Bloody Tail Feathers

[Pidgeot]

My sun conure, Alex, is eleven months old. Since the weather is getting nicer and nicer out, he has been losing and regrowing many of his feathers, including his tail feathers. The problem is, Alex's tail feathers seem to be a little "tattered" in some parts. And whenever they fall out, they are bloody at the ends and the area from which they grew from is bloody as well. Is this normal, or is there something wrong? His diet consists of a variety of seeds, pellets (about half his diet is pellets), fruits and veggies. His behavior is perfectly fine, it's just those bloody tail feathers.

Here is a photo that I took of two tail feathers that fell out about an hour ago;





Thanks a bunch,
Stephy

 

[Marlene]

Not sure why he would have blood at the end of his feathers. Usually that is with blood feathers. Maybe others will have answers for you. Good luck with your baby.

 

[suncoast]

Can you take a photo of his behind where these are coming from? Could he be pulling them out before they're ready to molt? Does he have blood feathers coming it?

Ginger

 

[macawpower58]

Is this a one time thing? or something you've seen before?

They look like feathers that your bird has had for some time, so definitely not newly grown blood feathers.

Could rough playing or a fright have caused your baby to thrash about and break them?

 

[Birdbabe]

Is he getting enough protien? I had this issue with one of my doves, and my vet suggested more protien, so I feed scrambled eggs and dust the food with KNOX unflavored gelatin. I have a seen a tiny bit of improvement but it does take time.

 

[Macawnutz]

He is 11 months so those are his baby feathers. Tattered would be rough play. The blood, it looks like he pulled the feathers out. Korbel has done this twice by accident, but he grabs his tail with his foot.

 

[newatthistx]

to me they look like the tip of the quill is not there ( the shaft at the bottom looks alittle short).....any chance you can look at where they came out?

 

[WingedVictory]

It appears to me that the feathers could have been snagged during rough play or caught between a toy. The molt may be bothering him and he grabs at them prematurely. A suggestion would be to keep a container of cayenne pepper on hand incase you see much bleeding. For severe bleeding pack cayenne on the wound and apply pressure until the bleeding has stopped. Cayenne may be messy but stops bleeding both externally and internally.

 

[JLcribber]

Those feathers never "fell" out if they have blood on the tips. They were either yanked out or caught on something. Them being tattered is not a big deal. It happens to most if not all larger caged birds.

 

[Ziggymon]

to me they look like the tip of the quill is not there ( the shaft at the bottom looks alittle short).....any chance you can look at where they came out?

That was my thought too - that the shaft looks short at the bottom.

 

[65sunnyday]

Hi, Stephy, from 1 Clevelander to another! I also have a sun conure, 6 year old Nicky. What encouraged me to let him be flighted, is he was climbing off his cage, following me from room to room, This time he followed me to the kitchen, & I was unaware of it, & I stepped backward onto his tail feathers. Squawk, squawk, look Mom, no tail feathers! But I have to tell you, there was no blood on the end of those feathers.
Do you have a vet for him? An avian vet would be best, & I strongly suggest you make an appointment for your bird ASAP. I just checked out those pulled out tail feathers (I have saved them all!) & saw no indication that there was blood on them, & I have no memory that they were bloody. Save those feathers (maybe put in the freezer) to show the vet.
If you can't find an avian vet, there are many vets (dog & cat) that do see birds, & do have some experience w/them. If you need some help locating one, please PM me, & I will try to help you locate Best of luck, & please keep us updated--we all try to learn from each others experiences.

ETA: Do you have other birds, & does Alex have access to them?

 

[srtiels]

The damage to the tip and the feathers look more like there mite be a feather mite or feather lice problem. I would take the feathers in question to a vet to determine what is going on.