Bird Injuries: Treating Wing Injuries

One of the most common areas affected by injuries on birds are the wings. Severe bird injuries that occur on the wings are often very difficult to treat, if not impossible to treat. Many mild injuries to the wing can be treated at home, while more severe injuries will require treatment from an avian veterinarian. However, even a veterinarian is unable to fully treat some injuries of the wings.

Broken Blood Feathers

A common injury to occur on the wings are broken blood feathers. While these injuries may look severe because of the blood loss, they are actually fairly simple to treat. To stop the bleeding, you will want to carefully pack the broken shaft of the feather with styptic powder. If you don't have this powder, you can substitute it with flour. Apply very light pressure to the area with a gauze pad. The broken shaft will need to be removed to fully stop the bleeding. Unless you're already certain about how to perform this procedure, it's best to allow a veterinarian to remove the shaft.

Wounds and Abrasions

Often, while flying or flapping their wings, birds will receive small wounds or abrasions on their wings. If the injury isn't severe and there isn't excessive bleeding, you can often treat the injury at home. Using betadine, clean the wound thoroughly. You may need to remove feathers, dirt, or debris from the injury using tweezers. After the area is cleaned, apply antibiotic ointment to the area. Try to prevent the bird from biting or picking at the area until it has healed, usually within a few days. If the wound doesn't improve, take the bird to a veterinarian for further treatment.

Treating Wing Injuries

In home care for bird injuries requires preventing the bird from making the injury worse. You should have a small, spare cage to use as the "hospital cage." This is very important if you have other birds or your bird is in a large cage. You don't want the bird to be flapping it's wings or participating in too many activities because they can make the injury worse. In some cases, the birds wings may need to be wrapped to the body using a small bandage to keep the bird from using them.

It's best to place the hospital cage in a quiet area for the bird to relax and recuperate. You may want to cover the cage to allow the bird some privacy and reduce the chances of the bird becoming startled. If your bird has an injured wing, handle the bird as little as possible. This is not the time to be playing with the bird. It's very important you give the injured bird adequate time to heal properly.

References:

"Common Injuries and First Aid for Birds" PetEducation.com

"First Aid for Pet Birds" TailFeathersNetwork.com

"Common Bird Injuries & First Aid" DrFosterSmith.com