Dried blood, feather plucking, balance issues

I cant get in to see an avian vet yet. There are like 2 in this side of the state, and one has their avian vet out of town while the other does not see emergencies unless you are an established client (which i am not), so I have to call them during their business hours at 8am.


I was wondering if I could get some advice on what to do in the mean time for my feathered friend.

I found her on the floor of her cage, half asleep. She was there yesterday too, but I thought nothing of it because sometimes she goes down there. But this morning I thought something might be wrong.

I picked her up and examined her. Under her wing is a bald spot, in the "armpit" area where her wing bone goes into her body. This spot has dried blood all over it. Some is caked up into a ball. Feathers are gone, but only in this spot, up her wing a little ways and down her back a little ways.

When I put her down, I noticed that shes having serious balance issues. She cannot perch well, which is probably why she is staying on the floor. She is constantly falling asleep, fluffing herself up, or messing with the area.

The vet that I was able to talk to says its just feather plucking, but the balance problems really concern me. I am trying to get her to a doctor asap.

Oh and no change in diet. I have not been feeding her fresh food lately, as I have been very busy with my job. She also hasnt been coming out often, so feather plucking is a possibility. She did used to eat a diet that had seeds mixed in (I was trying a new food, but it had so many seeds so i gave her half that plus half pellets) - I switched her back to plain pellets once that bag ran out. The pellets are something she has been eating for years.

I have given her some blueberries on the floor of her cage, and a small bowl of water. She is eating readily.

I realized that I cannot tell if she had lost her appetite. She has tons of pellets in the bowl but she has been picky ever since I took away the seed diet.

I have no idea what may be wrong., but sleeping, bottom of cage and fluffing up doesn't sound to good, those kind of things generally mean they are not well. What kind of bird is she? I hope you can get to the vet asap, birdies go downhill quite fast when they are sick. Keep us posted on how she goes.

She is a Green Cheek Conure. And yes, sleeping on the cage floor really worries me. I am afraid I've discovered her illness too late. Yesterday she was climbing perches and earlier this morning she tried some climbing but now she is just on the bottom

I talked to my mother, who raises finches, and at her advice I have removed all perches from the cage, except one which could be placed about an inch from the cage floor. I put fresh newspaper right on the cage floor so she is sitting on a clean space. I lowered her food and water, and am keeping a space heater running below the cage to warm the area. I also covered the cage so she has some darkness and privacy.

Update: A vet was able to see me at 9am.

They have no idea whats wrong, but most likely scenarios are feather plucking from stress that went way too far, or some sort of injury that she made worse by picking at it and plucking the feathers around it. Because she hasnt lost feathers elsewhere, typical feather plucking is less likely so we are betting on an injury or ingrown feather that she just went to town on.

The lethargy is likely from dehydration and lack of eating because she is hurting from the wound. Or an infection from the wound.

They are going to keep her until Monday in a warmed incubation tank. They will give her fluids, hand feed her in a way similar to hand feeding baby birds, and will offer her food and water. They will also start her on antibiotics. If she perks back up I can take her home. If she continues to decline, they will do further diagnostic testing.

They also did a gram stain to look for bacteria.

Praying for quick recovery! I'll be cleaning and sanitizing everything of hers this evening.

Sending prayers your way that she heals quickly. I am so glad you were able to get her into a vet, hopefully this can be turned around.

Sorry to hear she's not feeling well, but I hope that she's in the right hands with the avian vet and can be on the road to recovery!

So happy to hear she got to the avian vet, she is in the safest hands now so fingers crossed she gets better and pulls through. Will be thinking of you and your little girl, try stay positive

I'm so sorry your little friend is ill. I hope she recovers quickly now that she is in the clinic and getting treatment. Hopefully they can pinpoint the problem and help her get healthy.

Update: Noone has called me yet. But thats a good sign that she survived the night. She will be checked on and cared for 3 times today, and I can visit her tomorow. Hopefully she will be ready to go home tomorrow.

I am feeling much better knowing that she made it through the night. I scrubbed down all of her cage, perches, and toys, and will prepare a nice "get better" set up with low perches and food/water on the floor for when she comes home.

Thanks for the update. So glad to hear you didn't receive that phone call. I hope your girl gets to come home soon.

Update: Vet called and Ducki is doing so much better. Yesterday it took hours before she showed any improvement, but today she is eating and drinking on her own and is much perkier. She is coming home tomorrow!

Glad to hear! Did they ever find out what was making her ill?

Well what made her sick was likely blood loss, dehydration, and lack of eating. How she got the injury that caused all of that, however, we have no idea.