Broken blood feather has stopped bleeding. Do I still need to pluck or not?

[Flowerfairy136]

Ok my U2 Hugo has a broken blood feather on his crest. I don't know when it happened, you can't even see it when you look at him. I was holding him and petting him when I felt something hard on his feather. So I went to look and there's a broken blood feather hidden under his other crest feathers. It's not bleeding anymore, but it's turned brown like dried blood and one of the other feathers has stuck to it a little bit and clumped up. It looks like that's what may have actually stopped it from bleeding. This is the first broken blood feather I've dealt with. He seems to be fine so I feel like I don't need to do anything, but I googled it just in case and there's things that say don't pluck and some that say do. What's the right thing to do in this situation? Should I go on and pluck it, Because I'm worried that he might bump it and it start bleeding again. Or should I just get the clumped feather unstuck from it and then just leave it alone?

 

[Echo]

If it's not bleeding, I would let it be, I wouldn't touch anything.

 

[weco]

Any time your bird gets a broken blood feather, the remaining shaft should be removed.....normally, birds will clot just like we do, but the clot could bread loose or keep breaking loose, endangering the bird with continued blood loss.....

As part of its safety mechanism, a bird's feathers are designed for easy removal and a bird, can even release its own feathers, as in the case of a predator being only fast enough to to grab a bird's tail feathers.....the bird can release those tail feathers to escape & will quickly grow new ones, rather than the length of time a normal molt replacement takes.....

Young birds, before they figure out that their feathers are there for a reason, will often break their feathers during play, both blood and feathers that are no longer growing and may pull their own feather quill out, so it is not really that big of a deal.....

Since it is your first time, you need to look at the feather and notice how the shaft lays, as that's the way you want to pull the feather.....straight out with a clean snap/jerk.....the bird may not even notice, but will if you wiggle while doing it.....

A pair of pliers or forceps are best to use, so that you don't slip off the feather shaft.....Once the shaft is removed, the follicle will close, generally with only a drop of or no blood at all.....

Good luck.....

 

[Echo]

If the blood clots within 15 mn, then it will start to recede. I would just trim the feather close to the break so that it is protected by the other feathers, and let it be.

 

[Echo]

However if you want to pull it, it's not difficult as long as you feel confident about doing it.

 

[Flowerfairy136]

Ok so I'm still getting two different answers, so I'm kinda at a loss. It's not really long enough to trim back I don't think. It's only maybe an inch long, and the whole feather is brown on the inside. And it's flat. Not sure what that's about... I did get my forceps and was going to try to pull it but chickened out (I just don't wanna hurt him, I mean it's right on top of his head!), but I did notice that when I squeezed it with the forceps, it didn't start bleeding or anything. Does this mean that it'll be fine if I just leave it alone? I'm just worried that he'll bump it and it start bleeding again, but it didn't when I squeezed it.

Also, if I were to leave it, what would it do? Will it continue growing or will it fall out eventually or what? Just curious.

 

[Echo]

If it's clotted, as the air got inside the shaft, you should just have dried blood in there, so the feather will be "dead" and no longer grow. There shouldn't be any new blood trying to go through the shaft so it shouldn't bleed even if he bumps it.

That's the way I assess if I need to pull a broken blood feather. If the blood doesn't clot in a few minutes on his own, it's because the break it too big and so I pull it. If it clots, I watch the bird that whole day and if it doesn't bleed again (usually when it clots that's it for the bleeding), I let it be. That feather will molt.

 

[Echo]

I'm not saying my method is the best, it's what I do. I have 11 birds so plenty of instances.

If you choose to pull it, apply opposite pressure and pull in the direction it grows. It never seem to bother the bird that much and the feather detaches itself very easily. However, you need a steady pull and one try (have someone help you maybe). If you don't feel capable, then the best would be to bring the bird to your vet and let him do it.