# Blood tail feather broken



## onyx (Oct 1, 2014)

Spooky took a hard fall and snapped a tail feather that was finally growing in. It stopped bleeding but he keeps squawking and screaming in pain, sometimes while preening and a few times for no reason. I'm really worried. What do I do?!? Can a broken blood feather still grow okay? Will it heal?


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## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

You should pull it just to be safe. A broken blood feather can act like a straw for blood to come out if it is opened up again when it is accidentally bumped against something. If you aren't comfortable pulling it you could go to a vet. It seems like your 'tiel is trying to pull it himself right now. Watch to see if he does.

The blood feather will not heal since it is broken and cannot repair itself like other things can. And once it is broken it wont grow anymore it stops the process because a broken feather is also a straw for things like bacteria and viruses to go directly into the opening of the broken feather and then into the body from that area.


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## onyx (Oct 1, 2014)

Thank you Kiwi. Spooky is my first bird so I don't know what I'm doing; this is my first blood feather experience and it was so scary seeing him in pain! I have a vet appt in a few hours to get it taken care of.


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## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

No problem glad he is getting it taken out! Blood feathers are one of the scariest things to deal with for Cockatiel parents since 'tiels don't have a lot of blood. A blood feather is just like a vein, it will pump blood out and can be hard to clot. Sometimes they will clot on their own, but it is still good to get them out. If you ever come home to your 'tiel and see a lot of blood around the cage you first need to look for wounds and then check for blood feathers.

Here is the difference between a blood feather and normal feather, the dark purple in the feather shaft is blood: http://www.prettybirds.net/Blood-feather-normal.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwszSwu4JMc

Here is a demonstration on how to pull a blood feather. There aren't a lot of videos I've seen on it. Sorry I couldn't find it last night http://on.aol.com/video/how-to-pull-a-blood-feather-145448154 >.<

You can also get your vet to demonstrate how to pull one.


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