Blood feather fell out

[kristy29]

This afternoon, I took my untamed parakeet into the shower with me. She is molting, and I knew it would benefit her to get wet. Well, she wasn't too thrilled with me, and she kinda freaked out. She fell to the floor a couple of times (I have a shower perch at about shoulder height), and was flapping her wings a lot. I also got bit, but I digress.

Well, I went out this evening, and when I came back, I noticed one of her wing feathers (which is new since she is molting) was a little crooked. A few minutes later, it was on the bottom of the cage. When I picked it up, I noticed it was a blood feather (well, I am assuming, I am not sure what a blood feather is, but this had what looked like blood in the end of it). She seems fine, their is no blood in the cage, and she is eating and acting normal. Is she ok? And how badly did it hurt?

[Monica]

If the entire feather is out of the wing I'm sure she'll be fine. Sounds like it was just bothering her, cause maybe she damaged it? Got a picture?

[Lisa B]

yeah like Monica said, she will most likely be fine..and yes, that was probably a blood feather. Once a feather if fully developed, you dont see any blood at all, but the quill seems to be whitish or translucent.

[kristy29]

Yes, she seems to be acting and eating fine this morning.

Here's a pic of the feather


And here she is stuffing her face this morning

[Monica]

That actually appears to be a fully mature flight feather... although since there's a bit of blood, it may have been nearly full grown, so to speak. Since the end of the feather is missing, you should probably inspect her wings and see if you can find the last of the feather. You might not be able to, but if it's still there you might want to pull it, since it's so close to the body and is open (assuming it's a blood feather in the last stages of becoming a full grown feather), leaving an area for bacteria and whatnot to enter the body.

This, at least, is what I'd do if it was really a blood feather...

[kristy29]

Hmm, you must have missed the part where I said she is an untamed budgie, lol. I can't pick her up without stressing her. And picking her up is what caused this in the first place. I guess I will try to towel her and get my husband to help me, but it's not gonna be until tomorrow, because I am at school now. How likely is it to get infected? And is it going to hurt her if I pull it out?

[Monica]

It will hurt if there's any feather left. I don't know how likely it is that she'd get an infection but I myself would rather not chance it. Was hoping maybe another member or two would jump in here for their opinions as well. Of course, you might also want to speak with an avian vet, too.