Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 10/19/2006

Question
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
I bought a 9 wk old Lutino yesterday. I knew he had some blood on his wing, figured it was from the lady clipping a bloodfeather since I could tell it had been done recently. He was barely favoring it as I tried to check it out. I noticed there was a drop of dried blood on his other wing also, so assumed she lied to me when she said he had gotten scared and caught his wing in the cage earlier...just because she didn't want to admit she had clipped too much. Anyway, I fell head over heels for him and brought him home. Once home, I wanted to wash the dried blood from his body,so I wiped him gently with a wet cotton ball. I tried lifting the wing to clen it better and noticed that some of the skin at the tip of the wing is discolored. At least I THINK it is. It is a grayish color. It doesn't seem to hurt him, but itthe area is a bit matted and the feathers seem stiff and stuck together. cleaned it as best I could with betadine and then rinsed it well. I also put some Ornacycline in his water (it was all I had in the line of avian antibiotics)since I knew tetracyclines are good for skin infections. Although he acts fine,seems happy and is playful, I'm still worried if there is something else I should do. I wish I could send you a picture of the injury and let you see for yourself what I mean. Is the grayish color a discoloration? Do you have any advice or medication recommendation? Thank you soooo much for ANY help!
Karen
-----Answer-----
Hi, Karen.  Thanks for posting!

I would need to see the area in question in order to tell if this is normal or not.  If the bird got it's wing stuck in the cage wire, this could be an explanation...perhaps the area is a bruise or something.  Can the bird fly/flap it's wings without any problem?  When you say "tip" of the wing, are you referring to the end of the wing or the joint at the elbow?  

The over-the-counter antibiotics are worthless.  They aren't strong enough to do any good.  Also, you should never mix anything with a bird's water unless told to do so by an avian vet.  Bacteria starts developing right away when "stuff" is added to water and then your bird drinks this bacteria "soup."  You should NEVER medicate your bird without the guidance of an avian veterinarian unless you are thoroughly knowledgeable in this area.  This would be the same as you medicating yourself with some type of prescription medication without the guidance of your MD.  Medicating a bird without this guidance can often times do more harm than good.  Besides the fact that I'm not an avian vet, I wouldn't even attempt to advise you on how to treat your bird medically without knowing if a medical problem requiring medication actually exists!  This gray area could actually be normal.  Can you take some photos and post them on a website so I can see the area you're referring to (if you can at least take photos, I can give you an addy to send them to)?

Come back with more information!  Thanks!

Chrys


Dear Chrys,
When I referred to the tip of the wing, I meant the flesh at the tip end of the wing where the larger blood feathers begin. He never favored it and had full range of motion. It just seemed to be a constant irritation to him. BUT, After a more thorough inspection, I believe it is bruised, and feel certain she clipped him too close, which caused him to do more skin damage to the area. I got some styptic powder with benzocaine for relief of irritation and to stop the minute amount of blood he draws when he picks at it. After a good cleaning with the betadine, soothing it with the styptic and using antibiotic ointment (advice from the vet which I had already learned online), he seems to be doing much better. He never acted like he didn't feel good and is always happy and delightful. He's getting more spoiled by the day and looks very clean now (no Matted blood to make his feathers stick together causing more preening and picking. I know he'll be fine. I think I was just paranoid and worried for him.
Now, about the "soup"...I freaked out and used the ornacycline because I was certain there was some infection due to the color ,blood and skin irritation,(what I could see scared me until I got it good and clean and realised it wasn't quite as bad as I thought....it was mostly dried blood matted up and his wing was actually sticking to his body when it dried.) At first I had been afraid I'd hurt him if I lifted and stretched his wing out any more than an inch or so. Once he came to trust me more, he really didn't mind me looking and touching it. Although I realize you don't like additives to their water, do you feel the same about pro-veda? I think it has helped with the skin irritation greatly...and I , of course, don't let their water sit around and get nasty, infact, I usually change it 2-3 times a day so it's always fresh. (I'm here all day)
I will try to get a pic of the area , got any advice on where to post it for your viewing? And thak you so much for your reply, Your knowledge and concern is greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi again, Karen.  I'm glad you came back.

With your further explanation, I think this may be a blood feather that was clipped by mistake.  A blood feather is a feather that is still growing and blood is still present in the feather shaft (once a feather is completely grown in, the blood supply stops).  If a blood feather is clipped, it will bleed and may continue to bleed off and on when picked at, bumped, etc.  The remaining part of the feather needs to be pulled out completely from the body if this is, in fact, what is going on.  Can you check the bird to see if you can find a feather that is clipped partly off/in half in the area where the blood is coming from?  You may have to rinse the bird's feathers in water before examining him, as sometimes it's difficult to find a broken blood feather.  If you find one of these broken feathers, take a pair of pliers, hemostats, or something like this where you can get a good hold on the broken feather, and pull the remaining feather straight out.  You have to get the entire feather out...you don't want the end of it to remain inside the bird.  The bird may fuss for a minute or two because the area is sore, but once the feather is out, s/he will be relieved and this area won't bother s/he any more (and won't bleed).

I'm sorry, but I've never heard of pro-veda; also can't find any reference to this on the internet.  Can you explain more about this?  If it's added to the water, I probably don't like it!  I'm a fanatic about stuff in bird's water because I have experience with sick birds as a result!  

You can send a picture to chrys.meatyard@wpafb.af.mil if you'd like.  However, I'm fairly certain what you are dealing with here is a broken blood feather now that you've given me more details.

Chrys