LilacBlossom Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Hello everyone. Our Congo African Grey, Echo, has a misplaced feather for three days now. This happened when he flew off his play stick and kind of fell on the floor... He landed on his feet but it seemed kinda harsh. Last night the feather turned completely counter-grow direction (the bottom goes toward the beak, not the tail). He seems to play normally, but when he notices it he seems bothered and tries to pick the part that is connected to the wing. My biggest concern is that it's a blood feather and that it is causing him pain. We looked at the base of it and it seems white with streaks of grey. I called an emergency vet but he said he doesn't know much about parrots. Do you guys have any suggestions about what to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 They'll generally figure out a way to take care of that feather, but I've also gone in with a pair of scissors and snipped it at the point where it's bent/snapped without any harm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilacBlossom Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 I'm afraid he'll bleed if I cut the feather. I don't want to hurt him if there's a possibility that he'll fix it on his own... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Hello everyone. Our Congo African Grey, Echo, has a misplaced feather for three days now. This happened when he flew off his play stick and kind of fell on the floor... He landed on his feet but it seemed kinda harsh. Last night the feather turned completely counter-grow direction (the bottom goes toward the beak, not the tail). He seems to play normally, but when he notices it he seems bothered and tries to pick the part that is connected to the wing. My biggest concern is that it's a blood feather and that it is causing him pain. We looked at the base of it and it seems white with streaks of grey. I called an emergency vet but he said he doesn't know much about parrots. Do you guys have any suggestions about what to do? The problem with the feather in your picture is a common one. It happens with many birds. If your bird allows you to hold him, just take the feather and put it back in it's proper area. More than likely, if the feather is broken, your bird will eventually pull or snap it off if it comes out again. This may happen a few times before your bird ecides to pull it away. If it happens in the cage, you'll see the feather on the bottom of the tray. Discomfort causes the bird to do this. It's not painful to a bird. What you shouldn't do is try to pull or snap it off because I can see that you're not familiar with blood feathers. So, let the feather die off and let the bird take care of the problem. Normally, this doesn't affect the bird's everyday behavior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilacBlossom Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 Well, it's been four days now and it's still out. It looks worse every day. Is it really normal that it's bent this way? When he arranges his feathers or shake his wings it doesn't come back inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Well, it's been four days now and it's still out. It looks worse every day. Is it really normal that it's bent this way? When he arranges his feathers or shake his wings it doesn't come back inside. Well, I already told you that it may take a while for the feather to fall, break or snap off. It won't happen overnight. I never said it would. If you did put the feather back in it's proper place and when he shook his feathers you saw the feather again, that's simply a sign that the feather is getting weaker and weaker. This especially applies to blood feathers. The feather will look more disheveled . I told you it was common that this can happen. I could show you pictures of birds that look much worse. I have great adult greys that fly around and they sometimes break feathesr. I pay attention to it just to make sure it's not b;eeding. If it isn't, I just walk away and let the bird take care of the problem himself. Many people here can chime in and tell you when that happened to their birds. That includes wing, blood and tail feathers. Sometimes a bird flaps in the cage and the wing gets caught and breaks or partially snaps. A damaged feather that your bird has is not gonna look better simply because days have passed. It's dying and the feather will come off even if you don't believe me SO, if it'll make you feel better, you can go to an avian vet and have him snip it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Great advice Dave007, and so right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acappella Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Like Dave said, just let it be. It'll fall out or the bird will deal with it eventually. Just try not to see it for now. It's bugging you more than it is your bird! <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 PLEASE... I would obscess when Sophie had a feather, that needed to go! She would walk around with that feather, and she knew it drove me crazy! She actually started to limp! Ryan, my bird whisperer finally made her pay attention, told her to take care of it, and she did. He held up the feather and she clipped it. No big deal! I wish I could do that. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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