injured duck

[aaronmg]

hello, so I just went outside to check on my ducks who are all around 3 months old now, and I noticed my drake's wing had dropped as if he was hot (but its not hot), so i went to have a look and noticed that he had a cut around the joint of his wing where it folds and there had been some bleeding. I've no idea what to do because it doesn't seem like a serious injury, but he's also not flapping his wings or moving that wing much so he must be in some discomfort. does anyone have any advice? im going to drain the pond and close that off so he doesn't have access to any unclean water to wash himself in, but other than that I don't know what I ought to be doing. I've no idea how he's sustained this injury, maybe he was flapping his wings and banged it on something??? no idea

 

[HollowOfWisps]

hello, so I just went outside to check on my ducks who are all around 3 months old now, and I noticed my drake's wing had dropped as if he was hot (but its not hot), so i went to have a look and noticed that he had a cut around the joint of his wing where it folds and there had been some bleeding. I've no idea what to do because it doesn't seem like a serious injury, but he's also not flapping his wings or moving that wing much so he must be in some discomfort. does anyone have any advice? im going to drain the pond and close that off so he doesn't have access to any unclean water to wash himself in, but other than that I don't know what I ought to be doing. I've no idea how he's sustained this injury, maybe he was flapping his wings and banged it on something??? no idea

If you can go to tractor supply or another farm store (if you don't already have these on hand) and get 1. chlorhexidine (antiseptic for flushing), 2. antibiotic poultry approved ointment (or plain pain med free Neosporin) and 3. vet wrap (the 2" wide wrap I find much easier for wrapping ducks). I also always add a poultry supplement and electrolytes for any injured ducks. Flush the wound with the chlorhexidine (make sure it's diluted), apply the antibiotic ointment and lightly wrap the wing to his body to keep it from pulling and adding more stress to the wound since he's dragging it. I would also separate him with another duck if possible and keep him out of any pools ponds to prevent bacteria from getting into the wound.

 

[aaronmg]

If you can go to tractor supply or another farm store (if you don't already have these on hand) and get 1. chlorhexidine (antiseptic for flushing), 2. antibiotic poultry approved ointment (or plain pain med free Neosporin) and 3. vet wrap (the 2" wide wrap I find much easier for wrapping ducks). I also always add a poultry supplement and electrolytes for any injured ducks. Flush the wound with the chlorhexidine (make sure it's diluted), apply the antibiotic ointment and lightly wrap the wing to his body to keep it from pulling and adding more stress to the wound since he's dragging it. I would also separate him with another duck if possible and keep him out of any pools ponds to prevent bacteria from getting into the wound.

unfortunately i live in the UK and we don't really have big farm supply chains. all i have is leucillin which is an antiseptic spray. is this enough? he doesn't have an infection, but if i spray him daily will this be enough to prevent infection while he heals? also I can't seem to bandage him up. his wing is still slipped down, its not drooping down to the ground but its just to his side. is it okay if I leave him to heal naturally??

 

[HollowOfWisps]

unfortunately i live in the UK and we don't really have big farm supply chains. all i have is leucillin which is an antiseptic spray. is this enough? he doesn't have an infection, but if i spray him daily will this be enough to prevent infection while he heals? also I can't seem to bandage him up. his wing is still slipped down, its not drooping down to the ground but its just to his side. is it okay if I leave him to heal naturally??

I would just spray with the leucillin daily then to prevent any infection. Keep us updated!

 

[Isaac 0]

unfortunately i live in the UK and we don't really have big farm supply chains. all i have is leucillin which is an antiseptic spray. is this enough? he doesn't have an infection, but if i spray him daily will this be enough to prevent infection while he heals? also I can't seem to bandage him up. his wing is still slipped down, its not drooping down to the ground but its just to his side. is it okay if I leave him to heal naturally??

If the duck is holding the wing off the ground it is likely not broken, and more likely to have soft tissue damage. Such damage will usually resolve itself in a week or two given the bird is kept in an area to reduce flying, and injury from males, etc.
If the wing begins to droop more, product exudate, swell, or take on odd discoloration I would be more concerned.

 

[aaronmg]

If the duck is holding the wing off the ground it is likely not broken, and more likely to have soft tissue damage. Such damage will usually resolve itself in a week or two given the bird is kept in an area to reduce flying, and injury from males, etc.
If the wing begins to droop more, product exudate, swell, or take on odd discoloration I would be more concerned.

its my drake who is the one whos injured and his sister has become extra protective of him so im not worried about fighting. he also can't flap his wing or extend it out to stretch, are these signs of a broken wing? I didn't consider this

 

[Isaac 0]

its my drake who is the one whos injured and his sister has become extra protective of him so im not worried about fighting. he also can't flap his wing or extend it out to stretch, are these signs of a broken wing? I didn't consider this

Obviously, there are exceptions, but in general terms, a broken wing will usually cause the bird to lose total control over the muscles resulting in it dragging on the ground. If your drake is holding the wing to his side, slightly elevated, I would be more inclined to assume this is merely soft tissue damage.
A physical examination of the wing, palpating for swelling, bending the joints/ listening for clicking/grinding, etc would be further helpful in determining whether it is actually broken or not.
If needed, compare his good wing with the injured wing and see if there are any noticable abnormalities. If you are concerned there is a break, this would be best treated at an avian veterinary office.

 

[aaronmg]

Obviously, there are exceptions, but in general terms, a broken wing will usually cause the bird to lose total control over the muscles resulting in it dragging on the ground. If your drake is holding the wing to his side, slightly elevated, I would be more inclined to assume this is merely soft tissue damage.
A physical examination of the wing, palpating for swelling, bending the joints/ listening for clicking/grinding, etc would be further helpful in determining whether it is actually broken or not.
If needed, compare his good wing with the injured wing and see if there are any noticable abnormalities. If you are concerned there is a break, this would be best treated at an avian veterinary office.

put it this way, one of the ducks i raised over the summer had developed early onset angel wing (now corrected), and that was drooping considerably a lot more than this duck now. he can lift his wing out but can't extend and flap, and he can also tuck his wing back into place but is struggling to keep it there. this is my first time raising ducks so im a bit out of my depth in terms of what I should be looking for to diagnose him. im just keeping his pool water clean to prevent infection, and i am giving him pool water because he needs to be able to clean himself. if the wing was broken would his mood change? yesterday when he initially hurt himself he was seeming a bit scared and timid, eg hiding under low things, but he isn't doing that today.

 

[Isaac 0]

put it this way, one of the ducks i raised over the summer had developed early onset angel wing (now corrected), and that was drooping considerably a lot more than this duck now. he can lift his wing out but can't extend and flap, and he can also tuck his wing back into place but is struggling to keep it there. this is my first time raising ducks so im a bit out of my depth in terms of what I should be looking for to diagnose him. im just keeping his pool water clean to prevent infection, and i am giving him pool water because he needs to be able to clean himself. if the wing was broken would his mood change? yesterday when he initially hurt himself he was seeming a bit scared and timid, eg hiding under low things, but he isn't doing that today.

I would continue on monitoring him and treat this as a soft tissue injury.
Best of luck.

 

[aaronmg]

I would continue on monitoring him and treat this as a soft tissue injury.
Best of luck.

so his wing is still drooped, but it looks like he can move it a bit better. it looks kind of black where the injury is, but i don't know if this is normal with scabbing over his feathers. i've been spraying him everyday to prevent infection. does this seem normal do you think?