FINCHforum

I have a gouldian that seems to have broken one or to blood feather earlier today.What a bloody mess she was i thought she was going to bleed to death The question i have is do really have too pull the feather out if it is left in their? And on a minor note does anyone a good way to clean up dried blood off a bird?

Thank you

I think most take them out as it will keep bleeding But I haven't had to do it maybe someone will chime in here thats sure about it sorry not much help good luck how is she today

My understanding is the same as Bill's. When my Gouldian broke a blood-feather, you're right - what a mess. Blood on the floor (outside the cage) and on the wall behind it! But I just left the bird as it appeared fine (when I found out which one it was) and it cleaned itself up within a couple of days.

I have never had a finch break a feather but when I worked at the pet store it would happen with the larger birds, Macaws, amazons, etc. Usually too big of a bird in too small of a cage.
You need to grip the feather at the base, the thickest part of the quill and pluck it with a firm tug/ Do not jerk as you can damage the duct. They come out pretty easily and the feather will grow back. Provide a bath and the bird will clean itself. You may want to seperate the bird with plenty of good foods to let it recooperate and buil it's strength/blood back up. Do remove the feather because if it starts to bleed again the finch could weaken to the point of death.

This would be a good subject to be added to a sticky

Better yet, this would be good as part of an article at the Finch Information Center on health emergencies.

Thank you all for the info in your replies.I think i will try and remove the damaged feathers as Candace suggested.Mainly the fact of reopening the wound and it being one or to flight feathers.Wish me luck,and say a prayer for the little bird

I have you and the bird in my prayers. The duct does not bleed, just the quill of the feathers. I have pulled many over the years at the pet store. Never had a problem afterwards and the feather was replace fairly quickly....Kind of like plucking a big hair

Wishing you luck, and prayers are being said.

Thank you for the prayers.It seems they have been answered,as i pulled the feathers out today and all is well.It was'nt that difficult as i thought before hand.Oh well i guess it a part of keeping birds,and i have a little more experience taking care of them.

Thanks for the help guys

I can only give advice from the Raptors that allowed me to 'own' them.

Broken blood feathers are a serious issue. I've found it is best to pluck it.. It stops the blood from feeding the broken feather which acts like a straw.

http://petcare.suite101.com/article.cfm ... od_feather

Hope that helps.

Sorry.. didn't see that you already did that.

Glad you got the feather out. I think it is the nerves the first time that is so hard. The first one I had to do was on a scarlet macaw and there were like 4 of them. I was a nervous wreck. But like you found...it is not so bad. And the smaller the bird the easier they cone out. Good Job

Sally wrote:Better yet, this would be good as part of an article at the Finch Information Center on health emergencies.

I agree with Sally. This would help others that will go through the same.

Glad everything went well and your bird is okay.

BillD.. thanks for the link. This is something new to me. I didn't know what a blood feather was. If this had happened to one of my birds I would have freaked

I'm glad you found it informative Hope.

I've only had experience with that in Raptors. I also learned how to 'pin' a feather onto broken full feathers. That was in my falconry days and I don't think it would be useful for finches.