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Urgent Can't tell if my bird broke a blood feather or just cut himself!!

Komsur

Walking the driveway
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4/22/20
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204
Hi,
My bird got his toe caught in his ring band and whilst trying to help him with that, there was a lot of flapping and panicking and he slammed against the cage floor.

I noticed blood on a feather that came out, a tiny, tiny amount, basically nothing, and there's a red spot on his wing which he's not letting me see. He does have pin feathers growing in, but I can't tell if they're broken or not. There's no dripping blood, no marks on him other than that place (thankfully he's white so it'd be easy) and he doesn't seem in a panic about it. Should I wait a bit or call the vets? I know broken blood feathers are an emergency but I actually don't think it's broken, though I'm nowhere near an expert.

P.S., when my other bird broke his over a year ago, he was bleeding and I could see it quite a bit on him and all over the cage floor, and it sprayed at me when he moved his wing, this is nothing in comparison.

Any ideas??

EDIT: I can see it when he's stretching, looks to me like a tiny cut on the "skin part" of the wing, rather than the feathers. It's definitely not bleeding (like dripping lots or anything).
 
Last edited:

Komsur

Walking the driveway
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4/22/20
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EDIT #2 (since I can't edit the post anymore): He seems fine now. I can see the mark, but he's cleaned it by the looks of things, because the mark is basically non-existent at this point has I've not let me eyes off him since posting this and it's only gotten cleaner.
 

Zara

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If he had pin feathers growing in, and he banged one, it´s likely this is a broken blood feather situation.
As long as the bleeding has stopped and he didn´t bleed a lot when he was, then he should be fine. Monitor closely to be sure he doesn´t pick and make himself bleed again.
As you said you were unsure of a cut, it´s unlikely, but if it were me, I would get a hold of him in a tee shirt and have a little look just to be 100% sure of what happened. It will give you peace of mind.

If your bird starts bleeding again, press some corn starch (flour, if you don´t have that) on the area, firmly until the blood clots. If the feather keeps re-bleeding you will have to visit the vet to be sure he hasn´t lost too much blood, and have the feather pulled.
 

Komsur

Walking the driveway
Joined
4/22/20
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204
If he had pin feathers growing in, and he banged one, it´s likely this is a broken blood feather situation.
As long as the bleeding has stopped and he didn´t bleed a lot when he was, then he should be fine. Monitor closely to be sure he doesn´t pick and make himself bleed again.
As you said you were unsure of a cut, it´s unlikely, but if it were me, I would get a hold of him in a tee shirt and have a little look just to be 100% sure of what happened. It will give you peace of mind.

If your bird starts bleeding again, press some corn starch (flour, if you don´t have that) on the area, firmly until the blood clots. If the feather keeps re-bleeding you will have to visit the vet to be sure he hasn´t lost too much blood, and have the feather pulled.
Yeah, it's definitely stopped. I'll ensure he stays away from that area for the next few days then and keep a close eye. I didn't realise they stopped on their own, my old bird just bled lots and I read elsewhere that they're like a tap and will just bleed until empty.
 

Zara

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I didn't realise they stopped on their own,
Sometimes they can.
But it is still better to get in there with the corn starch and give them a helping hand to reduce the amount of blood lost. Some birds will keep bleeding and bleeding even with you trying to stop it with corn starch.
Remember a small amount of blood we see, can be a lot to them.

Monitor the bleeding, but also monitor to be sure your bird eats and drinks, and look out for any abnormalities.
 

Komsur

Walking the driveway
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4/22/20
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204
Monitor the bleeding, but also monitor to be sure your bird eats and drinks, and look out for any abnormalities.
Thanks for the advice, I'll certainly monitor him.

As for the quoted bit, he's fine, exactly like normal, just a little spooked from the earlier hand invasion, but will monitor that too just in case :)
 

Feather

Biking along the boulevard
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On another note, I would absolutely ask to have that legband removed on his next visit. There's something wrong if he was able to get his toe caught in it.
 

Komsur

Walking the driveway
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204
On another note, I would absolutely ask to have that legband removed on his next visit. There's something wrong if he was able to get his toe caught in it.
Yes for definite, it's being removed ASAP (he's going to the vets for it next Monday).
 
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