Broken blood feather - advice needed

vsk101

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Aug 13, 2017
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Green Bean -Male Eclectus adopted 8/27/17 (6 months old)
Hello,

My eclectus has a broken blood feather that is hanging at a 90 degree angle. It doesn't seem to be bothering him (he's busy picking other feathers right now!). The feather is not actively bleeding, but it's hanging by a thread and I'm afraid if it breaks in half it will start to bleed a lot. Is this an emergency? I don't drive and the emergency vet is about 1.5 hours away (but I'll get in an Uber if necessary). It's about an hour before bed, and I can call my vet first thing in the morning. otherwise. See photos attached. thank you
 

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Cottonoid

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Hopefully someone that's dealt with this will respond. I'm sure this is worrisome!

I haven't had to address this issue yet, but I also have a bird who's plucked and chewed through a blood feather, scaring the daylights out of me when I came in to see a big congealed blob of blood on his side after walking my dog.

Do you have cornstarch in your pantry? You could try packing the end of the stump to hopefully prevent it from bleeding more. If it really is just that outer edge of the shaft that's hanging on I'm guessing it's better to snip that off at that spot than to let it bump something and disrupt the clot.

But I defer to others with more experience if you get different advice!
 
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vsk101

Member
Aug 13, 2017
95
15
San Francisco, CA
Parrots
Green Bean -Male Eclectus adopted 8/27/17 (6 months old)
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Hopefully someone that's dealt with this will respond. I'm sure this is worrisome!

I haven't had to address this issue yet, but I also have a bird who's plucked and chewed through a blood feather, scaring the daylights out of me when I came in to see a big congealed blob of blood on his side after walking my dog.

Do you have cornstarch in your pantry? You could try packing the end of the stump to hopefully prevent it from bleeding more. If it really is just that outer edge of the shaft that's hanging on I'm guessing it's better to snip that off at that spot than to let it bump something and disrupt the clot.

But I defer to others with more experience if you get different advice!
Thank you! I was always wondering whether I would be able to identify a broken blood feather, but now that he has one it is very obvious. I am afraid to touch it because it's barely hanging on. I do have cornstarch and will keep checking on him. I took everything out of his cage that he could bump into, although he could still brush it against the side of the cage or chew it himself. I'm guessing from what you are saying that the long it has to clot the better off it will be.
 

Cottonoid

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Thank you! I was always wondering whether I would be able to identify a broken blood feather, but now that he has one it is very obvious. I am afraid to touch it because it's barely hanging on. I do have cornstarch and will keep checking on him. I took everything out of his cage that he could bump into, although he could still brush it against the side of the cage or chew it himself. I'm guessing from what you are saying that the long it has to clot the better off it will be.

That's just a hunch but I honestly really only know dogs and cats wound care!

That's a good idea, to remove the things he could bump easily, just in case.

I'll link a thread I posted about my bird biting through his blood feather - there was some good advice there (and a lot of me rambling).

Blood after chewing off blood feather shaft

And a comprehensive First Aid kit list from the I Love Amazons thread

First Aid supplies

Good luck! I am amazed at all his spiky feather shafts and how he's chewed off the bits. And here I thought my guy looked like a porcupine but they're are so short compared to yours :)
 
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vsk101

Member
Aug 13, 2017
95
15
San Francisco, CA
Parrots
Green Bean -Male Eclectus adopted 8/27/17 (6 months old)
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That's just a hunch but I honestly really only know dogs and cats wound care!

That's a good idea, to remove the things he could bump easily, just in case.

I'll link a thread I posted about my bird biting through his blood feather - there was some good advice there (and a lot of me rambling).

Blood after chewing off blood feather shaft

And a comprehensive First Aid kit list from the I Love Amazons thread

First Aid supplies

Good luck! I am amazed at all his spiky feather shTafts and how he's chewed off the bits. And here I thought my guy looked like a porcupine but they're are so short compared to yours :)
Thank you! That poor sweet birdie with the blood feather in the link has quite a story but he seems well loved. My guy has avian bornaviral ganglioneuritis (formerly PDD), and his plucking is linked to neurological problems from that. He just started on celecoxib, which will hopefully help. Your "first aid supplies" link appears to be broken but I have the cornstarch out and ready to go. I have been checking on him every hour, and he seems ok. I'm sure I'll be up in the middle of the night to do the same and will call my vet in the morning.
 

wrench13

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Every parrot owner should know how to deal with a broken blood feather that is still 'active', meaning that the blood is still connected to the feather. A pair of surgical forceps should be in your med kit. The forceps is locked onto the stub of feather and the feather pulled out with a smooth pull. Yes, corn starch will stop the blood temporarily, but picking at the feather could start the flow again.
 

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