TY  - JOUR
T1  - Assessment and Treatment of Feather Plucking in Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos <I>Cacatua galerita</I>
AU - Peng, Shawn Jen-Lung AU - Hessey, Jack AU - Tsay, Timothy AU - Fei, Andrew Chang-Young 
JO  - Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances
VL  - 13
IS  - 1
SP  - 51
EP  - 61
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1680-5593
DO  - javaa.2014.51.61
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2014.51.61
KW  - Cockatoos
KW  -socialisation
KW  -training
KW  -feeding
KW  -social attention
AB  - The objectives of this project were to reduce feather-plucking 
  behaviour in a pair of sulphur-crested cockatoos (<I>Cacatua galerita</I>) and 
  to find the underlying cause of the behaviour. The study was carried out via 
  the application of a number of treatments which were chosen due to past research. 
  These researches determined that the possible causes of feather-plucking are 
  stress, boredom and lack of adequate socialisation. The treatments researchers 
  used were medicine (Haloperidol), socialisation, training and feeding enrichment. 
  The success of the treatments was verified by behavioural observations, feather-condition 
  score and by corticosterone level testing of the parrots. Overall, the project 
  was a success with the reducing of abnormal behaviours, improving of feather 
  condition score and decreasing of corticosterone levels during the treatment 
  period. The most successful treatment was the training sessions as they provided 
  the parrot with much needed social attention as well as the mental stimulation 
  that a clever animal such as a cockatoo requires. These results are significant 
  as it helps to shed some light on the underlying causes of feather-plucking 
  and how to reduce the behaviour. Parrot training is easily applicable to all 
  captive parrots whether they are held in a zoo environment or kept in a household.
ER  -