Broken Blood Feather

[kerri]

Hello,

Today I came home to a bunch of dried up blood on one of my parakeets wings and some droplets of blood in the vicinity. The internet said that the most likely cause is a broken blood vessel from a pin feather and that you should apply pressure on the feather. However, my bird never lets me come anywhere near her so there's no way she'd let me do that. So I am wondering if it's possible for the wound to just heal on its own without me having to obtain her against her will to apply pressure on it. It appears that all the blood has dried up and that she is no longer bleeding and seems to be acting normal, so do you think it would be safe for me to just leave her be and let the problem resolve itself? I just don't want to risk doing the wrong thing and then having her die. This has never happened before so I'm just not sure if this is normally a type of problem that can just resolve on its own without one having to intervene.

 

[Owlet]

if it's no longer bleeding she should be okay just be careful not to start her or anything so she doesnt reopen it.

 

[wrench13]

The problem with blood feathers is that they act like a siphon or funnel, becasue they are hollow and are connected to the blood stream directly. The suggestion of putting pressure to stop the bleeding, or to put corn starch on the feather site is if you see active blood dripping from it. Obviously big feather like a tail or a wing primary are like a larger diameter siphon. When those break and bleed, there is a lot of blood and parrots can bleed out quickly from those. Little tiny feathers will have less, but are still of concern.

But if there is no active bleeding, I would just monitor her closely, keep her in cage for a day or 2, provide a bit extra warmth ( just a few degrees, you dont want roast parrot), optional to put a soft towel on the floor of the cage and to lower her perches. THe idea is to limit the movement within the cage and provide a soft place if she falls.