Parrot Lover of the Month- May 2011 Beverly

 Parrot Lover of the Month- Beverly Marotto
Solving Belle's Scratching and Plucking Problem 

Beverly's Three Girls

I have been fascinated by parrots since I was a child.  My grandmother had an old Blue Front Amazon that she bought from two elderly women.  It had belonged to their brother who had died.  He was an import and his age was unknown.  I acquired my first parrot, a young Double Yellow Head Amazon, in 1989.  There was no internet networking back then to talk to other parrot owners so I learned from reading books and joining a local bird club.   In 1997, a baby Hawkhead parrot I named Cokie was added and a year later Belle, a baby Vosmaeri Eclectus joined the flock.  They soon established the flock structure.  Rosie enjoyed watching the other two birds and joined in with their vocalizations but did not want to get too close to them.  Cokie was the clown and tried to bully Belle but Belle established herself as the boss.  She kept Cokie away from what she decided was "her" territory but she absolutely loved Rosie.  They all ate pretty much the same diet of quality pellets, cooked corn/bean mix, fresh fruit and veggies, and homemade bird bread.  Then about four years ago, that all changed.   

       

Belle had just finished her morning corn/bean mash and a piece of pumpkin corn bread.  She climbed up onto the handle of her wicker basket to look out the glass door in the dining room.  I noticed her holding a foot up and rubbing her beak across it repeatedly.  I didn't give it much thought, thinking she was trying to wipe a piece of stray food off her beak.  Over the next few days, I saw her repeat this behavior.  Around the same time, I started coming home from work and finding plucked pin feathers on the bottom of her cage.  Off to the vet for an exam and blood work.  Everything was normal, including tests for lead and zinc.  The scratching and plucking continued over the next month or so.  Then one day as I was watching her vigorously rubbing her foot with her beak, the light dawned.  It was similar to a dog licking a "hot spot", which is sometimes due to a food allergy.  I wondered if Belle could have developed a food allergy.  I thought back to when the behavior started.  It was late August and I had purchased native corn on the cob.  Each of my birds was given a 2" slice on a skewer each day that week.  Also around that time, I had found a recipe for the cornmeal based birdie bread and baked up a big batch.  Could the culprit be corn?  To test the theory, I gave Belle 0.4mL of dye-free children's Benadryl before breakfast.  I fed her breakfast and she did not do the foot scratching.  I left her with corn-free food for the day and when I came home there was only one plucked pin feather.  I had been finding 10-20 a day so this was a big improvement.  I was pretty sure I was on the right track.  I continued giving her a daily dose of Benadryl and a corn-free diet.  Within a week, the scratching and plucking had completely stopped and I weaned her off the Benadryl.  Her feathers started growing back and she left them alone.  That was four years ago.  Belle does still occasionally pluck and barber feathers but it seems to be seasonal and hormone related.  She starts acting broody around Thanksgiving through late winter.  I have not seen a return of the foot scratching or severe pin feather plucking since she has been on a corn-free diet.  I told this story to my vet who was also convinced I had solved the problem.