molt help!!!!!!!

[falconerwyatt]

I am now a general but still learning. I have female reedtail that is going through her second molt. The first molt went great not a hitch . this molt seems slow and today I went to feed her and she had a long tube looking thing hanging from her right wing tip. I msade the mistake of touching it to look at it and see what it was and it came off. it wa bloody and about four to five inches long . it came of in my hand and there was feather material in the inside tip of it . waws this a malformed feather or did I inadvertantly pull one of her new feather s out!!!!! I have been running nuts online looking for pics but nothing comes close to this thing. I am praying it was a bad feather and not what should have beeen a beautifull new one. any help from anyone to help me sort htis out will be greatly appreaciated. ps I didnt notice such a thing last year during the molt. this looked like a bloody peice of heat shrinck hanging off her which is why i touched it . If it was a new feather I feel horrible. please help guys .........thanks clayton

[colohen]

Clayton
Sounds like a blood quill ??
I have never heard of one on a falconry bird but have seen them on chickens . Feathers start as a pen feather full of blood and ink like substance that forms the feather .
Rare , but once in a while a feather will come in deformed , lacking the ink substance which forms the feather . The shaft will continue to grow but will contain only blood . In some cases I have seen half feathers form the same way . A two to four inch shaft before forming the feather .
Most of the time they fall out and a new proper feather will replace it but some times it takes a long time on chickens . On a hawk it may start back right away or next molt. Depends on weather or not there is damage to the follicle. The worst is , it will repeat itself or never grow back ?
It is my experience and understanding , a single shaft is no threat but multiple blood shafts indicates a vitamin deficiency , usually calcium .

You also said the molt has been slow . Cold Temperatures can effect the molt but in this heat a slow molt may be due to low weight or food type .
What are you feeding ?
Increasing the food quantity and or higher protein diet may speed up the molt. Vitamin, minerals and calcium additives to the food may be in order also ??

I recommend having a vet look at the feather and the wing it came from .

K]n

[falconerwyatt]

Thanks for the input. My bird is eating very well and is hog fat. She is so fat she wants nothing to do with me ! I have been feeding her squirrel quail and rabbit . I have ordered vitahawk from northwoods and will supplement her with that as well and keep a eye on all her new feathers looking for any repeat problems.

[Yarak]

If I read your post correctly you merely touched the shaft and it came out. If you did not pull it I think it will grow back just fine. Colohen was correct that is exactly what it was. My bird too is moulting a bit slow this year. Your diet sounds great so I don't think it was a deficiency just one that did not grow properly. I really think it was an isolated incident so I would not worry too much. Lets us know if more feathers begin to form that way.
Yarak