Have you ever noticed few missing feathers in the crests of wings or breasts of your lovebirds? Then, you should keenly watch your lovebirds for feather plucking. Although this falls under behavior and health, you should be carefully analyze the reason for feather plucking in lovebirds.
Initially feather plucking might have started innocently. But you should nib this problem in the bud itself. Otherwise it will cause your lovebirds complete bald. Then it is really difficult to bring back the colored feathers.
Feather picking among breeding pairs is a common phenomena. A hen lovebird will often clear few hairs on her belly, which is called as brood spot and also pluck few feathers from her mate's head as a mark of mating behavior among themselves.
The other reason for feather picking is hormonal issue. Lovebird pyoderma is the condition which occurs due to hormonal imbalance. If you're having a single lovebird, this is a major problem because it has no outlet for his/her energies.
Rule out the skin infection by examining the skin scraping on microscope. If they suffer from any skin infection- bacteria or fungus, immediately contact your avian veternarian to treat the condition.
Anxiety, frustration and boredom may also lead to feather plucking in lovebirds. There was lovebird which started to pluck its feather after fixing a photograph just in front of her cage. Removing the photograph solved the problem. Who knows what made that poor creature to get more anxious after seeing that particular photograph.
Treatment
Find out the cause for the feather plucking and remove the same at the earliest possible time. Don't use styptic powder in the wound as it would aggravate the condition. Do use diluted betadine solution to clean the wound. More over, don't treat the lovebird on your own. Please do seek an appointment form your avian vet to completely get rid of this problem. ALL THE BEST!!!
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