store sells, many of my co-workers/friends have LOTS of experience with birds, of many breeds and sizes, and have seen many ailments and after a visit to the vet many cures in their years of experience. I went ahead and asked a few of them if they have any input and/or advice. I told them everything you told us, so, I told them all I know.

I'm guessing nothing in her cage has changed recently, like a new nesting box or toy? Or a new type of food or treat? At any other time it may not be a problem, but while brooding even the smallest changes like that can cause excess stress and lead to self mutilation. If by chance she is getting a new food or treats, maybe she's allergic to something in them. But after 10 years experience, I'm sure all this has come to your mind already. And I told them that, but I think it's worth mentioning, just in case.

Have you put anything extra soft like polly-fil or nesting material in her cage to give her some "comfort", so to speak? Not only will it give her something soft and warm to cuddle against while she's feeling odd, but she might also take her frustrations and stress out on that instead of herself. So that might help. Hehe, I told the girl who suggested that (who is also the supervisor of the bird department with probably the most experience) that you sew, so you should have easy access to some, if not some on hand already.

As to the irritated preening gland, it's mainly because there are no more feathers there, and she's stimulating it a little too harshly without the feathers there for buffering.

All the people I talked to said it's normal for small parrots to go through bouts where they pluck all their feathers, moreso even than larger parrots and smaller birds. Only a vet can find out exactly why and instruct you how to fix it and/or give you something for it, but it's usually nothing to worry about. So try not to worry. Maybe you've just been lucky over the last 10 years if she hasn't really done this before. That shows signs of a happy and healthy bird.

Hope she does ok until her vet appointment. And hope they're able to find out what's wrong. They may put a funny collar on her to keep her from plucking her feathers, but hopefully that'll be it.

Feel better Kiwi! And hang in there Sparky!

[Sparky]

Well, I think I said that I had removed her three eggs thinking she was done with them...she wasn't. She laid a new one this morning. So I put the other three back in, that ought to stop her laying more. She's never laid more than three before so I think that's all she wants.

Anyways, the only new food she's had recently was I put some kale in with her apple one or two days (because I heard it was good for an egg-laying hen) but I don't think she touched it. If she was allergic to the kale though that would kinda suck. I'm personally back to believing it may be behavioral - she may simply be as they call it "sexually frustrated". It does happen. Also she does get seed as well as pellets (she eats both, and the vet is the one who told me to give them both) and I understand some seeds can make birds hormonal. I buy a mix so I think next time I'll buy the seeds separately and mix them myself to keep those suspicious seeds out.

She doesn't seem to have plucked any new feathers but then, she's nakey already. She also doesn't seem preoccupied with chewing herself or anything. She does flap her tail a bit. I'm not sure she's preening her back/wing feathers as much or at all now though - when we snuggle she smells different to me and her feathers don't seem quite as "fluffy" as normal, if that makes sense. So there may be a preen gland issue. I'm spraying her now with this stuff that contains aloe and preen oil, so that should help if she's not producing oil. (She doesn't seem interested in taking a proper bath.) Her gland could be blocked or infected; this does worry me some, I wonder if she can make it until next Monday. If a blocked gland isn't expressed in time, it can rupture and require surgery, even removal. Yeah I've probably been reading too much on the subject lately, lol.

But I have to say, Kiwi is Supermegahappy Bird right now. She is seriously, seriously the opposite of stressed or unhappy. So she isn't feeling ill in any way. At least there's that.

(Oh and yeah Lynnie, she has a fabric "bed" to cuddle with, she has slept on/in it since she was only a few months old. Although, all the plucking actually took place when she was on her bed, as evidenced by the piles of feathers there in the morning.)

[Lynnie]

I'm glad Kiwi's a Supermegahappy bird, that much is very good. I did tell my friends that she seemed to be acting fine and seemed to be happy and not stressed out. But I know our feathered friends are super sensitive, and they wondered if maybe something was still causing her stress without her outwardly expressing it (with the exception of plucking).

They said that usually every time a bird plucks its feathers, it's gland gets irritated because of the lack of feathers around the spot. But the gland being clogged, yeah, that makes sense, and I hope that's not the case. Try not to worry about it.

Oh good, she has a soft bed. But I guess I should have clarified I was referring to something hair or feather like that she can "nest" and even "burrow" in. She can busy herself tearing that apart than tearing at her own feathers.

Hopefully the eggs being placed back with her is all she wanted, and she'll get back to normal now. And hopefully after next Monday, we'll have a happy update.

[Sparky]

Well she had plucked before I removed the eggs, so that wasn't the cause. I just meant that's what she wanted eggwise so she started laying eggs again. And she has chewy toys in there if she wants something to chew on, but that didn't stop her pulling out her feathers. I just can't wait to find out if it's behavioral or physical.

[koosie]

I'm very sorry to hear of this, Sparky. How long will it take her to replace these feathers?

[Sparky]

That's a good question. If she does NOT chew/pluck them again, it should take many months for her too look back to normal. But I've heard of a supplement that could speed up the process. I'm going to ask the vet.

[Sparky]

Well, just got back from the vet. The doctor is going to run some tests and get back to me tomorrow, but she said Kiwi LOOKS very healthy. Nothing wrong with her preen gland, no irritated skin, and all the feathers are coming back in just fine. She gave me two things to give Kiwi, one is a supplement for healthy feather growth that hopefully Kiwi will take voluntarily, but the other is an oral medicine I have to give once a day to help with any skin irritation that could happen considering that there's hundreds of little feather shafts coming in simultaneously. The visit was only a couple hundred dollars, which was better than I was expecting, anyways. So I'll hear about the tests tomorrow. We still don't know why Kiwi decided to pull out her feathers. Birds are weird.

[Lynnie]

I'm happy to hear Kiwi is doing ok, and the vet agrees she looks healthy. Hopefully this was all just a temporary and spontaneous thing. Here's wishing all the best luck on the test results tomorrow.