Contrafreeloading Indicating the Behavioural Need to Forage in Healthy and Feather Damaging Grey Parrots
Contrafreeloading (CFL) is a concept that describes the preference of an animal to work for food even when identical food is freely available, and reflects an intrinsic motivation to engage in foraging-related activities. However, altered brain neurochemistry, which can be induced by chronic exposure to a suboptimal living environment, may affect this intrinsic motivation in […]
Foraging opportunity and increased physical complexity both prevent and reduce psychogenic feather picking by young Amazon parrots
Although many authors have suggested that the quality of the cage environment contributes to the development and performance of psychogenic feather picking by parrots, there is little scientific evidence for this relationship. In chickens, there is an established relationship between absence of foraging opportunity and the performance of a similar behavior, feather pecking. Thus, we […]
Feather damaging behaviour in parrots: A review with consideration of comparative aspects
Feather damaging behaviour (also referred to as feather picking or feather plucking) is a behavioural disorder that is frequently encountered in captive parrots. This disorder has many characteristics that are similar to trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder in humans. Unfortunately, to date much of the information regarding the aetiology and treatment in both syndromes is […]
A diagnostic approach to feather picking
Feather picking is a common clinical presentation. The disorder can be frustrating to the client as well as the veterinarian both in terms of diagnosis and treatment. This article discusses a diagnostic approach to feather picking that begins by obtaining a detailed environmental, behavioral, and nutritional history. Suggestions are made for obtaining a minimum data […]
Feather-picking Psittacines: Histopathology and Species Trends
Histologic findings are described for 408 feather-picking or self-mutilating psittacines with the use of biopsies from clinically affected and unaffected skin. Inflammatory skin disease was diagnosed in 210 birds, and traumatic skin disease was diagnosed in 198 birds. Criteria used for the diagnosis of inflammatory skin disease included the presence of perivascular inflammation in the […]