blidner Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Our Congo Kira flew down (about 2 feet) today when she got scared. when i picked her up there was a small flow of blood. I quickly stopped the bleeding with the corn startch and light pressure. She has 2 new blood feathers growing in. there is no active bleeding. i can not see if there is a break in the shaft or if the blood came through the bottom of the feather. i would appreciate any advice people could offer thanks in advance Aron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 You will probably have to pull the broken feathers out, usually you have to to stop the bleeding but you say you got it stopped. If you cannot do it yourself you can take her to a vet and he/she will remove them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blidner Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 If the bleeding has stopped is there still a need to have it pulled. there has been no active bleeding in hours? My concern is not the cost of a vet rather the trauma of having feathers pulled. kira is deathly scared of the vets office as she has required a considerable amount of care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Yes I think it needs to be pulled because it is damaged and won't grow back until she molts and sometimes the remaining shaft won't come out properly when the new feather wants to come in. Also a damaged feather can be an irritant to the bird. I think I am right but maybe someone else has a better answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I am not sure about the damage and affect it may have on the shaft remaining. I believe unless it is badly damaged the feather can still come in. I will do some more research and try to get back with you. If the damaged blood feather results in the scenario Judygram suggests I agree it would need to be pulled. Watch it closely. If the bleeding has stopped and you can keep it stopped you may be OK. Try to avoid situations that may result in further injury. If the bleeding starts up again and cannot be stopped they may need to be pulled. However, if you can avoid it I would delay pulling them. This is painful to the birds and can make them associate pain with their feathers/flight. :ohmy: Did she crash into something or bang her wings? Only flying 2 feet does not seem like it should result in broken blood feathers.<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/05/24 03:07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 My avian vet said he has some kind of gas that he gives them so they don't feel any pain when the shaft is pulled out. Ask your vet about that method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blidner Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 thank you for the immediate feedback. the bleeding feather is only about 1 inch long so i imagine it is still quite weak. also, kira is a terrible plucker and does not have alot of protection on her wings as a results. she certainly has made much larger leaps than this one without incident. must have been the way she landed. i will continue to monitor the bleeding or any changes in her demeanor. i will call a vet, we continue to struggle to find someone we really like in Mass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Keep an eye on her and let us know how things go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I did a little research and it seems several people that have owned greys for many years have found a slightly broken blood feather will either heal on its own or the bird will take care of it on its own. If the bleeding has stopped I would watch and wait. From what I gather, more often than not the bird can handle it if not bleeding a lot, particularly if you got the bleeding to stop. This does happen to them in the wild and they are able to deal. However, you need to watch it and be prepared to take her to a vet if needed. Maybe you should call and put together a plan just in case. However, I think there's a good chance it will be OK w/o much additional action. Monitor and keep us posted. I hope other members will provide additional suggestions based upon experience. I have not yet had to deal with this for Kip, but certainly want to be prepared.<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/05/24 04:48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blidner Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 Thank you for the information. We do have the "emergency" plan for both of our birds. the travel cages are already to go and depending on the day, or time of day there are two different places we can go. thanks again, and will keep people posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Hi Blidner, How old is Kira and how long have you had her? I hope the blood feather issue gets resolved. Also, what have you been able to do to deal with the plucking issue mentioned? Keep us updated on the status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blidner Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 i believe Kira is 4 years old and she has lived with us for about 3 years. We adopted her from a home that could not care for her any longer. Mixing up her toys regularly, using hiddy boxes for treats has been most effective. she was once collared for a long period because she did significant damage to hersef, but that is nothing that we will do again unless there is a strong medical necessity. The vet did collar her a few months ago against our wishes and we removed it when she got home. environmental changes set kira off, as does initial plucking. once she starts, she can not stop. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blidner Posted May 25, 2007 Author Share Posted May 25, 2007 Update. Kira is looking very good today. Eating and playing like nothing happened. We will continue to monitor her closely though. Thanks for all the information and i will continue to post Aron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Glad to hear things are improving currently. Please do keep us updated. Its nice for everyone to have feedback on these experiences so we can all learn/see examples on how something like this progresses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 That's very good news! Definitely keep us updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 So glad to hear Kira is doing good and keep us informed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Monique Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 I would never pull a birds feather. You can usually get any bleeding to stop with flour (or corn starch as you did). The bird may not forgive you! And I'm not sure there is good reason. However, if it were bothering the bird then I would bring them to a vet to be looked at. In any case, it sounds like Your Birdie is feeling quite well and happy so that is good!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Hi Blidner, Any update on the status with Kira's damaged blood feather? Hope it continues to improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blidner Posted May 27, 2007 Author Share Posted May 27, 2007 the feather continues to grow as if nothing happened. we monitor her closely as usual. right now she has her neck flipped back to have me scratch her crop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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