Blood feather - Can I leave it alone?

[Beaker'sMom]

Hey everyone,
So yesterday, I had to clip my canary's toenails and in the process of doing so, it seems one of his wing feathers was nicked. He didn't bleed a lot and the bleeding stopped on its own. I was ready to take him to my vet, but my canary seemed fine after the incident, bathed himself twice and is eating and behaving normally. I really don't want to put my bird through the stress of pulling the feather if I don't have to. What do you guys think about this? Is it safe to leave the feather if it's no longer bleeding and will it heal naturally? The bird is in a large cage by himself. Seems happy as can be but has stopped singing due to what I believe is an impending molt...or maybe just stress from the whole ordeal yesterday.
Thank you so much.

[Atbird]

Ive had birds break their blood feathers before. I came home once and there was blood everywhere from one of my ringnecks. By the time I came home the feather had stopped bleeding and everything was fine. I just let her be. You are the best judge. Trust your gut.

[cindy]

This article might help.... http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/bird ... athers.php

[MiaCarter]

It's a tough call.

The blood supply will naturally recede on its own just as it does with all other feathers. But until that happens, the blood feather will be prone to bleeding again.

I've had many instances where the bleeding had ceased by the time I found the problem, so I just left it.
In most cases, they were just fine.
There have been a few incidents where the bleeding started again and I had to pull the feather.
But that's risky (and traumatic.) If you don't get the entire feather, you risk more bleeding and a situation where you've broken something that was more or less fixed so to speak.

Is this a primary feather on the wing?
Where is it located?

Obviously a small feather on the body is less prone to reinjury, whereas something on the wing or tail is more apt to be injured again.

And of course, the more primary and larger the feather, the larger the blood supply and the faster they bleed out.

Smaller feathers obviously bleed at a slower rate and the size of the clot that needs to form in order to obstruct the shaft and stop the bleeding is much smaller. So the small feathers are more apt to stop bleeding on their own, whereas a large primary feather can be fatal in short order especially on a small bird.

I'd consider the location of the damage too. Close to the body is less apt to get knocked around and reinjured. Near the tip is more apt to get knocked around and bleed again.

If it's a large primary feather on the wing or tail, I would probably pull it.
If it's a small feather on the body, I would leave it.

Also, remove all bath water. He can't bathe for a bit or he risks dissolving the clot and bleeding again.

If you do pull it, get a pair of needlenose pliers. They hold the feather more securely than your fingers, which if you're anything like me, will be a tad sweaty due to nerves! Hold the feather right at the base.
Pull it out straight in one swift motion. If you pull at an angle, you could break the feather instead of plucking it.

[Beaker'sMom]

Is this a primary feather on the wing?
Where is it located?

Hi there, thank you for the advice! It appears to be a smaller feather on the hinge of the wing...an "armpit" feather if that makes sense. Definitely not a large wing feather.

There is no sign of blood so far, thank God. I've removed his bath water as you suggested. Will keep an eye on him and if I see more blood in the next few days, will take him straight to the avian vet.

I don't have the courage to try pulling it myself. Praying it resolves on it's own!

[MiaCarter]

Armpit feather is pretty good. I'm not keen that it's in a place with lots of movement. Middle of the back would be better! LOL

But it sounds like it's small, which is good.

I will caution you that if he reinjures it, you may not have time to get to the vet. If it starts bleeding, you may only have minutes to take action (or hope it stops on its own again.)
If it's bleeding at a good clip, it could be fatal in 20 min or less.

I'd make sure you have cornstarch handy. Or ideally, styptic powder which you can get at any pet store. That will usually stop the bleeding in the case of a small feather (though it may take several applications).
Look for it and get it out now so you know exactly where it is if you need it.
I'd also get a pair of needlenose pliers out so you have them if you need them.