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Deformed Tail Feather?

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Chirpie

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Hello all, I'm a newbie to your forums and noticed you all give great advice so I'd like to ask about my budgie Blue. Awhile back I awoke in horror to see blood splattered all over the cage. He had pulled out a tail feather sometime in the night. The feather was wasn't quite normal, it was short and too narrow the end was twice the normal size and had something that looked like the start of another feather poking out of it. Almost as if two had grown in in the same place but one had broken off. He seemed like his normal self and no worse for the experience so I thought it must've been a freak occurance and left it at that. Now today about a month later I notice he has a new feather almost identical to the one he pulled. I'm worried about going to the vet as thier is no avian vet where I live and thier opinion seems to always be, "budgies are too small to do much with, better to put them out of thier misery". What could be going wrong with his tail? Should I try to pull it before he does? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Here is a pic of the feather he pulled: . Pictures, . Images, . Photos, . Videos - Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

 

ncGreyBirdLady

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suncoast

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It sounds like polyfolliculitis. Which means more than one feather growing out of one follicle. There really is no treatment for this right now other than pulling the feather before it starts to irritate. Sometimes birds need to be collared so they don't mutliate. We have a lovebird on here who has it.

Ginger
 

Chirpie

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Thanks for the quick replies! After a bit of reading its sounding more and more like Polyfolliculitis. I guess I'll leave him alone for now unless I see him picking. Just worried he may try to pull it out himself again while I'm not there. :straightface:
 

JLcribber

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That picture you took is kind of blurry. It looks broken off at the base? Is there still a little nub of feather on his tail? If there's an old nub stuck in there the new feather could be shoving it's way around it. If it was a disease there should be other feathers the same. It could be just a weird feather. If he damaged one follicle doing something then you'll also just get one weird feather.

Check out the skin on his tail and see how it looks. It's not a life threatening thing right now. Any vet should be able to pull one feather (you'd hope so anyway). I would offer to hold him and let the vet take the feather. Then you will have full knowledge of what's going on too. You don't like what's going on, you have the bird.

Scummo used to have one wing feather that always grew in funny. He didn't have Polyfolliculitis. It was just a weird feather. Kind of like a cowlik.
 
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Chirpie

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JLcribber, thanks for the reply! I dont think it is broken off, it looks like he pulled it clean out. I took some much clearer pics:

http://i56.tinypic.com/i1xobt.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/kcmrdl.jpg

What bothers me is the stump like thing that was growing alongside the feather, it doesn't look like a feather shaft to me and its solid.
I don't know if the new one has this or not. He is a very skittish bird, even though I've owned him since birth he doesn't seem to like me much. I hate to have to handle him too much when he is just starting to like me. :(
 

Billie Faye

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JLcribber, thanks for the reply! I dont think it is broken off, it looks like he pulled it clean out. I took some much clearer pics:
http://i56.tinypic.com/i1xobt.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/kcmrdl.jpg

the featherWhat bothers me is the stump like thing that was growing alongside , it doesn't look like a feather shaft to me and its solid.
I don't know if the new one has this or not. He is a very skittish bird, even though I've owned him since birth he doesn't seem to like me much. I hate to have to handle him too much when he is just starting to like me. :(

To me this sounds like the Uropygial gland or preening wick....Could you take a picture of the area you are talking about?
 

Chirpie

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To me this sounds like the Uropygial gland or preening wick....Could you take a picture of the area you are talking about?
The thing I am talking about is the thing I am touching with my finger in the second link, I will try to take a clearer pic of it for you.
 

Billie Faye

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Could that also be some of the casing from the feather itself that never came off the that part of the feather?
Was the feather next to the preen gland?:hug8:
Here it is: http://i56.tinypic.com/2en5i04.jpg

After googling Uropygial Gland and looking at some pics I was thinking maybe its a dried secreation from it?
 

Chirpie

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I hadn't thought of that, there was a little tip on it that broke off and now that I look at it it does resemble a pin feather. Probably a silly question but the the tail feather comes out that way as well right? Which makes it look more like the two feathers were trying to grow in at once. I'm not sure exactly where the preen gland is but I do know it was his underneath tail feather if that helps any.
 
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Billie Faye

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The preening gland is on his back right above where the tail feathers start to grow out...
if this feather was from underneath his tail feathers it wasn't near the preening gland..
By the picture it looks like one 'shaft'
Bird Feather Types, Anatomy, Molting, Growth, and Color
:hug8:
 

Chirpie

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Interesting, I always wondered what made the barbs hook themselves back together when I smoothed out a feather. If it isn't a second feather what could it possibly be? It doesn't look like a casing to the feather.
 
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