Parrot feather loss

Question
We have a quaker parrot approx 6yrs old. The bird has a severe loss of feathers around the neck area, especially on the throat area, down to bare skin. Our vets in this area do not deal with birds. We have checked at the local pet shop. They said that it was possibly mites or that the bird nedded toys. We bought a disc to hang in the cage for mites and supplied more toys. None of this has helped. The bird is in a cage that is approx 4ft tall and 2ft X 3ft wide. We give it vitamins in its water, parrot food from walmart, gravel, treat sticks, fruit and vegs. We are at a loss as for what to do. If you could please help us it would be greatly appreciated. We dearly do love the bird. Thank you. If you would like to talk with me please give a phone # and I would be glad to call or I can be reached at 386-362-6552.
Sincerely,
Ken & Terrie Thornton

Answer
Hi, Ken and Terrie.  Thanks for posting your questions.

Quaker parrots are very nice birds!  Sounds like your bird is plucking itself.  Is this bird a single bird in the home or is s/he with a mate or another bird?  I ask because you state your parrot has a severe loss around the neck...there are certain parts of the neck area a lone bird cannot pluck himself.  Therefore, if you have more than 1 parrot, I would try to determine if another bird is plucking/helping to pluck the one who has lost feathers.

Parrots do not normally get mites, fleas, or any of these kind of parasites (unless they are in contact with the outside).  Parakeets/budgies can get scaly mites, but these are picked up from outside sources, such as wood from the tree outside used as perches, and only affect the skin on the feet/legs and sometimes around the beak.

You need to first eliminate any medical conditions that might cause your quaker to pluck it's feathers.  Since you don't have any avian vets around your area, a trip to the bird vet is probably out.  Therefore, since you know your bird better than anyone else, you'll have to be the judge as to whether you think s/he is healthy or not based on your knowledge of it's behavior, etc.  Best bet would be to take s/he to a bird vet for tests to eliminate any medical conditions that are causing feather loss.  The parasite disks that hang on bird cages are worthless, so save your money!

Now to the diet of this parrot.  This parrot needs a diet change immediately.  Do not put vitamins in the bird's water.  Anything added to water starts bacteria growing, which is detrimental to your bird's health when the bird drinks.  If you use vitamins, add them to the bird's food.  I'd suggest switching your parrot to a water bottle.  Bird seed from WalMart is not good at all.  Seed has little to no nutritional value, particularly seed you might buy at WalMart, K-Mart, etc.  Most of the time, this seed sits on store shelves, warehouses, etc., for long periods of time and is just not good seed.  Your quaker needs to be on pelleted food, such as Zupreem fruit blend or something of this sort (available at pet shops or online).  Pelleted food has the vitamins and minerals birds need and should be made available 24 hrs per day, 7 days per week.  You could then eliminate the vitamins you are adding to the water.  Seed is OK once in a while as a treat or to give as reward for positive behavior, but not as part of the daily diet (it contains too much fat).  The elimination of seed should be gradual...cut it in half first for about a week, then go to 1/4 for about a week, then eliminate.  Addition of pellets can be immediate...since birds won't eat what they don't recognize as food, it may take s/he some time to get used to them before s/he will eat any of them (be sure to keep offering them anyway...s/he'll try them eventually).  

Parrots DO NOT need gravel or grit...remove this immediately.  As a matter of fact, grit/gravel can impact their crops, which requires surgery to correct.  Any bird that hulls it's seed/food does not require grit/gravel.  Birds such as pigeons or doves that eat grain whole need grit/gravel to help grind up the hulls.

Treat sticks, fruits and veggies are good.  Veggies and fruits should be fresh, raw, and clean and offered daily.  Dark green and orange veggies and fruits are most healthy.

Parrots pluck their feathers for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes it's boredom (that's why the pet shop suggested toys), anxiety, could be diet related (which may be the problem in this bird's case), could be that s/he needs more interaction with it's humans on a daily basis, could be some type of major change that occurred in the home around the time the plucking started (someone move in or out, household move, new pet, cage move, furniture move, new furniture, new paint on the walls, etc., etc.).  You need to think really hard about what occurred when your quaker started plucking (unless another bird is doing the plucking).  If this doesn't work, you need to try different things to see if this helps s/he to stop plucking, such as adding different types of toys (perhaps s/he doesn't like the ones you bought), different cage, different place in the room, allowing the bird to come out of it's cage if it isn't allowed, is the lighting adequate/proper [full spectrum lighting should be used]...there are so many things that could be causing the feather plucking problem.  If you are gone during the day, sometimes leaving a radio or TV on for company helps.  

I have a website still under construction that might help out some if you want to visit:
http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

If you have any questions or don't understand something, please come back.  Thanks.

Chrys