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| Question about Pets:Cockatoo eating his feathers |
Ok Ali, Listen up because this will be detailed. Birds chew on their feathers to get a mineral called iodine. I'm going to get detailed here for a minute just so you understand how a feather is formed.
In order to form the feather folicle and feather sheath the bird must have two forms. Iodine and calcium. Both of those come in forms of the intake of food. If you are feeding a seed diet only, the bird is not getting what it needs, so the bird results in eating it's only source which is it's own feather shafts to replace what it needs.
To combat this, you need to feed better foods. The questions is this, how do you go about it with a bird that hasn't eaten these foods before? Tough question eh? Not really. You haven't said how old this bird is, but there has never been a goffin that i have not been able to remold into a great special bird. Goffins by far are not an untrainable bird. They are brillant birds and smart at that. One of the smartest i've even come across. They can pick a pad lock within minutes and then taunt you with the key.
These birds need iodized salt in their diet, along with calcium to combat this problem. Yes in the form of seafood or sea salt within moderation. You can not over do this as it will cause problems if you do. Here is the kicker. Get a bag of frozen mixed veggies and thaw some out. Place some in a fresh dish, and add some sea salt(just a tiny pinch) to the veggies. You can also get a shiskabob(found in the rodent section(guinea pig) and skewer veggies like broccoli, carrots, apples, pears and place it right where the bird perches and leave it there. The bird does not like it there where it perches. Soon enough it will get sick of it hanging there and start to chew at it to get rid of it. there fore tasteing the food. Whaaa laaaa, now it likes the taste of the food.
With this little trip, you now have a veggie eating bird, and it is replacing the iodine and calcium in it's diet. Now you need to change the seed out for pellets. i sugest you use Roudybush pellets, only cause birds love them because they are made with crushed apple. They take to them within 24 hour period. You spend less money then you would on seed diet, and you are not feeding them everyday, except for the veggies, and your bird is getting more vitamins, proteins and minerals that are needed for them to live a longer happier life.
The bird no longer will chew on it's feather folicles to get the iodine it needs for new feather growth, and the problem will solve itself in a short while.
Educating yourself is the root of all evil.. I hope i've helped you to educate yourself on why birds eat their own feathers. It's a behavior linked to malnutrition of minerals. Not behavior problems.
Hope i've educated you on what is going on with the diet of the bird.
Give your bird time to adjust to it's diet and you will see a big vast improvement on health and a whole new attitude. Your bird will also love you and be more affectionate towards you.
Good Luck!
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