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Well, our poor little Mika started picking her legs again yesterday when my husband got home. She was very focused on it and was just tearing the feathers out and picking at the skin. He couldn't distract her or figure out what got her started. He tried a bath and toys and when those didn't work he even put a collar on her. Sparky obligingly took it off for her a few minutes later Eventually he put them both to bed early.

She picked her legs when we first brought her home, but we were able to get her to stop by substituting chewing on ponytail holders (in some cases while they are still in my hair) for her nervous habit of chewing on and pluckig her legs. She has not picked like this for more than a year. We've both been pretty busy but they seem to be handling it well since they have each other to play with. Sparky still seems fine, not even clingy. We have no idea what started her chewing again so suddely and so intently.

I worked from home today and spent a bunch of time with them in the morning and again at lunch and again just now. She doesn't seem to be picking much when we're not around. This morning I also put some mineral oil on both birdies' feet, and my hands too as that is the easiest way to aply it to them. that got her to stop picking for a bit and only lick a little. I also successfully distracted her with some ponytail holders and blocks of wood and papers to chew up. I even had her in the shower with me this morning. but every time I think she's stopped she'll suddenly drop whatever toy or food she is in the middle of and start picking again. She doesn't seem to be as vigerous about it today and has only yanked out one or two feathers and a couple bits of down. her skin other than the couple places she nicked yesterday seems to be ok. It doesn't even look dry. There are no open wounds and only one or two little scabs from yesterday which she seems to be leaving alone.

I'm out of ideas for getting her to stop though. Everything seems to work for a short while then she's righ back at it. I just don't know what could have triggered this, maybe the rain? we've only had a few short showers since early summer and it has now been raining fairly hard since yesterday morning. Or maybe my working late two nights this week and not being around for our normal dinner and bed time routine? Maybe she misses the bird sitters. We've been traveling a lot on weekends and actually stayed home last weekend. Both birds get along really well the sitter and were definitly looking for her over the weekend. Anyway, thanks for letting me worry aloud and any suggestions would be appreciated.

Is it possible she is picking feathers to make a nest? What about putting a feather duster out for her to pick at? It sounds vry frustrating. Let us know what happens.

Sandy
Have you taken her to your avian vet to rule out anything medically based? If not, I would do that first. If tests and bloodwork come back negative, I'd look into her diet. Birds generally don't pluck for no reason, but it does sound like your time away from her, no matter how short it seems to be to you, could also be a factor. Sometimes birds can get hormonal in the fall, males or females. Just having lots of toys or rotating toys isn't always enough of a distraction if they're missing you. While ambient and casual time is important, I've found all my birds benefit more when they get quality 'one-on'one' tme from you really, on a daily basis and for more than just 5 or 10 minutes.
It's very hard to always find the time they need, but to try to minimize some negative behavior, it's worth the extra effort. Of course, that doesn't mean it's going to stop, but sometimes we have to adjust our schedules to accomodate some of their issues.

While birds can keep each other company while you're gone, they don't get the same benefit as if we're spending time with them. Even if they're getting attention from another human, it's just not always the same.

From a diet standpoint, I'd remove all corn, wheat or soy products and if you feed pellets, cut them back. If she slows down or stops plucking, then you can slowly begin adding each of those things back into her diet, just to try to sort out if any of those ARE are problem.
I'd still get bloodwork done first however. Don't think any of this can be done overnight. It may take a while to search out what the problem is, but if you don't find relief with these things, I suggest you join the feedingfeathers@yahoogroups.com list. You'd be amazed at some of the things that can create problems for our birds, even when we think they're getting a balanced, nutritious diet. They also have suggestions and recipes for plucking birds.
Keep us posted
Andrea

well most of thursday and friday Mika was fine. I successfully distracted her the few time she went for her leg feathers too vigerously and she even started preening hair ties again instead of her legs. Saturday was mostly OK then in the afternoon she just went after her legs with a passion and would not be distracted. I ended up having to hold her in a towel for a few minutes to get her stopped long enough to keep from hurting herself. After that she went back to her normal self. Sunday was much the same..fine... fine... fine...bam must pick legs!!!!!! again we got her distracted finally but wow. today she seems to be fine again. So far.

I'm begining to think this is hormonal. When she goes afte her legs it is almost like a fit. Sparky did something similar when he was a bit older than her. He would get all worked up and then start to either chew on his own leg or grab a spot on his wing just below the middle joint and pull and tear a few little feathers out and scream at the same time. Like he was fighting with himself. We usually would calm him down and distract him with a bath or something. He eventually grew out of it. He never actually broke skin though. Sparky is a bit more laid back and easier to distract. Mika has real focus and can be dificult to distract at the best of times. If we haven't made any progress by the end of the week, we'll take her to the vet just to make sure nothing else is wrong.

I don't think it is dietary, although it is possible that an allergy suddenly developed. The fact that this is almost like a tantrum and she doesn't seem to be doing it when we aren't around makes me think it may be more psycological than physical.

Anyway, thanks for the helpful input, I'll let you guys know how things go.

I don't know if this could be a reason for Mika's picking, but we've found that Brady is VERY sensitive to any metal objects in his cage, even if they are stainless steel. When he was still young, probably about 10 months old, he started plucking very badly, to the point where his chest was almost bare and he had pulled out every last one of his TAIL feathers! We found out soon after that some toys, even ones that claim they are "stainless steel", can induce metal toxicity in birds. We immediatly removed all of the bells and any other metal toys that Brady had, and eventually the plucking went away!

Brady has never plucked that severely again, but I do think he has a hormonal habit of plucking his chest feathers some. It seems to happen seasonally in the fall, like one of the previous posters mentioned. He just got over a round of it and his feathers are growing in again nicely. This plucking episode also happend to coincide with the nights of Brady whistling and "nesting" in his sleep cage, so I'm convinced it's all hormonal.

I would still take Mika to the vet for a check-up, just to rule out anything else. Good luck!

I use safe tree branches for my birds... this seems to give them something to chew other than themselves... as well as taking them outside, if I can, and allowing them to be out there for a bit.. and add in some bathing more frequently...

Laurel, thanks for the info on the metal toys. There are a number of toys with metal parts or hangers both in their cage and on various play gyms. Most of the fasters we buy ourselves and make sure they are a good grade of stainless. She has never had a problem with them before but it is something to keep in mind.

She seems fine now. Hasn't pulled any more feathers this week at all and isn't picking at the skin on her legs either. The couple places she nicked that first evening have healed completely. She is vigerously preening a few hair tie toys and is definitly chewing up the wood blocks we give them. She is bathing a bit more frequently this week and rubbing on her towel, so it seems she's still a bit ichy. They both are getting lots of new feathers in so perhaps it was just nerves and molting ichyness.

The hormonal chest plucking seems to be a male thing. Sparky has done it in the spring for the last two years. But he does't really pluck, he shears the feathers off which isn't as alarming since he doesn't really risk damaging the feather folicles.