Bird plucking tail with constant bleeding and scabbing

by Monnie Sames
(Hamilton, Ohio)

Our female African Grey, 9 years old, will not stop pulling out her tail feathers. She has none. As soon as they start to grow back, she pulls them out. Her whole tail is one big scab. We have spent over a thousand dollars having her cauterized, but she keeps doing it. We now rinse her in cold water and apply blood stop. It's awful.

We are so frustrated with her. We tried a bird collar. She laid in the bottom of her cage and screamed. She worked on it till she tore it off. Her tail looks like someone tortured her. It's also a mess, as the blood goes everywhere.

Is there any hope for her, this has been going on for years and it causing so much stress in our home. We also have 3 dogs and they try to get into the blood when she is stirred up and bleeding. Please help, we are desperate.