Blood Feather
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A pin feather is a developing
feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...
on a
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
. This feather can grow as a new feather during the bird's infancy, or grow to replace one from
moulting In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...
. The pin feather looks somewhat like a feather shaft. However, unlike a fully developed feather, the pin feather has a blood supply flowing through it; at this stage, it may also be called a blood feather. As such, if the pin feather is damaged, a bird can bleed heavily. As the pin feather grows longer, the blood supply is concentrated in only the base of the shaft, and the tip of the shaft encases the feather itself in a waxy coating. As moulting birds preen, they remove the waxy coating, and the feather unfurls. When the blood has receded, the term "blood feather" is no longer synonymous with "pin feather" – it can only be referred to as a pin feather.


Growth

Pin feathers begin to develop after the feather bud invaginates a cylinder of epidermal tissue around the base of the dermal papilla, forming the feather follicle. At the base of the feather follicle, epithelial cells proliferate to grow the epidermal collar or cylinder. As the epidermal cylinder extends through
dermis The dermis or corium is a layer of skin between the epidermis (skin), epidermis (with which it makes up the cutis (anatomy), cutis) and subcutaneous tissues, that primarily consists of dense irregular connective tissue and cushions the body from s ...
, it differentiates into a protective peripheral sheath, longitudinal barb ridges, and
growth plates The epiphyseal plate, epiphysial plate, physis, or growth plate is a hyaline cartilage plate in the metaphysis at each end of a long bone. It is the part of a long bone where new bone growth takes place; that is, the whole bone is alive, with ma ...
. Over time these barb ridges lengthen helically, branch to create barbs and barbules, and fuse to form the rachis or central shaft. Moreover, the barb plate further differentiate into hooklets and
cilia The cilium (: cilia; ; in Medieval Latin and in anatomy, ''cilium'') is a short hair-like membrane protrusion from many types of eukaryotic cell. (Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea.) The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike proj ...
, while the marginal and axial plate die to form the intervening space within the feather structure. A bird with pin feathers may be said to be "in pin".


Pet care

During moulting, a bird may get careless and begin to chew its feathers and might accidentally damage a blood feather. To prevent this, it is necessary that the bird is given chewing toys so that it does not chew at its own feathers. Pin feathers are sensitive, and some pet birds do not enjoy being handled while moulting for this reason. To stop bleeding from a pin feather, it is necessary to pluck the feather from its base.Bleeding Birds
/ref> Bleeding must be taken care of as soon as possible to prevent too much blood loss. However, this can be difficult for a pet bird owner to do on a larger bird, so it is recommended owners have the necessary tools on hand in a first aid kit. If assistance is needed, the bird should be taken to a veterinarian as soon as possible.


See also

*
filoplume Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exampl ...
''(not to be confused)''


References


External links

* {{Commons category-inline
Video showing pin feathers on the head of a moulting Alexandrine Parrot
Feathers Bird anatomy