Broken tail feather, What to do

[QuakerLover4ever]

Hey I'm back once again. My little baby Blaze (sun conure) was being a acrobat, and he busted a tail feather. There is some blood, and this is my first experience with a blood feather. What should I do???? Ahhh!!! He seems fine though. He is sitting on my shoulder grinding his beak happily. SO, should I pull it? Leave it? or do something else? If I have to pull it could someone take me step by step through it? Like I said this is my first experience with a blood feather. Blaze is a clumsy little bird. So Is there something I can do? Is this something to worry about, or am I just paranoid?

Someone Help!


Taylor, Blaze, and Buckeye

[bgmacaw]

Good advice from Nancy's earlier post.

Preparing your home for a new baby macaw

Your new baby is happily settling in and you've gotten into some kind of routine. Things go well and all is right with the world until disaster strikes. While trying to impress you with his ability to hang upside down like a bat and chanting "Hello, Step Up" he miscalculates and comes tumbling down, on his head and bounces around on the boxes (aren't you glad you paid attention).

Still, being unaccustomed to falling from such a position and not yet knowing how to say "I meant to do that" your baby has somehow managed to break one of those glorious tailfeathers. Of course it would be a blood feather and now you get to find out just how good you are in a pressure situation.

Remember the first aid kit I recommended? Of course you hang on my every word and have it fully stocked. If you still have a piece of feather hanging, please clip that off now with a clean pair of scissors where it is broken. You will then pack the end with cornstarch or flour and that may very well allow the blood to clot. If not, get out that fresh bar of Ivory soap and fill the end with soap. If you have parafin wax, do the same thing.

Rarely will this not stop the bleeding. However, you need to realize that Baby isn't simply gonna sit still and recover. OH NO! He will indeed expect to be cuddled and smooched on having survived the "horrendous injury"(LOL) but he also wants to perfect his dive for the "summer games". That having been said, this could easily repeat itself, and then you're right back to square one.

This is where your hemostats or needle nosed pliers come in. You may require an extra pair of hands if your baby isn't fully trusting. Be sure to first towel him, because he's not gonna like this one bit.

Using the hemostats or pliers, get as close to the base of his tailfeather as possible. Grab tightly and with one swift and firm movement pull it outin a straight line in the direction it grows. Don't be squeamish, its gonna bleed, but if you apply pressure to the wound and give it a few minutes, it will close on its own. Once the magic is complete, you are both out of danger and you will no doubt have lots of explaining to do, Lucy.

If you cannot be home when you try to plug the damaged feather, then you really should remove a bleeding feather stub. The chances of it being jarred and bleeding again are too high to allow it to remain. If, however, you're at home and can stay put for the rest of that day, often it will dry up on its own and a few months later, be removed by the baby bird.

CAUTION: It is generally not recommended for novices to remove wingfeathers. The bones in the wing are very delicate and you could actually break them. In the case of broken wing feathers, simply apply cornstarch and head for your vet.

THE OUTLAW

[jimpierce7]

why she is called Sophie Two Tail feathers................but I bet she breaks them within the week.

[QuakerLover4ever]

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

Good advice from Nancy's earlier post.

Preparing your home for a new baby macaw

Your new baby is happily settling in and you've gotten into some kind of routine. Things go well and all is right with the world until disaster strikes. While trying to impress you with his ability to hang upside down like a bat and chanting "Hello, Step Up" he miscalculates and comes tumbling down, on his head and bounces around on the boxes (aren't you glad you paid attention).

Still, being unaccustomed to falling from such a position and not yet knowing how to say "I meant to do that" your baby has somehow managed to break one of those glorious tailfeathers. Of course it would be a blood feather and now you get to find out just how good you are in a pressure situation.

Remember the first aid kit I recommended? Of course you hang on my every word and have it fully stocked. If you still have a piece of feather hanging, please clip that off now with a clean pair of scissors where it is broken. You will then pack the end with cornstarch or flour and that may very well allow the blood to clot. If not, get out that fresh bar of Ivory soap and fill the end with soap. If you have parafin wax, do the same thing.

Rarely will this not stop the bleeding. However, you need to realize that Baby isn't simply gonna sit still and recover. OH NO! He will indeed expect to be cuddled and smooched on having survived the "horrendous injury"(LOL) but he also wants to perfect his dive for the "summer games". That having been said, this could easily repeat itself, and then you're right back to square one.

This is where your hemostats or needle nosed pliers come in. You may require an extra pair of hands if your baby isn't fully trusting. Be sure to first towel him, because he's not gonna like this one bit.

Using the hemostats or pliers, get as close to the base of his tailfeather as possible. Grab tightly and with one swift and firm movement pull it outin a straight line in the direction it grows. Don't be squeamish, its gonna bleed, but if you apply pressure to the wound and give it a few minutes, it will close on its own. Once the magic is complete, you are both out of danger and you will no doubt have lots of explaining to do, Lucy.

If you cannot be home when you try to plug the damaged feather, then you really should remove a bleeding feather stub. The chances of it being jarred and bleeding again are too high to allow it to remain. If, however, you're at home and can stay put for the rest of that day, often it will dry up on its own and a few months later, be removed by the baby bird.

CAUTION: It is generally not recommended for novices to remove wingfeathers. The bones in the wing are very delicate and you could actually break them. In the case of broken wing feathers, simply apply cornstarch and head for your vet.

THE OUTLAW

Thank You, he seems much better, the bleeding only lasted a half an hour so he should be fine. Thank you again,

Taylor, Blaze, and Buckeye

[QuakerLover4ever]

Originally Posted by jimpierce7

why she is called Sophie Two Tail feathers................but I bet she breaks them within the week.

Clumsy Little Bird, Eh? Lol

Taylor, Blaze, and Buckeye