What are blood feathers?
Blood feathers, also called "pin feathers," are new feathers that are starting to grow. Since they are actively growing, they need a large blood supply and will bleed if broken, hence the name. Each blood feather grows from a special area in the skin called a follicle. The feather has an artery and vein that extend up into it from the follicle and nourish the feather. Due to the colour of the blood supply, the shaft of a blood feather will appear dark, where as the shaft of an older feather will be white. A blood feather has a larger quill (calamus) than a mature feather. A blood feather starts out with a waxy keratin sheath that protects it while it grows. When the feather is mature, the blood supply will recede and the waxy sheath will be removed by the bird.
Blood feathers appear during the moulting process as old feathers are lost and replaced by new ones. Wing and tail feathers, especially, are lost and replaced in a staggered manner during the moult so the bird will still be able to fly.
Reason for me covering blood features.
At the time this happened I only had one bird Bella, I came home from work one night very late **11.30pm**, I came in and checked on Bella, I noticed there was blood all underneath her tail feathers on her perch and on the paper at the bottom of her home.
I was really puzzled I couldn't figure out what on earth had happened to her I thought she maybe caught her self on a toy or got stuck some how in her cage, I just couldn't think what it was, I mean I only had Bella not even a week and my bird was bleeding, I checked her out and it seemed to have stopped bleeding, so I got some warm water, cotton wool and some ear buds, I slowly started to clean the blood of her feathers, she was very good to allow me to do this for her considering I only had her a week, I didn't have to touch her with my hands, she just sat there with this very sorry look on her face, that night I did researcher to try and find out what was going on, I looked up blood on feathers I mean I had no Idea what to put, and what popped up blood feathers, it really did shock me especially the images, I read the advice given, but I didn't need to use this as Bella had stopped bleeding, I sat up the whole night with her to ensure she was okay, it wasn't till the morning I found this feather laying at the bottom of her cage, thankfully she recovered with no problems.
In the morning I also messaged a couple of people on Instagram for advice one being Reggie's mum she was brilliant help.
Okay so this is a picture of Bella's tail blood feather, it's not the most attractive thing to see, but this is what it looks like, at the bottom is the feather its self you will notice the red bit at the top that's where the blood supply would go, the casing a round the feather is called a sheath that covers the feather, if you roll this between your fingers it will break up, so as the feather grows it has a blood supply up the middle, slowly the feather 'dies' and opens up.
What should be done if a blood feather starts to bleed?
On occasion, a blood feather will break and start to bleed, or it may accidentally be cut when the wings are trimmed. In a healthy bird, a broken blood feather is usually not a life-threatening emergency if appropriate steps are taken. Even if the bleeding stops quickly, however, you may wish to have your bird examined by a veterinarian, and have the broken blood feather removed. Even if the blood has clotted, broken blood feathers are often removed so they cannot be re-injured and consequently bleed. If a broken blood feather is removed, a new one will start to grow.
If a blood feather is repeatedly injured, continues to bleed, or the bird has a medical condition, such as liver disease which can affect the clotting ability of the blood, a significant amount of blood may be lost. This is an emergency situation, and action must be taken quickly.
If there is bleeding from a blood feather:
Restrain the bird.
Apply pressure to the broken shaft with gauze or a cotton ball. Cornstarch can be applied with a cotton ball to help the blood to clot.
If the feather broke off below the skin line, the feather cannot be totally removed, or pressure has not stopped the bleeding, the bird should be immediately examined by a veterinarian.
If the feather continues to bleed, it will need to be removed. If you have not done this before, I would advise you to go straight to you vet veterinarian who can remove this for you.
Okay….. When the bleeding has stopped, return the bird to his cage, keep him quite, and monitor him for bleeding for an hour.
Please keep a very close eye on your bird, a lot of blood loss can seriously lead to serve consequences for your feathered friend **Death** pains me to say that but they don't have a massive blood supply.
Also consult your veterinarian immediately if your bird appears weak or there is excessive blood loss.
I hope this information can be of use to you someday it's only basic information as I'm still reserching on blood feathers, the different areas it can happen on a bird I know there is much more to cover, this is based on my experience with a blood feather and reserch.
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