Pekin broke a blood feather

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Hi!

My 5 week old pekin broke a blood feather. It was bleeding pretty good this morning, and she got blood all over herself. I was able to wash most the blood off, put clotting powder on it, and I currently have her seperated so the other ducks and chickens don’t peck her. Will this heal up on its own? Anything else I should be aware of? Should I wrap it with vet wrap?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bubblewrap]

I believe that all you need to do for a broken blood feather is to pluck the feather so that the bird does not loose excessive blood from the shaft bleeding. If it is not bleeding any longer perhaps it is not a problem.

 

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

I believe that all you need to do for a broken blood feather is to pluck the feather so that the bird does not loose excessive blood from the shaft bleeding. If it is not bleeding any longer perhaps it is not a problem.

Thank you so much for the reply! Yes, I have heard the same. But I have also read that this is best done by a vet, and extremely stressful for the bird, so that kinda freaked me out I am hoping that if it doesn’t start bleeding again, I can hopefully just leave it….will it heal up on its own? Or do I definitely need to pluck it? Thanks again!

 

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

This is how it looked this morning. Must have started bleeding again last night.

 

[Bubblewrap]

I think you might need to pull it. I have only pulled wing feathers from butchered birds but I would imagine that the pain for them is similar to us plucking hair. the pain of the feather getting pulled is less than the risk of bleeding to death. Poor thing look like it got got. I don't believe the feather will ever finish forming once broke. to pull them you grasp the shaft and pull in the direction that the feather grew. it takes a few pounds of force. I found one of my girls covered in blood like that a few weeks ago but could not find a wound perhaps she broke a feather as well