Urgent Injured wing on female cockatiel

[mrbrodie94]

Hi all, my first time on this website so I hope this thread finds the correct location.

So I've had a gorgeous male cockatiel since he was a few months old. During a vet checkup it was suggested I purchase him a companion to keep him company while I'm not around, fair idea. So I purchased a grown (1 yr old i think) female cockatiel from a lady I met on gumtree.

When I picked the bird up, I noticed her lounge room was packed full of birds in cages lined up on the floor. It didn't look like a nice environment thats for sure. The cockatiel I was purchasing was not tame and was pulled from the cage wearing a glove. The lady mentioned that the cockatiel had recently hurt her wing on the cage and had a small amount of dried up blood.

So that was 6 months ago - and honestly I've not seen much improvement.

It doesn't bleed, but something does not look right, and on a regular basis I notice her sore wing trembling. Whenever she falls or tries to fly, no doubt she'll run into something and the sore wing will be held up, so obviously she is still feeling pain.

Anyway, have a look at these photos - if anyone has any ideas as to what sort of injury this is I'd be greatly appreciative. I've got her booked into see my Avianvet next week, just want to get a scope of whats going on and what sort of treatment/bill I should be expecting.

P.s you'll notice that the injured wing has not grown flight feathers back, however the other wing has..?
View attachment 251466

 

[LunaLovebird]

It's possible if she broke the wing that it healed wrong due to lack of intervention. Has she had a wellness check with a vet?

 

[mrbrodie94]

It's possible if she broke the wing that it healed wrong due to lack of intervention. Has she had a wellness check with a vet?

Unfortunately she hasn't had a checkup since owning her. Very slack & I feel absolutely awful for not intervening earlier. Assuming its healed the wrong way, is that fixable?

 

[LunaLovebird]

Unfortunately she hasn't had a checkup since owning her. Very slack & I feel absolutely awful for not intervening earlier. Assuming its healed the wrong way, is that fixable?

I'm honestly not sure. Someone else may know.

 

[Milo]

It's very possible that the wing is/was broken. Sometimes fractured bones don't heal "together" leaving a gap between the bones and allowing movement where there shouldn't be any. This bird absolutely needs a vet visit and probably x-rays to figure out what's going on with that wing and at the VERY least some pain meds since she seems painful. A blood chemistry to check her total blood calcium levels would also be a good idea. If it is fractured, the vet may recommend placing a pin to try and help the bone heal, or the vet may recommend amputation. This is jumping a little far ahead, but you definitely need to get that bird to a vet ASAP.

Depending on what her diet has been anesthesia is going to be the safest thing for the x-rays. If she is a female and has laid eggs in the past in addition to a diet poor in calcium (I'm not assuming anything, just stating) then her bone density is probably very poor which puts her at risk for further injuring herself if they're done while she's awake.

 

[JLcribber]

Unfortunately she hasn't had a checkup since owning her. Very slack & I feel absolutely awful for not intervening earlier. Assuming its healed the wrong way, is that fixable?

No. It will be a permanent handicap if it's already healed.

 

[theocnoob]

No offense but I read things like this and I just can't believe it. You got a bird with an injured with with dried blood on it and didn't take it to get medical attention right away and only now after six months are you asking for advice about it.

I do not respect this course of action (inaction).

Birds are people. I genuinely believe that. More than any other creature you can have in your home and welcome into your family, they are little people. If you adopted a child with a bloody broken arm, I'm pretty sure you would have headed straight to the hospital.

 

[WendyN]

@mrbrodie94
Can you call the vet to get him in sooner?
I'm glad that you rescued this little one.

 

[NK_717]

Pikachu had a bad fright and his siblings trample him in the incubator as a baby.. it broke his wing and the vet had wrapped it, he had x-rays and everything but it ended up not healing 'right'
To this day his wing droops more than the other and he can't stretch it out properly, or fly, but besides that he is fine.

When it had broke he did hold his wing out like that. I would take this bird to the a-vet soon as possible to make sure she's ok- Pikachu had also gotten an infection in a injury on his broken wing.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

What a cutie she is, and I'm glad you were able to take this bird into your home. She does look like she might be in pain, poor little bird. You should really try to get into the vet sooner, and please keep us posted on her progress.

 

[Tyrion]

Such a pretty lil bird best of luck with her

 

[iamwhoiam]

It's good that you made a vet appt. If you can get her in sooner that would be a good thing. Hope that things work out and that something can be done to help her with her wing issue.