Fledgling duckling with bleeding wings being picked on by others in the flock

[The Mighty Ducks]

Hello, I am very new here, and to forums in general, but I have a situation going on right now and I'm not sure what to do about it. I have six ducklings that I ordered from Metzer farms and been trying to learn a thing or two about ducklings, food nutrition, behavior, etc, and try to provide them with a happy, healthy life. I am learning there is much to learn about ducks. Besides the other issues with shaky legs and one being pigeon toed. My black swedish's wings are bleeding at the tips and the others are biting at it and making her scream. Its terrible. They are suppose to be The Mighty Ducks and stick together and not bullying the one who's wounded. This happened today. I pulled her out and back in the brooder along with the blue swedish who was the only one that doesnt attack her so bad. just so she doesn't cry in loneliness. I hope the blue swedish doesnt bite her wing too or else I dont what to do. I put them the bath tub and cleaned her up with a little diluted antibacteria dawn dish soap, then sprinkled some corn starch on what I could see was bloody. They are very upset being seperated from the others so I took them back out to the others to see how they interact and the same thing happened, All four of them where biting at her wing. So I scooped her back up and back in the brooder, then returned to get Blue for company. Can anyone help me on what I should do here? and I hope this isn't angel wing because then I really don't know what to do.

 

[Isaac 0]

Do you have a picture of your brooder?
I have found a large cause of feather picking between ducklings to be associated with lack of brooder space/boredom. I do not see any sign of an Angel wing, but it can sometimes be hard to tell until the feathers are more developed.

 

[The Mighty Ducks]

Do you have a picture of your brooder?
I have found a large cause of feather picking between ducklings to be associated with lack of brooder space/boredom. I do not see any sign of an Angel wing, but it can sometimes be hard to tell until the feathers are more developed.

Hi Isaac, Yes I have pics of the brooder and the house they live in now since three nights ago, Its very big and spacious, weasel proof and made for easier cleaning

 

[Isaac 0]

I assume the last couple of pictures are what they are being kept in.
That is a pretty big area, but since they are getting older (if your climate allows you to) I would allow them outside more often.
That will keep them very occupied and lessen the chance you see feather-picking behavior. If pecking persists I may apply a small dab of blu kote over the wound - future peckers will not appreciate the smell or taste.

 

[The Mighty Ducks]

I did have a bottle of blu for the dogs, but I wasn't sure if it was safe for ducks so went to the farm store and picked up a bottle of MicrocnAH and sprayed some of that on her wing, We got the ducks a bigger pool and put in a folding dog fence with the smaller pool inside their run area. The four where curious and went into the safe cage, so I locked them up there until we filled the new pool and thought let the two swedish have first dibs at the new pool and I brought them out. They wanted to be with the others so I caved and let them all mingle, which they really enjoyed, then the biting started again. I yelled at them to stop. Not sure if ducks understand the word no. But out of the pool they didn't bother her so much. To be on the safe side I kept her and the blue swedish in the brooder and I didnt read your reply until later last night. So today I sprayed the blu coat on both of her wings and like you said, when they picked, they shook their heads and got a fast drink. crossing fingers but the "Queen of England" The appleyard is still going for her wing in the water even with the blu kote, but not as bad. They all kind of pick at each other, goosing their tails at times in the pool. I'm wondering if its a pecking order thing like chickens and if they get territorial or possessive like dogs. The appleyard and the female cayuga are like the leaders of the flock. The black swedish with the wing issue is the most easy going one of the bunch. And her wings twitch alot, I dont think its a seizure thing because she acts normal other than that. Lazy wing maybe? And I wonder if I need to wrap it or will it be fine until she grows out her wing feathers providing the others don't pick at her blood wings for sticking up and moving about like a fishing lure. I would show you a video of her twitching wings, but I do not know if I can upload videos here just pictures.
And thank you very much for the advice. I hope it works and they can all be back together again soon.

 

[Quatie]

I have a had a duckling that got a small injury on her wing. We had to pull a blood feather, and her wing tilt out a bit because of it. We wrapped her wing for about a week and it stopped tilting outward. It also helped protect her feathers from further damage.

Here is images on wrapping.
http://www.duckdvm.com/condition/angel-wing

I like to wrap around the wing and then wrap it to the body. You told the wing in the way it is meant to fold properly, wrap it with vet tape so it stays in that position and continue to wrap it to it's body. I would only wrap it for half the day. I tend to do it at night and by the morning, they sometimes have it off. You don't want it wrapped 24/7, because they need to move their wings and strengthen them as they are continue to grow. It certainly won't hurt wrapping it for a few days.

 

[The Mighty Ducks]

Thank you Quatie for the info and I have her back with the others for now, If it looks like what happened to yours I will do the wrap.

 

[The Mighty Ducks]

Hello, I am very new here, and to forums in general, but I have a situation going on right now and I'm not sure what to do about it. I have six ducklings that I ordered from Metzer farms and been trying to learn a thing or two about ducklings, food nutrition, behavior, etc, and try to provide them with a happy, healthy life. I am learning there is much to learn about ducks. Besides the other issues with shaky legs and one being pigeon toed. My black swedish's wings are bleeding at the tips and the others are biting at it and making her scream. Its terrible. They are suppose to be The Mighty Ducks and stick together and not bullying the one who's wounded. This happened today. I pulled her out and back in the brooder along with the blue swedish who was the only one that doesnt attack her so bad. just so she doesn't cry in loneliness. I hope the blue swedish doesnt bite her wing too or else I dont what to do. I put them the bath tub and cleaned her up with a little diluted antibacteria dawn dish soap, then sprinkled some corn starch on what I could see was bloody. They are very upset being seperated from the others so I took them back out to the others to see how they interact and the same thing happened, All four of them where biting at her wing. So I scooped her back up and back in the brooder, then returned to get Blue for company. Can anyone help me on what I should do here? and I hope this isn't angel wing because then I really don't know what to do.

Sorry for the late update about this situation because I am not on the computer much, but I wanted to let you all know my black Swedish is fine and did not develop angel wing!
I am not sure why her developing wings where looking like that at the time, maybe it was just a weird growing spurt. But it seems all the Mighty ducks made it through all their growing pains and they all look beautiful, happy and hopefully healthy!
When I get a chance I will post some pics to share. I have a lot of footage of these guys since we got them and I would like to someday make a little video.
Thanks so much to all who replied, and in behalf of the Mighty ducks, AKA The dirty 1/2 dozen, they are willing to forfeit mealworms for everyone, a dozen big fat nightcrawlers and a couple wood frogs!