Broken feather!

[PrinceSushi]

I don't know what happened to Kermit but he has a broken feather. He was cleaning himself after his bath. I had him on napkin on my bed. I was focused on my BD who was climbing around his tank and when I turned back to Kermit I saw a dot of blood on the napkin! I quickly picked him up and saw that the very first feather on his wing was broken in half. I took him to the bathroom sink and cleaned it up. The broken half just fell off. I cleaned his wing and put pressure on it and the bleeding seems to have stopped. I'll be watching him for the next few hours until he goes to sleep and if the bleeding really hasn't stopped then I will take him to the emergency small pet clinic.

Any advice? Tip? Stories?

[YWallpaper]

I am sorry you haven't gotten any responses before now, that is a scary experience. It sounds like you did everything you could do. It is better if he is able to pull out the feather himself, but if it continues to bleed someone (hopefully a vet) will have to do it. Do watch it closely.

[catfish]

Sorry I haven't been online much, but broken blood feathers requires removal (typically). I'm assuming this has been resolved, but anyways....Like YWallpaper said, take him to the vet and have them remove the feather. It doesn't take much blood loss to seriously effect them.

[PrinceSushi]

Thanks for the replies! Don't worry, you guys replied a lot faster than I expected.

He is currently sitting on his perch sleeping. I called my mother who is at work and left a message so she can hopefully help me find a vet thats open this late.

I'm so nervous. If I don't find a vet open this late then I will be up all night watching him and I will take him first thing in the morning.

Catfish- I am worried about the amount of blood he lost. You are right, he is so small I can only imagine that just a little bit of lost blood could cause some problems.

On a larger bird I don't think I would have a problem removing a feather but he is so small and so young, I would hate to hurt him. Besides, I only have my brother here with me currently and he is terribly afraid of bloody things and about harming animals(he never wants to touch them because they are so small).

I was examining the wing again to see if it stopped bleeding and I think I can see the vein/artery or maybe its just a piece of the feather. It looks like a little vein coming out of the part thats still in his wing.

[YWallpaper]

I believe you can also use flour as a clotting agent, if you dab some very gently over the wound with a Q tip. I am really nervous about giving advice about this since I am new to birds, so I hope you are able to talk with a vet tonight. This happened to my bird Ike on his 2nd day with us, and some well-intentioned people advised me to pull out the feather. That was a big painful ordeal for both of us, and only made Ike lose trust in me. I was not able to pull it out, either. It does sound though like this is one that may need to be removed.

[Koki]

This is very scary. I hope it's resolved. Like Catfish said, from what I've read the base of the broken off feather needs to be cleanly removed. Have a certified avian vet do it if not already done.

Please keep me posted.

Out of curisoity and after this is resolved; How old is Kermit? Are his wings clipped? Was he molting any flight feathers?

[drab91]

I hope he is OK! Yeah there is a special powder that is a good idea to keep on hand, can't remember the name but flour would do it also!
When I first got Mavric I remember he had blood on his beak once from a feather.. it never did bleed a lot though.. but I kept seeing blood on his beak.. I was very nervous but it resolved itself.. if you can see the feather broken in half I would have him looked at.. Please keep up posted!

[Pado]

I hope Kermit is okay -

I suggest having a Certified Avian Vet remove the Blood feather - make sure its not a regular small animal Vet - I've read horror stories about people taking their birds to small Animal Vets - I'm sure some know what they are doing but most are not familiar with birds especially ones as small as a Parrotlet.


** NOTE: Styptic powders, such as Quick Stop, can cause a dangerous infection if used on a bleeding wound or broken blood feather. They are designed for use on dog, cat and bird toenails and should only be used on a bleeding wound, or broken blood feather as a desperate, last resort. A liquid coagulant such as Clotsil can be obtained from your veterinarian - and is safe to use on wounds and broken blood feathers.
http://www.yorkareapetbirdclub.org/first_aid.html

[PrinceSushi]

We couldn't get a vet last night so we are calling a local exotic and avian vet this mourning. The small animal hospital is only for emergencies that have to be taken care right away or the animal may die. Since Kermit is stable I would rather take him to a better vet.

I'm pretty sure Kermit is between 6-8 weeks old since he had just been weaned before I got him. His wings are clipped, not by my request.

We are first going to call the bird farm he came from and then we are going to call a vet. I'll let all of you know what happens later today!

[PrinceSushi]

We called a vet and he said not to bring Kermit in to have it removed. He said as long as its not bleeding he should be fine, but I don't know. I'm still waiting for a call from the bird farm.

[drab91]

Like I said.. Mavric had a bleeding feather when he was younger, although not as bad maybe as yours.. but it stopped and there was never a problem.. My friends CAG had a bleeding feather and it also was never plucked out.. so good chance he will be OK if it is still not bleeding.. but I would defiantly take him in for a check up just because..