My little sun guy has broken a blood feather flailing around in his cage. I have the bleeding stopped right now with flour. Is it necessary to pull the feather or will the bleeding stay stopped ? He is quite stressed as he is new to my home and this has really scared him. I called the vet and she said if it started to bleed again I should pull the feather. I have never pulled a blood feather before. I need advice please

Ive had to do it before, not fun. Just make sure before you pull it you have a good hold on it (I used needle nose pliers) and pull quick and hard. Good luck!

__________________
Sunshine ~ Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure
Rio ~ Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure~ RIP

Here's a good video that says how to pull a blood feather, Bird Care - How to Pull a Blood Feather - MonkeySee I've had to pull a few tail feathers from a cockatiel, I gripped it with my fingers close to the base and pulled it out quickly. It's hurts so try to be as quick and careful as possible.

My galah once cracked a finger feather. After I stopped the bleeding I checked the blood feather every 30 minutes for the first 2 1/2 hours to make sure it hadn't started to bleed again, I also made sure to watch her for almost 2 days to make sure she didn't whack her wing on something and start the bleeding again. she ended up being fine and I haven't had another incident with any blood feathers breaking on her.

__________________

Fly on

I have had this happen to me before with a cockateil. I held the bird with a towel covering it's face while the wifey bravely pulled it out. Trust your vet but you should still keep a eye on it over night. Are you taking your bird to the vet tomorrow? Well I hope everything turns out well for you, peace.

The vet already a scheduled visit to vet my newbies on Friday. So if it starts bleeding, we will bravely pull it. I will try to gey son to video if we have to pull it. I"m just very nervous to have to pull it.

With my first parrot, the first day we got her home she broke a blood feather,
she bled a little, we put flour on it, and we used really sharp expensive wire dikes. we just cut the non broken side so it wasnt attached. we wanted to pull it after but didnt know how to find it in the skin. if the feather is dangling, it needs to be removed. if a large portion is broken, pull it might just rip the feather in half leaving the quill in the bird. if it isnt really that damaged, pull it.

yea i would pull it now. you dont want him to fall n the middle of the night when ur sleeping n may bleed again..best of luck to you with it.

Blanco did similar in a night fright, but by the time we realized where the blood had come from, the bleeding had stopped. We actually figured it out by finding the part of the feather that broke off -- it had snapped cleanly in two, well down the shaft. We debated finding the stub and pulling it at length, but the feather looked quite mature, with the blood supply beginning to dry up anyway, so we elected to keep an eye on it, and it didn't resume bleeding. Had it resumed, we'd definitely have pulled it. If it had been actively bleeding when we found him, we'd have pulled it. It is safest to do so, but if you don't know where the broken feather actually is, it gets kind of complicated.

You could use corn starch or cayenne pepper to stop the bleeding as well. Supposedly, the pepper is also a bit of a pain reliever.

I'd say that if the bleeding has stopped, leave it be. If it starts again, you may want to consider pulling it, or have your a-vet show you how to. It is very painful on the birds to remove feathers when they aren't ready to come out, especially blood feathers. However, blood feathers can be an open source to infection, which is why you need to keep an eye on it. Most of the time, the birds do fine without removing the feather.

Thanks for all the advice, we made it through the night with no more bleeding. I have partially covered his hospital cage for the day so he can hide and feel safe and not get excited and flap around. I will def have the vet pull it Friday with my assistance, so I feel more secure in doing it if it is necessary in the future.