I have a pair of grand eclectus...they came to me plucked and although the females feathers are growing in nicely the males arent and he looks ratty. I would like some different opinions on what approach to go with, I know there are supplement options (Nekton,etc) pluck no more,changing the diet. So I was wondering what route has worked best for you guys. The ekkies are eating a pelleted mix from BP, they love salsa and long grain rice(their fav from their last home) lots of fruits and veggies...I'm not sure what to change...I changed the cage from a 40 x 30 that both were in and then seperated them into 32 x 23's, and the female improved but not the male...Any suggestions ?

I don't have ekkies but I don't think they need extra vitamins or pellets. I have seen threads that recommend a fresh diet no pellets.

Cassie, you mentioned feeding a pelleted mix. If that mix contains dried fruits I'd check to see if it contains sulfured fruits.

This is some information from the Avian Naturals site about sulfured fruits;

Labels can be deceiving. The manufacturers are not required by law to list ingredients that are already in the ingredients they purchase for addition into their mixes. Sulfur Dioxide is an excellent example of this. Unless the label states that the fruits are sulfur free... it's in there. The fruits cost less, so it's used.

Sulfur dioxide can increase hyperactivity, aggressiveness, feather shredding or picking allergies in any species of bird especially if they have allergic tendencies.

I've often read that Pellets and Ekkies are not a good mix. If it were me I would check to see what the Ekkie people think of the TOP or Foundation Formula brands of pellets. They don't have synthetic vitamins added to them.

Land of Vos has some really good information that may be helpful.

Cassie, here's a pic of the different appearance between sulfured and un-sulfured fruits. On the left is Papaya that was treated with sulfur dioxide and on the right is naturally dried Papaya with no chemicals. You usually can spot sulfured fruits by their very bright colors. Apricots when dried with sulfur are a bright orange. When they're dried naturally their brown in appearance.

Sometimes the mix has papaya that looks like the left sometimes the right... Calvinsmom Kathie reccomended the diet (bird paradise's ultimate blend) along with fresh...the female ekkie is doing great but not the male feather wise he looks like he's having a hard molt...BP has Top pellets & harrisons, so I should go with the Top or no pellets at all ? And no to the Nekton ?
Thank you Angie & Karen

Cassie I'm not knowledgeable to make any recommendations about an Ekkie diet. I've done some reading here and there on Land of Vos, enough to know their nutritional needs are different than that of my Macaws.

I have seen the Ultimate Blend food. It's a mix of several different products. The fruits in the mix are sulfured.

Apricots are probably the easiest fruit to see the difference. Those that have been treated with sulfur dioxide will be bright orange and a naturally dried apricot will be brown.

A few months ago I emailed several bird food companies to inquire if the dried fruits in their mixes contained sulfur dioxide. Most do, it's cheaper and easier to get. Even Dr. Harvey's Natural Avian line of foods contains sulfured fruits, which kind of surprised me. Hagen has sulfured fruit in it's products.

With the GoldenFeast products some do and some don't. I have been in contact several times with their Operations Manager to discuss their different blends. I wanted to be sure I was not feeding sulfites. They have recently introduced some new blends that are chemical and sulfur free.

A favorite for many in the GF line is the Caribbean Bounty blend. Unfortunately it contains sulfites, so I no longer use it, but I was told they are working on a chemical sulfur free counterpart of that blend and we may see it soon!

I'm quite sure Sulfur Dioxide is not good for any of our parrots and will definitely affect those with allergic tendencies. It's possible the one bird who is not showing improvement may have some allergic tendencies. So if you're thinking about a diet change, it may be helpful to eliminate all chemicals from the diet and see what happens.

Sophie loves Ultimate Blend and has no problems with it at all. But then she doesn't seem to have the sensitivities I hear about some Ekkies having. There are MANY things that could be causing the plucking. Stress, boredom and diet are the most common. If you are pretty sure it is diet related I would go with a more Ekkie specific diet like Avian Miracle Diet or the such.

http://www.wingedflowers.net/AMDpage.html

BEST Bird Food! Parrot Human-grade ORGANIC Pure Natural Gourmet Premium Fresh Living Quality! BirD-elicious!

those are acouple of good ones that seem to do well. If you are into making your own Mike's Manna Mash is a wonderful near complete dish too.

http://www.parrotchatter.com/f28/mik...-mash-385.html

Yes I would eliminate the chemicals including Nekton, pellets and dried fruits. Laurella Desborough is a good Ekkie expert that I've been reading on another board for a long time, it's her first recommendation. And vet exam to eliminate other possibilities. Like bacteria. I'd also give alot of baths but preferably in spring or distilled water if possible.

Karen thanks for posting that excellent info and the photos.

Laurella has posted that IF you HAVE to give pellets that the Foundation Formula or TOP would be a possible choice judging from just looking at the labels. She also states that Ekkies require less protein and fats they don't do well on a rich diet.

Also I wouldnt switch suddenly I'd do it over a week or two. Also she shouldnt be clipped per Laurella.

I'd make sure he is getting a good long nights sleep in a dark quiet room with no human disturbances at all. It could be as simple as that and following a natural daylight schedule including dusk and dawn.

Okay so all fresh it is...Mikes mana mash sounds yummy..I'll head over to the store tonite & get the ingredients thanks everyone

My neighbor had really good luck with Red Palm Oil for her plucking BG. In addition to the diet, make sure there is enough FS lighting...I agree with Cindy. Actually, everyone had great suggestions and viable info.