I had a long talk with the vet today. Since its not medically related, not boredom, and the vet thinks its probably not hormonal because of her history, he thinks its definatly psycological. I called today because I walked into the bird room to a horrific sight. I sat Lucy literally rip out her feathers (with a vengence) and just toss them away. She now has a perfect bald line (about the width of a pencil) going down the front of her chest. We don't know what is going on. We were doing so well and now... I don't know. This is really been hard and I can't imagine what its been like for her.

So our vet gave us some options. We can use a calming (sedative) type of thing. One is herbal and one is a drug. Neither is guarenteed to work and he said there is a 50/50 chance it will make things worse. My next option is to just let her alone, which I don't want. And my last option is to get a collar (like an Elizabethian). I really want to weigh all my options. Lucy has misc. bald spots all over and I can't figure out what is going on. I love her to peices and I want the absolute best for her. Am I being selfish? I really don't know what to do. Like I said before, its really hard to see her just rip them out like that... I'm sorry guys, I am just clueless as to what to do here...

Bless your heart! That must have been awful. Poor Lucy! I have never had a bird to do that but I have read alot in books on it. Seems like it would be almost impossible to figure out why. I just don't what to do but I am sure someone here will! Hang in there and give her lots of love from us. Jessalyn and Ruby

Thank you Jessalyn! Its hard, I just don't know what to do...

I don't have any experience with this Dom, but I guess the first thing I would try would be anything herbal. If after giving that a good try nothing changes, then I'd weigh your other options again. I didn't think the collar was used unless the bird was actually mutilating itself- seems it'd be an awful stressful situation for her and maybe even 'damage' her further. That's just IMO though.

Dominique take a look at this on the Birdelicious site. It may be a help. It has Lavendar in it which is very soothing;

Thera-Pluck Concentrate

Im so sorry . I hope the herbal helps. I've heard that the collars cause them more stress, I would personally only use one if the plucking turns to self mutilation. Its so hard to know why they do this. I've seen where one bird stopped when put in an aviary with others of its kind. He bonded with a female and never plucked again. My Moluccan sometimes chewed her feathers but stops when she's out of her cage ... so she's hardly ever in her cage anymore. I think its trial and error, each personality is so different.

I hope you can break the habit. A perfect center line is often a brood patch.

I feel for you Dominique. That has to be very frustrating and heart breaking.

I know, Dom, it's a very difficult thing to watch. You want so much for them not to do it, and you can't help but feel guilty when they do. You feel like you should be able to fix it, but sometimes you just can't. I think coming to terms with owning a plucker is one of the biggest challenges a bird keeper can face. You have to keep trying, and hoping that something will make a difference, but you also have to be accepting of them as they are. Sometimes no matter what we do, they pluck, and it becomes up to us to learn to deal with that reality. Perhaps this outbreak is hormonally driven, given the time of year. I wish I had some great advice to give you. All I can really think of is to keep seeking out others who are in the same situation, and get their ideas; not only for what can be done for the bird, but also how they cope with having a plucker. If it were me, a collar would be a last resort to stop actual mutilation. Hang in there, I know its difficult to feel so powerless to help them stop. I feel so very lucky not to have had any of mine show any tendency to pluck, but who knows what will happen in the future? You're doing a great job of trying to ferret out all the info that's out there on the subject, and carefully experimenting with different ideas. Keep your chin up, and remember, Lucy knows you love her.