Found Keet Pulling Out Feathers

User Question
Found a lost keet. Tried to find owner, no luck . Bought a cage, free fly him every day. Now he has started to pull all his breast feathers, I think he must be stressed, my husband thinks he must have mites or allergies. Could either of us be right?

Lisa's Answer
OK, there's a number of things here. First, you should never let a keet out of its cage if it is not hand trained, and you didn't say that yours was. So make sure you read my site and get the keet hand trained before you let him out of his cage.

Next, pulling out feathers is a sign of stress, as you said. Allergies wouldn't make a keet pull out feathers. Mites would just make it itchy and you could see the mites. But that all being said, you should always take a new keet to the vet for a checkup, and that is critically important if that keet has been out in the wild with wild birds. So the vet will be able to tell you if there are mites, fleas or other infestations that are bothering the bird.

But assuming it's stress, make sure that the cage is large enough that the keet can turn around fully, and work on the hand training before you let the keet out. I think if you build those bonds with the keet, make sure that it gets a full 8-10 hours of sleep a night, and that it's eating healthy foods like veggies, fruits, etc. along with seeds that it should be fine. Just make sure you get the vet visit done soon!

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