{"id":1805,"date":"2011-10-27T13:22:19","date_gmt":"2011-10-27T20:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbirdfoodever.com\/home\/wp\/?p=1805"},"modified":"2011-10-27T13:22:19","modified_gmt":"2011-10-27T20:22:19","slug":"natural-parrot-care-healing-feather-destruction-1-of-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/natural-parrot-care-healing-feather-destruction-1-of-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural Parrot Care: Healing Feather Destruction, 1 of 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

This is the first of seven articles that chronicle the details of this precious bird’s healing process. <\/span><\/h4>\n

In sharing this information with you I ask you to acknowledge along with me that parrots are intelligent, sentient and self-aware individuals capable of feeling a wide range of human-like emotions.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

x<\/span><\/h3>\n

Using A Holistic Approach for Healing Feather Destruction Habits<\/strong><\/h3>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Green-checked
Green-checked conure exhibiting feather destruction habits. BEFORE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Introducing Elvis<\/strong><\/p>\n

One afternoon my phone rang. It was a woman wanting\u00a0to give me her bird. After determining that she would\u00a0not work with him herself, I agreed to meet Elvis. \u00a0This six year-old Green Cheek conure was being re-homed because he had developed the stress-induced habit of plucking his feathers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lack of Early Training<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Elvis had been bought by this woman (five and a half years earlier) as a gift for her eight year-old\u00a0daughter. Being a newly weaned hand fed baby he was\u00a0like a blank slate, eager to learn and explore. From\u00a0the very beginning Elvis was allowed to do what ever\u00a0he wanted. This included ripping holes in clothing and\u00a0destroying earrings or jewelry as he sat on a\u00a0shoulder. This well intended family, and his young caretaker, had no idea how healthy and\u00a0important it is to set certain\u00a0 boundaries with a\u00a0curious young parrot.<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Identifying Stressors<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the six years Elvis had been with this family\u00a0there had been many changes. One stress that\u00a0clearly pushed him past his coping threshold was\u00a0when his companion of a few years, a Green Cheek hen,\u00a0died unexpectedly while the\u00a0 pair was being boarded.\u00a0During the very next vacation this family took Elvis began pulling out his feathers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Dependent Relationship<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In an effort to give Elvis more appropriate, healthy,\u00a0stimulation this woman began taking him to work with\u00a0her. He had three cages in three different locations\u00a0he could reside in.\u00a0 One was at the office, one was at\u00a0home, and another was at home\u00a0 outside on the deck\u00a0overlooking a scenic pine forest.<\/p>\n

x <\/span><\/p>\n

However, if either this woman or her daughter had to\u00a0leave for a day or changed their schedule with Elvis, he plucked. The regular vacations this family took\u00a0weighed heavily on this small bird.<\/p>\n

x <\/span><\/p>\n

This woman\u00a0 decided that spending\u00a0 more time with\u00a0Elvis was the answer. So she carried him on her shoulder more and engaged him in play. Her daughter\u00a0was encouraged to do the same. However this young\u00a0girl, now 14, had acquired new interests. And,\u00a0sadly for Elvis, spending time with him\u00a0didn\u2019t fit in with her other activities. His plucking\u00a0continued.<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Elvis\"
When Elvis first met me, he appeared enamored.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

He Lacked Self Confidence<\/span><\/strong>x<\/span><\/p>\n

Elvis had been systematically plucking out all his\u00a0feathers every time he was left alone or there was a change in the schedule he expected. This pattern\u00a0occurred repeatedly for 2 years.<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Hello Elvis<\/strong><\/p>\n

I met this woman and Elvis at her office. He took to\u00a0me right away. As Elvis climbed around on my knee she\u00a0told me he liked to bite. Fortunately he had been\u00a0trained to step up onto a perch or pencil.\u00a0 With this new piece of information I kept Elvis off my shoulder\u00a0and began talking with him about needing to come and live with me. He appeared enamored. Although this woman could not provide Elvis what he needed, she clearly was concerned for his welfare.<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

For the next article in this series, follow this link:<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘Natural Parrot Care: Healing Feather Destruction, 2 of 7’\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in its entirety in the August 2007, issue #115, of Parrots magazine. Subscriptions to Parrots magazine are available on-line at www.parrotmag.com<\/a> .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

