Ingrown Feathers?

[Hilary]

Hopefully somebody here has experienced this and has advice. I have a little gould hen that was missing her tail when I got her - male pulled it out at her last home. No problem - I'll see it during her next molt. She's been slightly fluffed recently so I've been watching her, and tonight found her sitting very quietly in one of the nesting tubes I had in her cage for the pair of waxbills. I pulled her and noticed that when I put her in a smaller hospital cage she kept raising her wings defensively (I'm assuming that's what she was doing). I pulled her again and got her under a good light, and it looks like she's starting to grow tail feathers again. BUT her butt was really lumpy-looking. One dark feather had opened but just the end was poking out. I gave it a little tug and got a good piece of feather, leaving a little hole (the other feathers seem to be growing normally). There's still a dark spot under the skin in a lump, so I'm thinking she may have an impacted feather follicle? I held a wet compress on it for a bit before putting her back in the cage with a heat lamp, and will start her on antibiotics in case it's getting infected, but any other ideas? I tried gently pressing against the black spot trying to move it toward the hole (like you would a splinter), but no luck, and she was NOT happy with me. Any ideas?

Hilary

[kenny]

you should really have left it alone as it sounds like it was a pin feather growing out naturally ...this is how they grow out!they start with a little white shaft then they get longer as the fethers start to appear lower down the shaft they grow out rather like a christmas tree...i would advise against squeeezing anymore black spots as thats where the feathers grow out and they do not need to be forced

scroll down the pages of this link and it will give you an idea how feathers grow
http://www.pionusparrot.com/BabyOrangeWingsUpdates.htm


ken

[Hilary]

She has several normal pin feathers growing out - still in the sheath. For this one the feather had no sheath - it was less than half-inch and already unfurled down into the skin. ?? Appreciate the help.

Hilary

[Hilary]

Update - the lump grew until it was really big and ugly-looking. I mentioned it to my dog/cat vet, bemoaning the fact that my avian vet had quit the business. Turns out he used to raise tiels, and said it was definitely either a feather or a blocked preen gland. If a feather he said to lance it, and if the gland he said to try to express it (even though the hen would NOT be happy about it and the lump was hard). Well, I gritted my teeth and squeezed, and you would not believe the quantity of absolutely nasty stuff that came out. She immediately started moving around again and eating, and now after a week of antibiotics she's back in with her girlfriends! There still appears to be an ingrown feather which I'll watch, but other feathers are starting to grow now and she seems to feel fine. Yeah!!

Hilary

[tina]

That is great that you talked to your other vet and got some kind of idea what to do for her. I am glad she is feeling better.

[tina]

That is great that you talked to your other vet and got some kind of idea what to do for her. I am glad she is feeling better.

[tammieb]

Ouch! But I bet your hen felt much better once it was over.

[finchmix22]

Update - the lump grew until it was really big and ugly-looking. I mentioned it to my dog/cat vet, bemoaning the fact that my avian vet had quit the business. Turns out he used to raise tiels, and said it was definitely either a feather or a blocked preen gland. If a feather he said to lance it, and if the gland he said to try to express it (even though the hen would NOT be happy about it and the lump was hard). Well, I gritted my teeth and squeezed, and you would not believe the quantity of absolutely nasty stuff that came out. She immediately started moving around again and eating, and now after a week of antibiotics she's back in with her girlfriends! There still appears to be an ingrown feather which I'll watch, but other feathers are starting to grow now and she seems to feel fine. Yeah!!

Hilary

Hilary,
I have a Spice Finch with a blocked preening gland. The vet manually drained it like you said in your post, but it is blocked again and now we are on a weekend. I tried warm compresses and pushing on it, but like you it felt hard and nothing happened except she got upset with me. When you pressed, how hard did you have to press to get the gland to release? Did you have to hold a warm compress for a while first? Any suggestions! Thanks.

[Hilary]

Holding a warm compress on it may help soften it up first - I had to squeeze pretty hard (harder than I was willing to at first). It was quite large and swollen, though. If your girl just looks irritated I'd just leave it alone and watch it. You don't want to fool too much with it and cause lasting damage that would result in chronic problems going forward if you can help it.

[6finchfriends]

You're so brave to squeeze it out yourself! I'm also shocked your vet gave you advice over the phone without having you make an appointment! Vets around here will not give advice over the phone no matter what. You have to bring them in. Yay for your hen feeling better!!

[Hilary]

I was actually in the vet office doing something with either my dogs or cat (don't remember anymore - keep in mind my original post is almost 5 years old), and mentioned it to the receptionist, who mentioned it to the vet since she knew he used to raise birds. They don't treat birds there, so this came up as the result of our chatting about it. She actually continued to have chronic problems this, but at least I knew how to deal with it.