Bent/cracked tail feather

[divegirl]

Hi, Dave my BF Ammie seems to have bent one of his tail feathers about an inch and a half from the tip. Do I just leave it alone for him to sort out? He's not at all bothered by it.

Lisa x

 

[henpecked]

You can clip it off.You can also pull it ,but i don't recommend that unless you've done it before. It will grow back quicker but your bird won't like you doing it.welcome to the Forum.

 

[mcw009]

I would just leave it. He'll pick it off if he feels so inclined, but it doesn't hurt and it's no health risk at all.

 

[divegirl]

Hi thanks for the replies.... I think I'll just leave it be as I certainly to do have the experience to pull it out and would be scared of clipping a blood feather [that said it is a really low down crack].
Like I said, Dave isn't bothered in the slightest....just looks a bit wonky lol

Lisa x

 

[henpecked]

Hey Lisa, Blood feathers are developing feathers, if this is a feather he's had awhile and the main shaft isn't dark colored then it's safe to cut.There's no blood in a mature feather. Of course you can just let it be , but if it becomes an issue just nip it above the break.

 

[divegirl]

Thanks for that As you may have noticed I'm not an expert but am learning day by day!
To be honest he won't let me even have a proper look so I think I'll just leave it. Thank you for taking the time to reply....love this forum!

Lisa x

 

[MikeyTN]

As long as its just the tip I wouldn't worry about it unless its on the shaft then you need to have it pulled. But henpecked give you some good advice already!

 

[mcw009]

As long as its just the tip I wouldn't worry about it unless its on the shaft then you need to have it pulled. But henpecked give you some good advice already!

The feather shaft actually extends all the way through the tip of the feather; it just gets narrower and narrower as it gets farther from the body.

If this were a pin feather, you would also probably see a fair amount of blood. While this would not be cause for an emergency vet visit, you would want to remove the rest of the feather.

However, once a feather is fully grown in, breaks aren't painful or prone to infection (feathers are a lot like hair or nails). So even if it's broken very low on the shaft (close to the body, where it's thicker), it's still not a concern.

 

[MikeyTN]

I would have to disagree! When it's closer to the body, especially on the wing part, they tend to break it all the way to the skin area where the base does not fall off properly leaving the bird unable to molt! That's why I suggested in pulling!!! Some birds will kept chewing on the shaft all the way to the base. I've seen it happen way too many times. I had a vet pull my macaw's wing feathers out because of it. It was in there for 2 years before I met a vet that was willing to do it. I've done it to my other birds in the past, but I wasn't about to attempt it on my macaw as it is harder to do. I've owned 100's of birds in the past, so that I would have to disagree!