Was this the right thing to do for this Cockatiel?

[Fergus Mom]

My friend that got her baby Cockatiel in June sent me these photos last night. I don't know much, but I can tell this baby's wings were horribly botched by the breeder. In July, this same thing happened (Tiel injured his wing), and they pulled the feather after applying corn starch. These are pics from last night.

They believe the bleeding was caused by injury when the Tiel's wing caught on something in the cage, but are not sure.
I am not at all sure on how to advise, even though I have done quite a bit of reading from posts here regarding broken blood feathers, etc.
1. IS this a broken blood feather?
2. They have a large enough cage, but is there any way to make the cage safer for this poor bird with a HORRIBLE wing clip from the breeder?
3. Can anyone tell if this will keep happening, just by looking at the photos?

 

[Garet]

Wow, that looks painful! I wish I could help more, but all I can recommend is lowering that poor bird's perches and toys or finding a shallower cage (like a "rabbit cage"), and providing platforms, ladders ropes, ECT, and padding the cage beneath the paper.
I'm not sure if it's a bleeding bloodfeather or not and I don't want to give you the wrong advice.

 

[Ripshod]

The feather that is singled out is not actually bleeding in the first pic. Looking at the second I have to ask,have they pulled it? Makes no sense pulling a good feather.
Regarding injury, it may not even be that feather that's bleeding. The blood could be from anywhere under the feathers. This birb needs a vet.

 

[finchly]

Agreed. Let a vet sort it out. (and let the vet know which breeder whacked off the wingies!)

 

[Fergus Mom]

Thanks so much @Garet - I'll definitely suggest all of that to them!

The feather that is singled out is not actually bleeding in the first pic. It's not even a blood feather, it's an older one already clipped. Looking at the second I have to ask,have they pulled it? Makes no sense pulling a good feather.
Regarding injury, it may not even be a feather that's bleeding. This birb needs a vet.

Linden, it was my understanding that the first pic is before she pulled the feather (the one hanging down) and second pic is after she pulled it.
Oh this scares me that you think it might not even be a damaged feather causing the bleeding!

 

[Lady Jane]

This injury may be extremely painful to the bird and subject to get an infection from a possible open wound somewhere. This bird most likely needs antibiotics and pain mediation. Vet may want to get an X ray too.

 

[Ripshod]

@Fergus Mom I don't/didn't set out to scare, but this injury could be anything. If your friend can't/won't take him to a vet do you think you could, or arrange it?

 

[Fergus Mom]

This injury may be extremely painful to the bird and subject to get an infection from a possible open wound somewhere. This bird most likely needs antibiotics and pain mediation. Vet may want to get an X ray too.

I thought the same thing Dianne! She said he didn't even squawk when she pulled the feather last night. Wow. Must be a little soldier, is my thought.

She just sent me this photo of how they modified his cage, and said he is quite chipper today, so we can hope for the best!

 

[Fergus Mom]

@Fergus Mom I don't/didn't set out to scare, but this injury could be anything. If your friend can't/won't take him to a vet do you think you could, or arrange it?

Oh gosh I know you didn't set out to scare, heck, I was scared last night when she told me about it!
We don't live in the same town, in fact, we are about 300 miles apart. I can encourage and suggest though!

 

[Lady Jane]

I still think a vet exam is in order. I see no food or water dishes in the cage or natural perches. Good thing you are helping out to teach this person bird care. Maybe she could join us here on AA.

 

[Ripshod]

She just sent me this photo of how they modified his cage, and said he is quite chipper today, so we can hope for the best!

Was it his right wing that was injured? He looks to be holding his right wing out slightly.

 

[enigma731]

To me it looks like a blood feather that was cracked at the base, in which case pulling it was the right thing to do. I can't say 100% but if the bleeding stopped and the area looks okay now, it's probably fine to just monitor.

 

[zoo mom]

I still think a vet exam is in order. I see no food or water dishes in the cage or natural perches. Good thing you are helping out to teach this person bird care. Maybe she could join us here on AA.

