Wing bleeding and drooping a bit?!?

Question

I just got home and my cockatiel has pulled out one of his flight feathers, and now his wing is drooping a little bit, he's all fluffed up and there is a bit of blood on the cage floor and his wing. The vets not an option right now because we're in the rural and about 3 hours away from the vet, not to mention its nealy midnight. What can i do to help him?!

Answer 1

Trust me when I say that I totally understand what you're going through!  I have a cockatiel (she's 10 years old) and about a year ago I heard her flailing around in the night.  When I went to check on her, there was blood EVERYWHERE!  Certain feathers are called blood feathers and when they are broken, picked at, etc., they bleed pretty heavily.  It is most likely that your bird has picked at a blood feather to the point where it broke.  Check out his wing the best you can and see if you spot a broken looking feather.  When blood feathers break it is often very painful for the bird and that it most likely why his wing is drooping.  If there is a broken feather, you will need to take him to a vet to have it removed or it can continue to bleed and become infected.  If you don't see a broken feather, then it is likely the feather was removed entirely.  If this is the case, just watch him closely and make sure he isn't continuing to bleed.  You can put flour or corn starch over the wound to stop the bleeding if it's not properly clotting.

Please don't worry yourself into a panic because this is a common incident in birds, especially cockatiels because they are constantly preening.  Keep an eye on him, make sure his behavior doesn't change much more, and watch for the bleeding.

My cockatiel pulled through just fine without a vet trip so I'm sure you'll be fine.  Good luck!

Answer 2

You can use quick stop or flour on the edge of the wing to stop the bleeding. But cockatials bang them selves up often. Put a towel on the bottom of his cage so that he doesnt have to stand on his perch and keep him from moving so much. But If he doesnt get better in 2 days or so, id make a plan to drive out to the vets... Hope the little guy gets to feeling better...

Answer 3

I came home one day and my very aggresive bird was pooring blood from his longest tail feather,which was a blood feather,I freaked out started crying,poured a bag of flour on tof of the wing and rushed to the vet with this aggresive vetnwho at this point was very dossile and wining,boy I was terrified,I put the bird on the table the vet pulled out the feather right quick like you rip a band aid,the bird didn't make a peep,he put crazy glue,yes crazy glue on the end to codorize it and said that's good but I'm wondering why he's not cleaing his tail feathers that well.I then said I poured almost a whole bag of lour on him and ran ad he laighed,always have quik stop,in any pet store or styptic stick to help you in these situations,and he's going to favor the wing for a while until he feels better,if he doesn't feel ay better in 2 days,still fluffy, call the vet,don't wail,there could be somrthing else wrong.good luck

Answer 4

It sounds like something may have scared him and he has flown into the side of the cage, injuring his wing.  

As long as the wound has stopped bleeding, I would just turn off the lights and try not to disturb him.  

If his wing is still drooping in the morning it may be that he has done more serious damage to himself, so a phone call to the vet could be in order (under the circumstances he would probably give you advice over the phone without asking you to drive for 6 hours - no fun for the bird either).  If it is broken it will heal naturally, but whilst it is doing so you would need to avoid any situations where the bird would try to fly or flap its wings.