Many of my followers and friends know that life with a parrot can be challenging, but life with a feather destructive bird can be over-the-top impossible. There are SO many reasons why a bird can begin and continue this activity, even the avian experts and vets cannot make a definite call on why an individual bird will exhibit feather destructive behavior while another bird in the very same flock will not. The reasons range from behavioral and intelligence to environment and nutrition. And everything in between...and in combinations. Which change with the seasons, emotions...and life circumstances that are sometimes beyond our control.
I will tell you one thing everyone DOES agree on. Feather destructive behavior is difficult to resolve. Most people give up before making even one tiny bit of progress because every tiny step forward usually results in several leaps backwards. And those backward leaps can be literal ones resulting in accidents and even death.
Birds are designed to fly and be able to land and stand on unstable surfaces that require skillful balance. Without feathers, a bird has very poor balance and no ability to escape danger or correct a fall. Every time a bird gets hurt, he is stressed and in pain or discomfort. This alone can initiate or exacerbate feather destructive acts because there is a chemical release in their brains whenever they purposefully perform these behaviors. It then becomes a habit and way to numb bad sensations. Its like asking a heroin addict to stop injecting the drug that they crave...except parrots are like human toddlers. And we all know how easy it is to reason with a toddler when they want something.
And then there is the frustration because he can't fly. Which can lead to screaming. Plus the endless feather replacement which has GOT to cause nutritional cravings, as well as just the general discomfort of molting.
So while we DO know the WHEN and WHY Ollie started showing signs of feather destruction, we couldn't figure out why he allowed his feathers to grow at times and totally attacked them without warning at other times. And why he began breaking off his wing and tail feathers which are ESSENTIAL for balance and flight...and safety.
My husband saw this as a losing situation and chose rehoming as the only solution to resolve OUR stress and inability to resolve the problem. And trust me, there were times, I agreed. If the temps hadn't soared to 95+ last summer, Ollie would have been flown to a bird sanctuary in Oklahoma. But while we waited for the temps to drop, I decided to try some different approaches to help reduce the craziness.
And guess what.....
Something worked.
My next blog post will fill you in on what had led us to us becoming so desperate....stay tuned....
