How long does a broken blood feather take to heal?

[BlinkingLizard]

Hi all, I haven't been by since shortly after I adopted my two budgies, Poochie and Cindy. Poochie has always had one wing that droops and he can't fly. The vet I took them too said it wasn't broken and there was nothing he could do. Things have been fine since then, but Poochy still can't fly, and his feathers haven't grown back on that wing since the vet trimmed them. At one point I noticed he was bleeding and assumed he broke a blood feather falling in an attempt to fly. I stopped the bleeding and restricted him to the cage to give it time to heal. But every time my kids take him out again he ends up bleeding again. Not a lot, just some staining on his wing. I supervise the kids and teach them to be gentle, but it seems Poochie's bum wing is just very fragile. How long *does* it take for a broken blood feather to heal properly? A couple of days ago I saw a new feather growing in, but today he is bleeding again.

 

[SailBoat]

So, your bird had a crash or something that resulted in an issue with the one wing?
It is not totally rare for a young bird to have a wing that droops a bit. Commonly by the time they are a couple years old, they will hold both wings more or less even and higher.
A blood feather that bleeds can be stopped, which you did. Once the bleeding is stopped it will:
- Complete developing into a feather
- Drop out and is replaced with a new feather.
- Continue to have bleeding problems and have to be removed. After removal, they are replaced with a new feather.
The lose of a single feather should not limit your bird from flying unless the wings feathers have been cut to limit flying.

 

[BlinkingLizard]

Thanks. The vet estimated Poochie is about two years old. Since his wings were clipped (and this was in the winter, not recently) the long feathers on one side have not grown back, but they have on the other side. When he tries to fly, he just sinks like a rock, mostly. If he's on the ground and tries to lift up, he can get maybe a foot and a half high before coming down again. I don't see any obviously broken feather that could be pulled out, but I guess the one that's bleeding would be the one.

 

[Smerft85]

Thanks. The vet estimated Poochie is about two years old. Since his wings were clipped (and this was in the winter, not recently) the long feathers on one side have not grown back, but they have on the other side. When he tries to fly, he just sinks like a rock, mostly. If he's on the ground and tries to lift up, he can get maybe a foot and a half high before coming down again. I don't see any obviously broken feather that could be pulled out, but I guess the one that's bleeding would be the one.

Feathers grow at different speeds. Our two budgies that came from petco had such horrible clipping jobs that my male still only gets maybe a foot off the ground and falls like a rock too, we have had them since mothers day, the little yellow one we picked up same day is just getting to where she can get some lift and direction. Other that the blood feather issue, it's normal and I'm going thru the same thing with my birds. Out of 10 birds I have two that have never been clipped, and one that flies very well with a clip, so I have 7/10 that just drop when they do try.

 

[noodles123]

A broken blood feather can heal but it can also start bleeding again-- just because it clots temporarily doesn't mean it is "healed". That is why some people advise removing them, but that isn't always necessary. That having been said, if bumped at all, the shaft can bleed again and that is hazardous-- especially if it happens at night when you are not around to help stop it. At this point, I would take him to the vet and have it pulled because it is producing noticeable blood and clearly it started bleeding again.

 

[BlinkingLizard]

Ah, got it. That must be what is happening.