Common Feather Disorders in Pet Birds

English: Red Lory (Eos bornea) upper body preening feathers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A common bird feather, 1400 X (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are millions of parrot and bird owners in the United States who find their relationship with their feathered friends to be as fulfilling, as many people find their relationship with their dogs and cats.
Parrots for example; bond particularly close to their owners. Many times parrots even become possessive of their owners and express jealously to other household members. Birds can offer owners a level of interaction not available with other household pets. This level of interaction is even deeper for the owner when they own birds that mimic speech. One of the major problems with owning any bird is health issues. Few vets are experts in the care and health of birds as they are with the health concerns of dogs and cats.
Birds are fragile pets because feathers do not protect them as well as fur. Feathers leave large amounts of the skin on birds exposed. Therefore, feather disorders can be one of the more common illnesses in pet birds. Excessive preening and picking at feathers can be a sign that your bird has one of three common feather and skin disorders.
Preening is the natural process by which your bird maintains the health of their feathers and skin, Birds uses their beaks to clean and smooth feathers. In the process oily secretions of the precursor of vitamin D are released from the preening gland. This oil helps waterproof the feathers and help eliminate bacteria. Preening is the natural way your bird maintains their healthy skin and feathers.
Feather cysts are common on the wings of birds and can lead to life threatening conditions. This condition of feather cysts may require surgical removal of the cysts by a veterinarian familiar with the care and treatment of pet birds.Behavioral obsessive feather picking is hard to treat. Still, finding what trauma and upset is causing the behavior is important because large loss of feathers leaves skin exposed to other disorders.
One last condition common in feathers of pet birds are polyfollicles. This happens when too many feathers grow out of one follicle. This can lead to serious infection. The condition of polyfollicles itself is thought to be caused by a virus.Become familiar with your birds preening habits and looks for changes and excessive feather loss. Talk to other bird owners and find a veterinarian in your area that specializes in bird care, before you have health issues with your bird.