I am not new to the forum, but Beaker is. I found him on the 'needs new home' section, and spent the day yesterday driving to Chicago to pick him up.

Poor little plucker was found at the humane society and brought to the wildlife rehab place by mistake.

I prefer to say that I am fostering him, hoping to find him a permanent home.
But, it sure is hard, as he is such a sweet, sweet little bird.

I've decided to call him Beaker, as all the way home, he had his little beak firmly attached to the bars on the top of the carrier. Several times he seemed to almost fall asleep, hanging on like that. It was a 3 hour drive one way, so he was pretty tired by the time we got home.

It's been a while since I added a photo, so not sure if you can see how badly he is plucked. But, that does not seem to affect his personality. I am going to attempt to keep his little beak occupied with lots of toys and other things to chew on, and maybe he'll let up a bit.

But, his little body is so bald now, I don't believe that he will ever be fully feathered again. Guess I'll have to knit him a little sweater for the cold weather.

Gail,
Bless you for rescuing little Beaker. He is so cute, even without feathers. I hope he quits

Gail he is so precious!!! Thank you for taking him in

Awww, he's adorable! I'm sure you'll be able to work wonders with him! Congrats!

Is very hard not to fall in love.....

We are still hoping to find a permanent home, calling this fostering.

But, Beaker is just so sweet.

Gail, that's interesting...my plucker is also named Beaker... Hmmmm????

Gets some feather boa's and cut them in strips about 6 to 8 inches long and hook them to some shredders etc. My Beaker loves them and so far so good on not plucking now...

You have a very kind heart to do that for little Beaker. He does look like he's a sweetie.

Welcome Beaker!

Thats a great idea, Connie.

And, I think they have them at the dollar tree store here, too. Can't wait to try.

Beaker is so cute, even without feathers It's so great to know that one more bird has been saved and little beaker will be getting some scritches soon Totally adorable.
I LOVE the feather boa idea, my little one isn't a plucker but she does have stitches because she picked at a wound...I think she'd enjoy chewing on some feathers...looks like she might be getting a little present soon

Bless you Gail for taking Beaker in...I'm sure you will be able to do wonders with him....he just needs his toys like you said and a lot of loving, which I know you will give...So I'm wishing you and Beaker all the best....

Beaker is so cute and a very special guy. it sure would be hard for me to find him a forever home. glad u can help Beaker!!

Welcome Beaker!! And thank you Gail for giving him a home temporary or permanent he has someone to love him and help him and you are his angel. Please keep us updated on how he is doing.

(Connie...would that work for a grey too? Bruno hasn't started plucking yet that I can tell but just incase.)

Von, I don't see why it wouldn't...

It definitely couldn't hurt

Bless you Gail for taking in this poor baby! (Well, maybe grown, but they are all babies to me).
I have had 2 of my birds for 8 years and the other for 9 and 2 of them started to pluck last week. I started ruling out causes and some kind of stress or bacterial infection was all I could guess it could be before making a run to the vet.
I mashed up a few strawberries (betcha can't guess what happened to the rest of them ) and put them in some plain organic yogurt and fed the birds a little of it every morning. Then I gave them cottage cheese (not sure that had any effect on anything, but they love it) every afternoon. They stopped plucking immediately! Whichever problem they had, I was glad to see it working.
I thought it must surely be stress because they both did it at the same time and they seemed healthy otherwise. Not sure what stressed them but something went wrong for about a week. I hope you can give this baby a reason to stop his plucking.

cant calcium deficiency cause plucking? I know it can in greys,could be the same with our little qp's?
the knitting a sweater is actually a good idea as silly as it sounds haha! if u use natural wool no colourings! he will pluck his sweater and not his featers!helping him feather back while u also try calcium etc

Great to see you around Gail! Beaker is a little cutie pie, I'm so glad he found someone like you to care for him