Little Millie got a nasty bite...

[lovezebs]

One of my new little Zebbie girls got a nasty bite from one of her flight mates.
I heared a squabble evening before last. When I went to check on them however, everybody seemed fine.
Yesterday morning, I found little Millie sitting at the bottom if the flight looking worried. I notice the she was hopping but not flying. Getting out my little hospital cage, I got everything ready in the washroom for my little girl. Catching her, I got her into washroom and checked to see what the trouble was. It became apparent right away . Blood on the outside of her wing and what looks like a chunk taken out of her feathers, possibly some broken feathers and broken skin.
I placed her in the hospital cage with food and water. Then I put her on top of the flight with a warm light on her. She hopped on to the one low perch and had a drink and some breakfast. Then she sat down to watch her flight mates from above. Later she had some lettuce for a snack.
This morning, we followed tge same process. Checked out her wing and put on a dab of antibiotic ointment on her wound. As I was cleaning her little cage she decided to hop down to the floor and investigate the dish with cat crunchies. Decided she didnt like it much. When I was finished she practically hopped into my hand and went back into hospital cage.
She's eating, drinking and appears to be in good spirits. Is there anything else that I should be doing for my little patient?

[finchmix22]

I would give her eggfood so she can grow back her feathers. Then, keep her there until they grow back. Of course, if her mate was that aggressive, I'd hesitate to put her back when she is healed. Hmmm tough one.

[delray]

lovezebs hope she feels better.

[wildbird]

Sounds like you're doing a great job. Hope she gets better soon.

[lovezebs]

delray and@wildbird
Thanks for kind wishes. So far she's hanging in there.

[lovezebs]

finchmix22
Hi Deborah.
Don't know who did the evil deed but they sure did a job on her poor wing. It looks like most of the wing is missing. I don't dare spread the wing out, it looks too sore.
I have to say, she is holding her own though. Yes, egg food and her favorite romaine and cucumber.
She's eating and drinking and preening. Not fluffed up at all and in good spirits. Will try to get a picture of that side and post it.
She doesn't have a mate. My Zebbies are in a group of six, three male, three female together with other species.

[MiaCarter]

Aw, poor Millie.

@finchmix22 advice on the eggfood is spot on. Some insects too if she enjoys them. Lots of protein is good.

Do you have a heat lamp? I'd be sure she has a heat lamp too.

Personally, I always give antibiotics for bite wound. They have a much, much higher chance of infection than other wounds. I know most are hesitant to give antibiotics where a confirmed infection doesn't currently exist, but the chances of infection from a bite wound are just so so high.

It's even more important if there isn't a lot of bleeding (you usually want to let bite wounds bleed a bit, as it naturally flushes out the bacteria. Of course, in a small bird, that amount of bleeding is dangerous, so it leaves them more susceptible.)

Antibiotics would be especially important, I think, if you've spotted broken feathers. The core of the feather, in the area near the base of the feather, is connected directly to the feather's blood supply. So it's easy for bacteria to travel up the feather and into her blood, causing a blood infection, sepsis. That would be beyond the reach of the antibiotic ointment.

I'd also be worried about the infection spreading from the tissue to other structures in the wing (muscles, tendons, bones, etc.) causing a permanent disability.

I think there's probably a pretty good chance that she is already infected as you mentioned that the entire wing seemed swelled, red, etc. So I'd opt for antibiotics, followed by some probiotics.

I'd also give her some NV powder or another electrolyte solution (homemade or unflavored Pedialyte) to help support her.

[lovezebs]

Here are some pictures of injury. Not the best, but can give an idea.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Thanks Mia.
Wing seems gone, not swollen or red. Aside from that Millie appears to be doing quite well. Very interested in what her flight mates are doing.

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs -- Hmmm....that's odd.
Gone?
Not sure what to make of that!

Actually, once you strip away the feathers, there's not a whole lot left to speak of. The actual wing is quite small. So I bet what you're seeing is an absence of lots of feathers.
It's difficult to tell from those photos.

If she lost a significant portion of her wing, I imagine you'd see quite a bit of blood (and probably a chunk of wing too.)

She looks pretty good, though. She's not horribly puffed up and I see the pics are in 3 different spots, so she seems to be up and moving around which is great!

[finchmix22]

She sure if beautiful! Poor thing, but it seems she is adjusting well.

[lovezebs]

finchmix22
She is a cute little thing, although not as pretty as her step sister Micky.
She is doing alright all things considering. I wonder how long it's going to take flight feathers to grow in. I wonder what's going to happen to those broken feathers that are still in there.

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs -- The plucked missing feathers should start coming in within a week or so. They're usually pretty quick.

With the broken feathers, it seems to depend on how close to the base it breaks. More near the tip and they don't tend to fall out until the next molt. But damage close to the base seems to trigger it to fall out faster. Usually the ones that bleed are the ones that will fall out.

Watch those broken feathers closely if there was any bleeding from the actual feathers. The blood clot can get dislodged with a bump causing more bleeding. You usually want to pluck any feathers that bleed. (The feather shaft doesn't have any elasticity to cinch off the blood supply as occurs in the skin.)
There may not have been any real bleeding if they're older feathers. New feathers have a rich blood supply. As the feather grows and time passes, the blood supply recedes.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Thanks Mia.
There seem to be quite a few broken feathers, as much as I can tell without pulling the wing out and unfurling it. I really don't want to do that at this stage. Don't want to make it more painful than it already is.
I hope that new feathers that grow in, will dislodge the broken ones as she preens. These are her large flight feathers, and I sure hope new ones will come in soon.
All of these feathers are new. She is this springs baby.

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs -- I think I'd just let her be in terms of the feathers.
I wouldn't try to pluck anything unless you see active bleeding from a feather. Any time you pluck, you risk damaging the follicle. And there's no need to put her through the trauma on the off chance one still has a blood supply.

You probably shouldn't have any problems, as those are older feathers if she's a spring baby; probably relatively close to molting out anyways. The feather's blood supply recedes fairly fast - within a matter of weeks (or days for the smaller feathers.) So unless she recently grew one of the damaged feathers, they should be just fine in that regard.
You should even be able to see if there's a blood supply since she's got white feathers. They would have a bluish red quill.

She may actually preen them out herself once the area is less tender.