FEATHER-PICKING IN BIRDS
- By DeAnn Waggoner, Executive Director, Wings of Love
Bird Haven
Feather-picking: What Really Causes it? STRESS!
Simply put, feather-picking is the end manifestation of
undue stress placed upon a
bird by one or several conditions. These conditions are
divided into five main
categories.
1. PBFD/PVD
2. Metabolic Causes (infectious and non-infectious)
3. Nutritional
4. Hormonal
5. Psychological
Definition:
Feather-picking can have mild, moderate or severe presentations.
Mild picking may
manifest itself as chewing a few feathers or wing tips,
while moderate cases involve
plucking and removing feathers. The worst form is termed
"Mutilation Syndrome",
where birds actually inflict wounds in their skin and
muscle possibly causing life-
threatening situations such as bleeding, nerve or muscle
damage, and severe
infections.
Primary Etiological Groups
1. Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PVFD) and Polyoma
Virus (PVD)- PBVD
affects the immune system of the bird and in one presentation
actually causes the
necrosis (death) of the feather follicle and its eventual
loss from the body. Once a
follicle is dead, no feather can be re-grown in that follicle.
There is an accurate
blood test to determine if a bird is a carrier whether
the bird is symptomatic or
non-symptomatic. Another virus, Polyoma, has been shown
to cause feather loss as
well, but typically prevalent in young birds with adults
more likely acting as carriers.
There is a blood test as well as a vaccine for Polyoma
disease.
2. Metabolic Causes. These are causes that affect internal
organ structures and can
be sub-classified as (a) infectious and (b) non-infectious.
(A) Infectious Metabolic. Any infectious agent (i.e. Chalamydia,
Bacterial, fungal,
parasitic) that can damage an internal organ and/or cause
enough stress on the bird
to lead to a feather-picking syndrome, even though it
may only show up as "ratty-
looking" feathers.
(B) Non-infectious Metabolic. These are substances that
are in the environment that
can do harm to our pet birds. Examples: heavy metal poisoning
(lead, zinc, copper),
nicotine poisoning from second hand smoke, heart disease
with decreased blood flow
to various organs and chronic nutritional imbalances are
only some of the causes
which may present as feather picking. Sometimes the bird
will "attack" the site of
pain on the skin relating to the injured organ system
in a predictable way. Most of
these causes can be detected by blood tests, radiographs
or other specialty tests.
3. Nutritional. This is purposefully located in the center
of the list as the fulcrum
between physical causes and mental/hormonal (sexual) causes.
Nutrition alone can
affect ALL organs and exaggerate any other malady of the
body. The skin and
feathers make up the largest organ system in the body
and as such will reflect a lack
of proper nutrients, similar to hair and nails in humans.
Imbalances in Vitamin A,
amino acids, calcium, trace minerals, Vitamin B and excess
fats have all been shown
to influence feather conditioning.
4. Hormonal. Many birds (male and female) with rising
hormone levels as they
mature can exhibit "sexual frustration" or "Obsessive
Compulsive Disorders (OCD)"
with the subsequent sign of feather picking. This may
occur only seasonally
(sometimes accompanied by increased aggression) in response
to the "breeding
season" for that species. However, this together
with Psychological causes (#5) have
been found to explain less than 23% of "feather picking"
or exaggerated preening
behavior. Today, there are several options to treat these
cases and minimize the
effects of hormones on a bird's mental state, including
hormone therapy, neutering
and/or mood-modulating drugs (which, by the way, we don't
recommend except
under extreme conditions).
5. Psychological. The mind is a powerful organ that takes
in various environmental
experiences through the senses and attempts to make logic
out of it. Sometimes this
logic mechanism short circuits and the only way the bird
knows how to deal with life's
anxieties is to take out his or her problems upon it's
own body. Some of the worst
self-mutilation cases have been diagnosed as an "acute
psychotic episode".
Diagnostic Protocol
A good medical history is crucial in all feather-picking
cases. The overall goal is to
perform tests to rule out the common/likely causes in
a methodical manner based on
history and a physical examination. With an organized
medical plan, an answer can
often be achieved without missing a key area. Various
testing can include blood
panels, viral testing, radiographs, chlamydophila testing,
heavy metal testing, DNA
sexing, as well as diet and nutritional evaluation. A
diary of events leading to the
symptoms composed by the owner of the affected bird can
be very helpful in dealing
with hormonal and psychological causes.
Since most birds presented to a vet's office with plucking
problems have a chronic
history of picking, time is of the essence since, in general,
for every day a bird picks,
it takes at least one day to repair the damage.
In conclusion, the situation of "feather-picking",
"exaggerated preening" and
"mutilation syndrome" is NOT simple at all.
They key point to remember is that
feather-picking is only a "system", not a diagnosis.
However, with today's technology,
experience and the bird owner's patience, most birds can
have dramatic
improvements, but first, a proper diagnosis must be reached,
the proper medication
selected (in extreme cases) and the proper environmental
changes achieved.
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