Did this post provide you helpful information? Do yo have questions? Please send us a comment.<\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n

x<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  This is the first of seven articles that chronicle the details of this precious bird’s healing process. In sharing this information with you I ask you to acknowledge along with me that parrots are intelligent, sentient and self-aware individuals capable of feeling a wide range of human-like emotions. x Using A Holistic Approach for Healing Feather Destruction Habits x x Introducing Elvis One afternoon my phone rang. It was a woman wanting\u00a0to give me her bird. After determining that she would\u00a0not work with him herself, I agreed to meet Elvis. \u00a0This six year-old Green Cheek conure was being re-homed because he had developed the stress-induced habit of plucking his feathers.   Lack of Early Training Elvis had been bought by this woman (five and a half years earlier) as a gift for her eight year-old\u00a0daughter. Being a newly weaned hand fed baby he was\u00a0like a blank slate, eager to learn and explore. From\u00a0the very beginning Elvis was allowed to do what ever\u00a0he wanted. This included ripping holes in clothing and\u00a0destroying earrings or jewelry as he sat on a\u00a0shoulder. This well intended family, and his young caretaker, had no idea how healthy and\u00a0important it is to set certain\u00a0 boundaries with a\u00a0curious young parrot. x Identifying Stressors Over the six years Elvis had been with this family\u00a0there had been many changes. One stress that\u00a0clearly pushed him past his coping threshold was\u00a0when his companion of a few years, a Green Cheek hen,\u00a0died unexpectedly while the\u00a0 pair was being boarded.\u00a0During the very next vacation this family took Elvis began pulling out his feathers.   A Dependent Relationship In an effort to give Elvis more appropriate, healthy,\u00a0stimulation this woman began taking him to work with\u00a0her. He had three cages in three different locations\u00a0he could reside in.\u00a0 One was at the office, one was at\u00a0home, and another was at home\u00a0 outside on the deck\u00a0overlooking a scenic pine forest. x However, if either this woman or her daughter had to\u00a0leave for a day or changed their schedule with Elvis, he plucked. The regular vacations this family took\u00a0weighed heavily on this small bird. x This woman\u00a0 decided that spending\u00a0 more time with\u00a0Elvis was the answer. So she carried him on her shoulder more and engaged him in play. Her daughter\u00a0was encouraged to do the same. However this young\u00a0girl, now 14, had acquired new interests. And,\u00a0sadly for Elvis, spending time with him\u00a0didn\u2019t fit in with her other activities. His plucking\u00a0continued. x x He Lacked Self Confidencex Elvis had been systematically plucking out all his\u00a0feathers every time he was left alone or there was a change in the schedule he expected. This pattern\u00a0occurred repeatedly for 2 years. x x Hello Elvis I met this woman and Elvis at her office. He took to\u00a0me right away. As Elvis climbed around on my knee she\u00a0told me he liked to bite. Fortunately he had been\u00a0trained to step up onto a perch or pencil.\u00a0 With this new piece of information I kept Elvis off my shoulder\u00a0and began talking with him about needing to come and live with me. He appeared enamored. Although this woman could not provide Elvis what he needed, she clearly was concerned for his welfare. x For the next article in this series, follow this link: ‘Natural Parrot Care: Healing Feather Destruction, 2 of 7’\u00a0 x x This article originally appeared in its entirety in the August 2007, issue #115, of Parrots magazine. Subscriptions to Parrots magazine are available on-line at www.parrotmag.com . x Did this post provide you helpful information? Do yo have questions? Please send us a comment. x x<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_xspeed_no_cache":false,"_xspeed_expiry_hours":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[232,203],"tags":[183,221,333,215,157,158,162,180,181,169,164,334,165,171,167,172,186,187,188,189,190],"class_list":["post-1805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feather-destruction","category-parrots-magazine","tag-best-bird-food","tag-best-diet-feather-destruction","tag-best-sprouts-parrot-feather-destruction","tag-bird-food","tag-birds","tag-care","tag-exotics","tag-healing-birds","tag-healing-parrots","tag-healing-with-foods","tag-holistic-healthcare","tag-holistic-parrot-care-for-feather-destruction","tag-holistic-pet-care","tag-holistic-pet-care-holistic","tag-natural-pet-care","tag-nutritional-healing","tag-organic","tag-parrot-diet","tag-parrot-food","tag-parrot-nutrition","tag-proper-nutrition-for-birds","entry","has-media","owp-thumbs-layout-horizontal","owp-btn-normal","owp-tabs-layout-horizontal","has-no-thumbnails","has-product-nav"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/margolincom.com\/bbfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}