blood feather injury in our cockatiel and general information

Question
We have had our cockatiel for about 2 months. Even though her wings are clipped (last time was about 5-6 weeks ago) she flies alot, skimming low.  She is doing this more and more and will fly from one person to another in the room, crashing into your chest or head sometimes.  I worry about injuries and sure enough, she broke a blood feather in her tail two days ago.  It was bleeding so I put flour on it which did stop the bleeding and we took her to the  vet clinic on emergency.  The vet said there is still a little of the quill under the skin, but it would take a surgical procedure to get it out so they advised leaving it along as it wasn't bleeding anymore and sent us home with silver nitrate sticks.  It has not bled since, but she now has a little bare spot there and her pink skin shows.  She wants to preen the area.  My questions are-will this quill push out as a new feather grows or will it remain?  Is this irritating like a splinter? How long is there a risk of bleeding again from this area?  Also, she is out of her cage alot when we are at home and she will fly or run away from us when we need to put her back.  She is supposed to be our 11 year old son's bird, but she prefers my husband or myself.  I believe this is because our son is too loud and his movements not gentle enough with her.  He is realizing this now; is it too late for him to re-bond with her and if not, how does he go about doing this?  Thank you.

Answer
Ellen,

First, don't use silver nitrate.  Try it on yourself when you have a cut and you will realize that it stings.  You were right to use flour or cornstarch.  

She will probably preen the rest of the quill out; cockatiels are very fastidious about their feathers.  It most likely is irritating for her.  She will grow another feather, but yes, there is risk of bleeding from the area again.  Please be careful with her.

It is not too late for your son to rebond with your cockatiel as long as he remembers that cockatiels react to loud noises and fast movements with fear because they are genetically programmed to do so.  In the wild, a loud noise or quick movement translates into a predator and they instinctively flee from what they fear.  With time and patience, he will gain her trust again.  Cockatiels have the ability to love many family members which makes them an ideal pet!

Thanks for writing!

Cindy