Weird Feather

[Steve]

So we were cuddling with Izzy and we discovered that on the back of her neck she had a feather that was stuck in it's casing still. That wouldn't be so bad but it looks like the feather is also infected. The base of the feather is black, and it's red around where the feather is.

The feather hurts her (she hates it if we touch it), what should we do? I'd like to avoid the vet to be honest (unless for some reason it's absolutely neccesary) because we don't have the extra money at the moment. Can we just pull the feather out with tweezers? Will it take care of itself?

[jessief423]

The base of new feathers are black. That is the blood that helps the feathers grow. These can be very sensitive. I'd wait it out. Try misting her head or very gently rubbing the tip of the feather (not near the base) to help remove some of the sheath. This will be relieving for her. I'm not sure about the red. Someone more experienced will have to tell me about that.

[jessief423]

Oh yea, and if it is a new feather and you pull it, it will cause her to bleed. I wouldn't recommend that at all.

[Steve]

ok, thanks, we removed the casing hopefully it'll grow out fine.

[father0fseven]

It's sometimes possible to see the blood through the shaft of a blood feather (especially towards the end tip)... and of course, a blood feather is a normal, new, growing feather... Does that sound like the red?

[Steve]

Well the skin seems red, we were concerned that it's infected but I'm not really that worried anymore, I think I may have been overreacting.

[Sally]

I hope all is fine for Izzy.