Injury Assistance

My budgie is a bit clumsy and flies around all the time but a couple minutes ago, it flew into the cage door and fell. One of its wing feathers has come out and there's bleeding. I don't know what to do in this situation, please any advice. The budgie isn't alone, it has its partner in the cage and she is preening the area for him. I'm still highly concerned. What should I do?
Thank you in advance.

Grab some corn starch from the kitchen to get the bleeding to clot.

mgarvie said:

Grab some corn starch from the kitchen to get the bleeding to clot.

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I currently don't have any corn starch but I read that aloe vera will do the same thing? Would this be the right approach? The wing bled but currently not showing any signs of bleeding any more. Would aloe vera help still?

bradta said:

mgarvie said:

Grab some corn starch from the kitchen to get the bleeding to clot.

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I currently don't have any corn starch but I read that aloe vera will do the same thing? Would this be the right approach? The wing bled but currently not showing any signs of bleeding any more. Would aloe vera help still?

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nono do not use aloe vera as it might just cause more pain and I have never heard about aloe having clotting properties. Do you have flour? That works too.

For $4 everyone should have this in their kit.

Bird Styptic powder

Flour will work in a pinch.

Funny story, years ago my OWA got a nail caught and was bleeding. I went to the kitchen and got what I thought was flour. It worked but it turned out to be powdered sugar

your bird could die overnight--get an er vet to pull it or get the starch and monitor closely

noodles123 said:

your bird could die overnight--get an er vet to pull it or get the starch and monitor closely

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Sounds like the feather is already out so as long as the bleeding stops it should be fine.

I also have styptic powder on hand but try corn starch first.
The styptic burns the corn starch doesn't.

I thought the feather was broken or something based on my first read through. If it came out cleanly, stop it with pressure and flour and monitor. Barring a liver condition or other clotting problem, so long as it is pulled, you should be okay, but blood loss can be VERY serious in small birds.

TiredOldMan said:

I also have styptic powder on hand but try corn starch first.
The styptic burns the corn starch doesn't.

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The product I linked contains Benzocaine which is supposed to ease the pain....never used it myself but it came highly recommended. Next time I nick myself I'll try it

bill_e said:

TiredOldMan said:

I also have styptic powder on hand but try corn starch first.
The styptic burns the corn starch doesn't.

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The product I linked contains Benzocaine which is supposed to ease the pain....never used it myself but it came highly recommended. Next time I nick myself I'll try it

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Thanks for the info and link I have ordered some.

This is the injury, will corn starch/flour help? Should I pull something? We didn't see a feather come out, this is all the information we have.

I applied corn starch to the injury and will follow-up with a vet visit. Thank you all for your time and help!

LOL, corn starch (of just fine flour / no-one here has corn in their house anyway) is to help stop acute bleeding of small wounds.
Putting it on an already healing injury is not necessery.
(it is a first-aid measure, not for continious-aid )

If the other bird keeps re-opening the wound by grooming it too well you may need to seperate them for a short while (few days minimum) while the injury heals.

I rarely try to solve significant problems without my vet's input. If you'd like to look for one, her are some links.Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet.

Good luck to you and your budgie(s)!

Just for future reference, you need to go out and buy a box of corn starch (flour doesn't work nearly as well)...If you have a bird, you must always have a box of corn starch on hand in case they break a blood-feather. Styptic powder such as Qwik-Stop is also good to have, but it should only be used on toenail bleeds and not on skin, because it burns like crazy...But, if it's all you have and a blood-feather breaks, then you have to use it, because a small bird can bleed to death from a broken blood-feather such as this in a matter of 5 minutes or less. So please go spend a couple bucks on some corn starch ASAP and keep it handy...

Aloe Vera does nothing at all for clotting blood, nor should you ever put it on an open wound like that, as it will only cause pain, and it has no antiseptic properties either. It's only for itching/allergic reactions, such as when your bold is molting and has a bunch of pin-feathers coming in that are itchy.

Birds have "blood-feathers", which are immature feathers with a blood supply to them. Usually when they break like this, they don't stop bleeding unless you put corn starch or styptic powder on them with pressure, because they are essentially an open vein...Sometimes they won't clot with anything you do, and they must be pulled-out with pliers to save the bird's life...

*****Please look very closely at your bird and make sure that the ENTIRE FEATHER came out, and that none of even the shaft is left in his wing, because if he or the other Budgie preen it, which they will, and they pull any remaining blood-feather out, then he'll start bleeding profusely and die if you're not there with some corn starch. Make sure it's all out, there is nothing left from where he was bleeding (wash him off and locate the source of the bleeding, and make certain there is no broken feather-shaft left in him)...Better to just take him to your Certified Avian Vet and let them make sure it's all out...

EllenD said:

Just for future reference, you need to go out and buy a box of corn starch (flour doesn't work nearly as well)

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Soooo true btw! But since that was all we had to work with here...
(We have a potatao & grains societey here, corn is only grown as livestock-food, it's not really part of the human diet)

I realize that that the emergency is over. You might consider investing in some KwikStop. It not only clots, it has both a mild anaesthetic and antibiotic.

In addition to emergencies, nails get cut too short. I keep a SMALL test tube from the AV with a cotton ball on bottom (to take up room) then filled with KwikStop. The cap will keep it from spilling.

I keep one in my purse and one in my first aid kit. It's a great tool for sticking a toe in when accidentally clipped too short and bleeding.

I regularly need this reminder: Something that's a must for your first aid kit is your AV's name and number as well as the name, number and address of your closest Avian ER. Remember, things change, so update the information regularly!