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I Can't Find The Broken Blood Feather

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KaiLan

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I'm thinking my tiel had a night fright last night. When I uncovered her cage this morning, she had blood smeared all over. She had 6 of her clipped flight wings on the bottom of her cage. Her wing was no longer bleeding. I wrapped her in a towel, and she surprisingly let me handle her while I inspected it. I have all the tools ready to pull the blood feather out, but I can't see where it came from!! I put her back in her cage and she is preening herself. I noticed another feather on the bottom of her cage that she must have plucked out while preening. I put flour on her wing, but it still has blood on the area though it is not dripping. She is in good spirits and doesn't seemed fazed beyond the occasional preening of the area. Should I just keep monitoring her and let her relax, or should I keep searching for the possible blood feather? I don't know if she pulled the whole feather out cleanly or not. Please help, I haven't had to deal with a lost blood feather before. Thank you!
 

KimKimWilliamson

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If she isnt bleeding anylonger, the feather has probably come out, or clotted itself. I would keep searching for any other partially damaged feathers that could cause trouble or re-bleed. But maybe give her some time to relax/recover before toweling her again.
 

KaiLan

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Thank you for your response. I've been checking in on her often, but feel helpless just staring at her wing. I feel like I should be doing more to help her out. I think I'm stressing more than she is =)
 

Deejo

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If she isnt bleeding anylonger, the feather has probably come out, or clotted itself. I would keep searching for any other partially damaged feathers that could cause trouble or re-bleed. But maybe give her some time to relax/recover before toweling her again.
Great advice Kim!

Also, it's worth mentioning that most birds, in the event of a broken blood feather, will "fix" the problem on their own. We are there to help and intervene if/when required.

Instinct/survival...if left to bleed, means death.
In the wild, they would take care of this themselves. In our homes, they often look after things just the same way.

One of the CAG's we had years ago- broke a blood feather. What a mess! blood all over his cage. I calmly walked over to the cage to help him, and he very casually reached down and pulled the bleeding feather out. Seeing it done, was pretty amazing!
He seemed visibly "relieved" when the offending feather fell on the cage floor.
He was kept quiet and calm for a few days, as blood loss is always a serious event.
 

Deejo

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Kim (who works at a vet clinic) gave you excellent advice.

I hope all is well..please post an up-date when you can.
 
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KaiLan

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Thank you both for your great advice. She stopped preening at the area a few hours ago. I checked her wing again and it isn't as gooey with blood as it was when I posted originally. It seems as if it is drying up. I have a nightlight near her cage now and hope that will help it from happening again.
 

zoomama

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Just an FYI, my avian vet does not recommend pulling blood feathers. He said that can often cause more damage and you can end up with recurring blood feathers. He said he probably hasn't pulled one in more than 10 years. He told me to make sure the bleeding has stopped (by itself, hopefully, or with clotting gel, if necessary, or via vet...and of course lots of folks use other materials readily available in the kitchen) then keep them quiet in a hospital cage to make sure the bleeding doesn't start up again, and take them into the vet's at the next regular appointment you can get - if you need to. If the bleeding won't stop,then of course, he said get the bird to the vet immediately.
 

*K*J*B*

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Thank you both for your great advice. She stopped preening at the area a few hours ago. I checked her wing again and it isn't as gooey with blood as it was when I posted originally. It seems as if it is drying up. I have a nightlight near her cage now and hope that will help it from happening again.
Glad she is doing better. You got great advice.
 

Billie Faye

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Just an FYI, my avian vet does not recommend pulling blood feathers. He said that can often cause more damage and you can end up with recurring blood feathers. He said he probably hasn't pulled one in more than 10 years. He told me to make sure the bleeding has stopped (by itself, hopefully, or with clotting gel, if necessary, or via vet...and of course lots of folks use other materials readily available in the kitchen) then keep them quiet in a hospital cage to make sure the bleeding doesn't start up again, and take them into the vet's at the next regular appointment you can get - if you need to. If the bleeding won't stop,then of course, he said get the bird to the vet immediately.
I think a lot of the issues with "people" pulling the blood feathers is they don't do it properly and injure the follicle...
Most of the time, a bird will pull the injured feather himself after a time...but LOTS of blood lost can very deadly for them....and you don't want this to happen to your bird...
Yes I have found Cayenne pepper works so much quicker to stop bleeding and it is also good for the bird....
I agree to put a bird into a "hospital" tank with lid for a while to watch the bird and he can't climb on the bars to injure himself futher...also helps to keep the bird warm if he has lost a lot of blood before you found him...keeping them quiet and away from other birds is very important at this time too....at least 6 to 12 hours if it has been a bad bleed...JMHO
:hug8:
 
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