If you follow the safety tips in included in “Polly Wants a Cracker” Guide to Choosing, Taming and Teaching Your Parrot to Talk” and the Special Report “The Proper Parrot Diet – Don’t Feed Your Bird to Death” you should have very few problems with injuries and need for a bird first aid kit.  Accidents will happen and sometimes the unforeseen simply occurs even in the most carefully and loving home.

There are some simple things that can be done save a bird’s life, and a simple first aid kit that contains the materials to perform that life saving first aid should be kept in the home at all times. Later we will cover those areas that you MUST rush to veterinary assistance because the injury is out of the scope of in-home first aid.  However, many minor injuries can be treated quickly and safely in the home.

Bleeding Feathers

One of the common in-home injuries involves breaking of a blood feather.  Let me explain what a blood feather is exactly.  Birds molt their feathers on a regular basis and grow new ones.  The new ones are encased in a plastic-appearing covering and have a blood supply until they have grown out far enough.  Think of your fingernail.  If you break a nail that has grown out past the “quick”, it’s no big deal.  But if you to break a fingernail far down into the nail bed, bleeding would result, as well as pain.

The blood supply in the blood feather can actually act like a straw, pouring blood out.  This injury can occur when a bird growing in a blood feather, usually a long wing flight feather, flaps the wing against something. Sometimes it may be a long tail feather that breaks from playing.  Or, if you clip wings yourself and you failed to inspect for the presence of blood feather, you can cause the injury.

Broken Nails

Broken nails can be another problem which can cause bleeding.  A birds nail, again thinking of the finger nail, has a blood supply down to a certain point, after which they nail is a grown-out nail.  On birds with light colored claws, you can see this blood supply readily in the nail; of course dark nails do not provide this view of the vein in the nail.

Many people clip their bird’s nails themselves.  Never clip far enough to get to the blood supply.  But accidents can happen, even to the most experienced avian enthusiast.  If you clip a nail too far, and bleeding begins, you will need your first aid kit items.

Other Bleeding

Any time a bird is bleeding for any reason, whether those mentioned above, or from some other sort of injury, you must stop the bleeding.  A bird can scrape the top of its head, or scratch the skin on its leg.  Birds can get into things we just can’t imagine, but no matter the reason for the bleeding, stopping blood flow is important because birds are small creatures compared to human and therefore have a relatively smaller supply of blood.

Oil Contamination

Should your bird get oil from any source on its feathers, you will need to remove the contamination using the first aid kit.  Since feathers provide heat and cooling for the bird, they must not have oily feathers or they will almost certain become very ill.

Broken Bones

Broken bones are another area that your first aid kit can assist with until you see a vet.  A wing bone or toe or leg bone can be broken while the bird is playing by banging into an objects or getting itself trapped in a toy.  This is why choosing a safe toy is so important.

Animal Bites

Animal bites are another area that your first aid kit can help save a life until vet assistance can be obtained.  Birds should not be allowed outside the cage when a cat, dog, hamster or other animal that is predatory in nature is free in the house.  If you have multiple pets and some are birds and some are other creatures, especially cats, supervision is CRUCIAL!  But should an accident occur that doesn’t injure the bird so severely that dead is imminent, you may be able to save the bird’s life with good first aid followed by veterinary care.  Cats have a toxin on their claws that is poison to birds and assist the wild cat in killing its prey.  Without immediate action, a tiny cat scratch will most likely kill your beloved pet.

Dust or Dirt in the Eye

Sometimes, just like us humans, a bird can get something in its eye.  It will show signs of blinking frequently and possibly shaking its head.  Usually a small seed husk as gotten into the eye and you can easily see it, but other sources of contamination could be the culprit and you may not see the object.  But we will be able help the bird remove the problem with our first aid kit.