Makena Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I was watching Makena preen today and noticed something odd. I looked at his gland and it had what looked like a small pin feather sticking out of it. It was broken and red (filled with blood?). We toweled him to take a closer look at it and when we touched it he yelped in pain. Andrew and I were talking and realized we are a bit unsure of what a normal preen gland should look like. Does this sound normal or is there something wrong? Any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest briansmum Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 to be completely honest... i don't know where the preen glands are.. :unsure: but im pretty sure there shouldn't be a blood feather there.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Hmm, there are feathers growing around the gland area. Certainly could be a sensitive blood feather there. However, its just so tough to really know what you are seeing w/o seeing ourselves. I would think chances are give it a little time and it will probably resolve, but again, not really clear what you are dealing with and I dont have much experience with the preen gland. Hopefully others can provide more insight, but you may need to see a vet if it does not heal up. I will see if I can find anything out about the preen gland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Makena from what i have read there are no feathers normally on the skin over the gland. There is, however, a tuft of down feathers, i would keep a close eye on it & if in any doubt a visit to the vet maybe in order to reassure you & Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 Ok here is a picture we just took.. Does this look right to you?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakenasDad Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 As you can see, it looks like a pin feather? It's "covered" in the material that feathers grow out of. At first I actually thought it was a new tail feather coming in, but it's too high for that, and right in the area the preen gland is located. He was a sweetheart for letting us get this picture, although he didn't like it, he relaxed and let us snap it. What do you think? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdmom Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 heres something I found on http://www.secondchancebirds.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=37428&sid=9fce8a99c8cc8a023f91d83a023af577 An FYI the uropygial papillae is the little "pimple" or nub and the uropygial wike are the nubby feathers that grow out of it. The way I remember it is papillae>pimple, wike>wick. check out the web page Makena. Good Luck birdmom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdmom Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Also GreyGoose posted a thread on this in 8-28-07. He posted pics in Photo Album, keywords, Preen Gland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakenasDad Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Ok. We took him to the vet today! The more we talked about it, the more scared we got. The vet said that he is OK! The uropygial gland is actually to the sides of where that feather is. It is a blood feather that is poking out of the gland, but he said just to keep an eye on it. If it were to break, it could be trouble but basically it should fall out on it's own. So we did the right thing by bringing him in to put our minds at ease. As an additional note: for those of you who don't know.. If a blood feather breaks, do NOT use quick stop (styptic powder) on the feather, it needs to be plucked. If you use the powder, you are prolonging the bleeding but not completely stopping it. I say this because if you think you can just use the powder at night before bringing your baby in the next morning, it could bleed overnight.. (this is advice our vet told us today) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Glad to hear the good news. BTW - I have read that stiptick powder (aks quick stop or silver nitrate sticks) in general is dangerous. If it is ever "accidentally" applied to the skin or feather root it can cause permanent damage even to future feather growth and if it gets in the eyes somehow big trouble. In addition this can cause systematic poisoning. Obviously if it were a choice between bleeding to death and using the stiptick powder to stop the bleeding the choice should be pretty clear. But, there are safer options like cornstarch and flower that should do the trick on most common bleeding injuries. B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Thanks for the update on Makena, Andrew, I saw the post and wondered myself for I have not actually seen Josey's preen gland but glad he is ok, but I understand the vet visit, I would have done the same thing. And thanks to you Mark for the warning about the quick stop, I have that on hand just for such an emergency but now I won't use it, I will use cornstarch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 What Andrew also didn't mention is that when plucking a bleeding feather you want to use tweezers and get as close to the base of the feather as you can. He said you should also put your fingers on the skin on each side of feather to keep from tearing any skin with it. I know it's yucky stuff... but I am glad he told us in case we are ever in a situation where we would need to pluck one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Thanks Kristin for that advice, I have heard that you should pull out a broken blood feather or it will continue to bleed. I haven't been faced with that yet but its good to know if and when the time comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 AND... Andrew also didn't brag about how much the vet was gushing over how healthy Mak is!! He went ahead and gave him a full check up ($$$$$$) and said he is perfect in every way!! He couldn't remember the last time he had seen such a healthy bird!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Well congrats on having such a good looking bird and I know it cost big bucks to have him say he is in perfect health, but he is worth every penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 I have not had to deal yet with broken bloods, but read (again) that in most cases the bird will be able to care for a broken blood feather w/o much need for us to intervene. If a blood feather is severly broken, bleeding does not stop on its own and we cannot help it stop then pulling may be required. However, in most cases pulling should be a last resort as it is painful, traumatic and often not necessary. There seems to be a hyper sensitivity to birds and bleeding. I recall that some here have had hands on experience with this and hope they weigh in on this issue. This is a fairly good and short list to review: http://www.avianweb.com/bleeding.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 You are exactly right Mark. If a blood feather broke that wasn't emitting much blood I wouldn't be too worried. The vet told us only in extreme cases should we pluck the feather...He said the preen gland feather in question could potentially be an extreme case. He basically just warned us as a worst case scenario option if we weren't able to take him to the vet. To be honest I don't think I would have the heart to do it and would take him to the vet anyways!! He said that there is a small chance that the bird could bleed to death if that feather broke.... We just want to know every possible scenario so if it were to happen we would know what to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Pleased to hear everything is ok & great information for members on blood feathers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 It's great to hear that the Preen Gland is ok and your nerves have settled down a bit makena. :-) I have had a broken blood feather in my Conure and observed one in the clutch we picked Dayo from. In both instances we freaked while the birds dealt with the problem themselves while we called vet emergency rooms :ohmy: By the time we finished calling, the bleeding had stopped. :woohoo: So, as has already been said, in most instances it seems the birds fair well on their own in dealing with a damaged or broken blood feather, just as they do so in the wild. BUT, we do need to keep a close eye on them to ensure it does not keep bleeding. Please give Makena a whole Papaya for being such a great photo subject without taking a piece of your finger. B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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