More broken blood feathers!

[Lindy1724]

Stella broke another blood feather today! She was being walked back to her cage and she catapulted herself down onto the carpet and she broke a blood feather amongst her tail feathers. My boyfriend toweled her while I plucked it out. It kept bleeding this time so I used the Kwik-Stop styptic (sp.?) powder to stop it. I am worried though because it is within the last 3 weeks that she has started actually breaking the blood feathers. She is just as clumsy as she was before, except now she is breaking her blood feathers whereas before she was not. Could it have anything to do with the fact that she just went through a molt a few weeks ago? Are the new feathers maybe more fragile and more likely to break easier than fully grown feathers? I am not sure about this so any advice would be helpful! I just don't want to be plucked blood feathers every other week...that seems like it would not be healthy for Stella! Thanks, in advance, for any advice!

[The Outlaw]

Lindy:

I have never owned tiels, so I'm only guessing here. It sounds to me that her feathers are in fact too brittle. I therefore need to ask you some questions about how often you shower her and what you feed her.

Young birds routinely break feathers. Its what they do best, but Nature usually factors that in and provides them with a certain amount of flexibility. If she is on a primarily seed diet, you need to add some fresh veggies (broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, parsley, dark leafy greens, etc) to her diet. I'm not at all certain about pellets, but I think I read recently that they can't be on a total pelleted diet without liver problems down the road. Again, I don't keep tiels. I hope someone more knowledgable will jump in. Joel would be a great one to privately email or PM. He's wonderful when it comes to smaller birds.

THE OUTLAW

[Lindy1724]

Outlaw-

Stella gets a mixture of ZuPreem Avian Maintenance for cockatiels Fruitblend flavor and the plain flavor during the day and then at night she gets either mixed veggies (corn, peas, green beans, and carrots), which she doesn't care for but I still try it with her or just corn, which she does like, in addition to bird bean cuisine. The bean cuisine consists of pastas, brown rice, and an assortment of various beans and this is mixed with the vegetable of choice for the day and fed to her in the evening. She is left with this mixture all night and then in the morning, I switch it out with the pellet mixture and I also supply her with fresh water, of course!!

This is what I have been giving her since she came home and it is what her breeder had her on when she was at her house and so it is, of course, what she recommended. So, let me know if there is more that I could do to improve her feather quality! Thanks again for any advice out there!!!

[Lindy1724]

Oh, I almost forgot...I gave her a shower right before it happened today and before that she got a shower like 8 days ago. I try not to give her a shower any more than once a week, and that much doesn't usually happen until recently. So let me know what yall think...maybe I have been giving her too many showers lately and that is why her feathers are getting brittle. Please help!!

[The Outlaw]

Actually, I'd recommend MORE showers. Try to bath her every other day. I'm currently using a product called Featherin that you mix with warm water and spray on your birds. It makes my macaws feathers feel like silk. You can get it from www.avitec.com. I really like it much better than George's aloe that I didn't find to be especially effective.

I'd give that a try. Also, try offering fresh veggies on skewers, or very finely chopped up. If you have a food processor, try making them about the size of rice.

THE OUTLAW

[Franciscus]

I don't know why Stella would be breaking blood feathers but you should NEVER pu styptic powder on anything but as bleeding nail, and even then with extreme caution. It can burn skin and cause feather follicle damage. You can use corn starch safely.

[BirdsUnlimited]

When the bird tries to fly does it fly out a distance or does it drop like a rock and go straight down to the floor? A bird should be able to fly a short distance with control. If initially a cockatiel was clipped properly and then put on some weight it too may fall abruptly and break feathers. Some cockatiels are clipped too young, with no flying experience and will actually fly backwards a short distance. You just have to wait until the flight feathers moult, and regrow. Then get them clipped so the bird can still get around a bit. It's a long process before all flight and tail feathers are replaced without breaking more in the process.

[Lindy1724]

She flaps her wings and does flips and then lands on the ground, only if we can't catchher first. I call her my little "kamikaze bird" because she does this crazy back flipping thing.

Initially, the breeder let her take a couple first flights and then clipped her wings right in front of me so I could see how it is done. I have since only clipped her wings once, but she has always done this flipping thing...

I have already decided that I am no longer going to clip her wings. Maybe if she could fly then she would not break so many blood feathers. I will also give her more showers and maybe try that Featherin stuff!

As far as the styptic powder, I was told by the breeder to use that to stop the bleeding and I have read posts on this board that say to use that product in the event of a blood feather breakage. Lastly, the box says you can use it due to improper wing clippage so I took that as meaning when someone clips into a blood feather which is similar to her breaking one and casuing it to bleed. So I am confused about what this product can be used for. She seems fine now so I am not too concerned about the powder hurting her but I will still keep an eye on the place where I put it, but any more info on the safety of this product would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for the advice!

[The Outlaw]

Frank is correct about not using styptic powders on birds. Its inappropriate. It causes chemical burns and can cause permanent damage. In fact, a vet that treated a bird that was temporarily housed here blamed the loss of its toenail on my use of styptic powder. I, too, was under the false impression that we should use it to stop bleeding. What is does is chemically cauterize a wound. And that's how it can permanently destroy tissue.

Especially at the site of a newly pulled feather, it shouldn't be applied. It will often cause the permanent destruction of that feather follicle.

Use corn starch first. Apply pressure for 3 minutes or until the blood clots. If that isn't effective, you really do need to see a vet. I wish that people would get it through their heads that just because some manufacturer includes it with their bird supplies, that doesn't make it appropriate. If you don't believe me, your vet is only a phone call away.


THE OUTLAW

[TeresaB]

Lindy~

I agree that showering MORE would be better. I adopted an M2 a year ago and her feathers were very dry and brittle. She was constantly breaking them. I started showering her every other day. In no time her feathers were flexible, soft and fluffy looking. It really does stop the breakage :icon_mrgr .