08/02/2024
𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
Hobbyist should be prepared to face situation like broken blood shaft / cut blood shaft / feather. Any feathers anywhere on the body will have a blood supply inside the shaft. The blood nourishes the feather while they grow; as the feathers mature the blood dries out. So it is very important that a hobbyist knows how to handle the situation. In case such a situation arises.
The new feathers that have blood in the shaft are called Pin feathers. This Pin feathers need lot of blood supply to to grow. Once they are fully grown the blood supply dies out. If during this period the feather is broken or cut the bird will bleed profusely and may even bleed to death if the bleeding is not stopped.
Feathers grow from the follicle in the skin of the bird. The feather is nourished by an artery and vein that extend up into it from the follicle. The newly growing pin feather can be identified the the color it will look dark in color as it is filled with blood, whereas the shaft of an older feather will be white.
The old feathers are continues replaced and heavily replaced during the molting period. Blood feathers appear during this period, They can be damaged during this period due to various reasons.
A hemostat and cotton are an essential part of the first aid kit. If you trim your bird's wings, examine each feather closely before cutting, so as to avoid cutting blood feather accidentally.
Sometimes a blood feather may break due to an accident or be accidentally cut causing it to bleed. A broken or accidentally cut blood feather is not life threatening, if promptly attended too and appropriate steps are taken.
It is always advisable to remove the damaged feather, as it is bound to bleed again and again due to recurring injury. Once the damaged feather is removed the bleeding will stop and a new feather will grow, sometimes the bird maybe suffering from a disease which could affect its clotting for example a liver disease. This could lead to huge blood loss and death.
📌📌𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.
1. Catch the bird, in such a way that it is comfortable in your grip.
2. Use Flour, Corn starch or Hemostat powder over the broken feather and apply pressure. This will help the blood to clot.
3. If the attempt to stop bleeding fails. The feather has to be removed. It is best done by a Veterinarian. If there is no Veterinarian around get in touch with an experienced hobbyist in your area. Who might be able to help you.
4. Two persons are required to go this procedure, one to hold the bird and another to pull the feather.
5. The damaged feather should be gripped firmly close to the root and pulled out with a single firm jerk. Hold the bird firmly during this procedure.
6. Bleeding will stop after completing this procedure successfully. In case there is bleeding from the follicle due to follicle damage after the feather has been removed, Pressure should be applied till the bleeding stops.
7. In case of something going wrong during the procedure or the bird looks very weak due to blood loss the bird should be taken to a veterinarian immediately.
-repost from Avian Files
