Funkie is now slightly over 5 months old. He is going through his first molt pretty well so far, except that he is a little too vigorous for this stage of the molt. The tail is now about 7 inches and there should be sufficient time left in the molt to grow another 3 or 4 inches if all goes well with the remaining part of the molt.
"so you wanna see some cage-play huh?"
At this length, the black tail feathers that are still growing, may be easily damaged or broken if the bird ‘plays the cage’ too vigorously. Funkie’s cage is mostly covered during this time but even then, I still often hear him singing and playing vigorously inside. He is especially agitated by my other shamas doing the ‘tak- taks’.
When the feather is growing, there is an artery and a vein running through it for the circulation of blood to support the growth. When there is still blood supply to the feather, it is called a blood feather. When the feather has completed its growth, the blood in the quill will recede and the blood vessels will shrivel up. A broken blood feather can bleed profusely. Pulling out a broken blood feather of the tail can stop the bleeding and a new feather will grow to replace it but sometimes, this may damage the follicle if it is not properly done. Repeatedly pulling out the same tail feather may result in follicle damage to the point when it can no longer grow a replacement. The bleeding can also be stopped by using those ‘stop-bleed’ products or kitchen cornstarch and a little pressure to help the blood to clot. The broken feather will then be replaced at the next molt.
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