both wing tips on my blue and yellow macaw parrott bleeding help

amaughan

hay,

i went to take my parrott out of her cage for some exercise before bed as i heard her flapping around a bit.when i got over to her, her blood dripped down my arm preety badly.i cleaned her up and had a look and there is i new feather growing on boths sides that is bleeding on both sides (cant stress it enough its both wings and exactly the same feather on ''both sides'').
anyone have any experieance with this it happened about 2hrs ago,shes ok now asleep and all but i wont get a wink tonight as i wanna make sure shes ok.is this something normal or something very bad.the bleeding stopped as fast as it started.
thanks in advanced
Aaron

Rancid

First off, I am absolutely unqualified to advise you, (but until someone else comes along to help) I googled... and read that new feathers, pin feathers can bleed a lot if they are broken or damaged.
Some sources suggest pulling out the damaged feathers to allow the follicle to heal and begin to grow another feather.
If the bleeding stops spontaneously there's a chance that it will start again if there is more pressure (from cage bars or anything else) on the damaged feather.
Try to work out how the feathers got injured in the first place, then you can prevent a recurrance, I think.

Maybe phone your vet today and see if you can get some (better) advice.
Hope your birdie is ok.

Discodog

I wouldn't do any plucking unless you are really sure about it. Macaws are very intelligent & if any pain has to be inflicted it is better done by the Vet so that she doesn't associate you with the pain. Check the inside of the cage for any signs of blood & for any places where feather could get trapped. Has she shed many feathers recently ?.

You also need to be able to differentiate between a lot of blood - as in looks like a lot & a lot in volume. Even a Macaw does not have a huge blood volume so you have to be wary of any significant blood loss. Do you have an avian Vet ?

Hal Emmerich

<snip>
While you are entitled to your opinion on caged birds, it isn't really relevant to the situation the OP is in.