Scottie Ferras © 1997 (from "The Quaker's Nest" Issue III, 1997) "Feather Plucking In Quakers" Recently, my quaker, Macho, started feather plucking rather vigorously. As birds habits are new to me, I took him to the veterinarian. Beside the taking of his weight and checking for internal parasites, we couldn't figure out why his behavior had suddenly changed. We tried a mild tranquilizer, but to no avail. The feather plucking continued at a frantic pace. Several days later I took him to the pet shop owner I bought him from for ideas. Through process of elimination, she decided that since I used Carpet Fresh, he had probably gotten the boric acid from the cleaner on his body and was reacting to the toxic effects of it. He has pulled the feathers from his breast down his legs and under his wings. Our solution at this point is to rub vitamin E on his body (when he'll let me), add Profeda to his water and keep him off the floor. This morning for the first time in 10 days he spoke to me, so I'm hoping this is a sign that he is getting better. He continues to pluck, but not nearly so vigorously as before. If this is a help to your readers, or if this has been cited as an obvious problem before, perhaps you need to repeat it. Thank you. I hope this keeps someone from watching their beloved quaker mutilate his feathers. Scottie Ferras   Theresa Jordan/Jordan Enterprises, 1997 All Site Contents Protected by Copyright Archive Certificate No: 1170 First Registered: 3/1/1997