I think the blue things hanging just below the door are food and water dishes.
My concern is the open food dish rings. If she falls on one she could really hurt her wing if she fell through it.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

That looks like a blood feather that they pulled because you can see that the feather was still growing. The hard thing is that with a clip like that the bird will probably break many of the new feathers that grow in, and it will be hard for her to grow her flights. Hopefully, eventually, she will get a few feathers that won’t break, and then they will help the next ones that come in from not breaking.

 

[mat webb]

I agree with a lot of the rest of the responses to this thread and this bird does need to see a vet as soon as possible and maybe get a cage with larger gaps so the wing is less likely to get caught in the cage.

 

[Fergus Mom]

Yes, Dianne, I have asked her to join but she is happy with the Facebook groups she is on currently. To me, the FB groups I have found seem very impersonal, and quite unknowing about birds in general.

Was it his right wing that was injured? He looks to be holding his right wing out slightly.

I thought she said last night it was his left wing, but now I'm not positive about that!

To me it looks like a blood feather that was cracked at the base, in which case pulling it was the right thing to do. I can't say 100% but if the bleeding stopped and the area looks okay now, it's probably fine to just monitor.

Thanks, that is surely what I was hoping. I swear I hope I don't totally freak out if my bird bleeds, but when I saw the pic, I was pretty alarmed. I have been known to sit and cry after clipping my Lab's nails if the one bled! He had one toenail that would always do this, it was almost like it was split, and I'd always tell the vet before he began clipping, and even he made him bleed almost every time too! I was sitting on my porch one day crying after this happened and someone came to my gate to visit... they said - 'are you crying'? I said 'no it must be allergies'! LOL

I think the blue things hanging just below the door are food and water dishes.
My concern is the open food dish rings. If she falls on one she could really hurt her wing if she fell through it.

Thanks Elaine - I will message her and see if she can't pad those too!

 

[Fergus Mom]

That looks like a blood feather that they pulled because you can see that the feather was still growing. The hard thing is that with a clip like that the bird will probably break many of the new feathers that grow in, and it will be hard for her to grow her flights. Hopefully, eventually, she will get a few feathers that won’t break, and then they will help the next ones that come in from not breaking.

Deanna, that is what I thought, but my bird knowledge leaves a LOT to be desired, even though I have been a member for a couple of years, I can forget things faster than I learn them! (Brain fog?)
I could hardly stand to look at those poor ragged little ends of his feathers, isn't that awful? How could a breeder do that? I just hope he will someday be able to fly, bless his poor heart.

I agree with a lot of the rest of the responses to this thread and this bird does need to see a vet as soon as possible and maybe get a cage with larger gaps so the wing is less likely to get caught in the cage.

Thanks Mat - I am relaying all the opinions to my friend.

 

[Fergus Mom]

Agreed. Let a vet sort it out. (and let the vet know which breeder whacked off the wingies!)

Oh what we could do to breeders like that! Awful, awful, awful. It looks like they used pinking shears. Poor bird.

 

[enigma731]

Unfortunately I'd guess the wing got caught in the cage bars. it's really hard when you have flights growing back in one at a time because one long feather is very vulnerable.

 

[Cloud]

My guess is it is either a night fright, or sudden noise such as plastic noise scared him to have a panic attack.

There was one time I put a bag of millet under my cockatiel cage because the cage has a shelf. Later when i tried to grab that bag, they got spooked and almost got a panic attack because they know the sound was coming from below, but they don't know what it is. I had to immediately stop what I was doing to calm them down. Since the baby is still new to the house, always let him see when your friend is doing anything with plastic bags. The bird needs to get used to all kind of noises in the house. Be careful when you're listening to music loud next to the cockatiel because unexpected beats like drums can scare them if it is his first time hearing it. It will be fine after.

My cockatiel had horrible night fright two days in a row, which caused him to lose all of his primary flight feathers. It was like a murder scene. Blood was everywhere, on the floor, cage, and walls. I found that out when I woke up in the morning. I heard that cockatiel with red eyes are tend to have more night frights. To prevent from happening again, i had to replace my night light with brighter night light, and I play the nature sound like a flowing river(preferably the one that doesn't have bird noises, since it is their sleep time) on my phone for them. Since then my cockatiels don't have night fright so far.