Muscovy attacked - wing feathers gone

[3enwatkins]

Hi all,

Sorry that my first post is asking for help. I bought a house three years ago that came with a resident duck. His name is Bert and he is a mature Muscovy. He's semi-wild insofar as I put food out for him most days him and provide a 'house' on an island with bedding but the rest of the time he pretty much looks after himself.

This morning I spotted blood on his back from a distance and was horrified to discoverd on closer inspection that all of his wing feathers have been ripped out on both sides. The right hand side has clearly been bleeding but the left hand side apparently not. I'm fairly certain he doesn't have an injury on his body, just the end of his now very stubby wings. He's constantly poking that side with his beak and is generally very jumpy and agitated and won't let me get anywhere near im (he's not the most sociable of birds anyway but he doesn't normally run off when I approach him). Aside from that, he seems to be feeding, bathing and swimming normally.

What's the best thing to do in the short term? I'm worried he may have an injury that needs attention. And about infections. I'm also worried about the future of his wings. Judging by the number of feathers he leaves around the garden they must normally grow back but will they if he has a more serious injury?

Sorry for all the questions.
Ben

 

[DuckyDonna]

@Miss Lydia will know what to do but if it were me it sounds like he can no longer fly away from predators so he will need for you to provide a safe place where nothing can get him every night. A coop with no way for anything to get to him.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You def need to get him so you can examine him to make sure he has no wounds on his body. Maybe placing food inside a temp run so he has to walk inside to eat then you walk in behind him and pick him up. Wear gloves and long sleeved shirt. But just leaving him to himself right now isn't going to be good for him he may need medical attention you can give and like @DuckyDonna says he isn't going to be able to fly to get away from a predator and you can bet the bank what ever went after him this time will be back to finish the job. I have Muscovy and right now that are in molt very vulnerable to predators because they aren't able to get away from them.

 

[3enwatkins]

Thank you both. The only chance I got to try catching him was this afternoon when it was starting to get dark. He was already on his island by then and there's no chance I could have caught him before he fled the island (which I'm sure he would do - he's usually off before I've set foot on it). So I was faced with the dilemma of forcing him off the island which is the safest place or leaving him on there and I decided to leave him there. I've given him some food and water with antibiotics in it (kindly given to me by a neighbour who keeps geese) so hopefully he will stay on the island. I will try to catch him tomorrow. If he does have wounds on his body what do I need to do to treat them?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Clean them up by washing his wing wounds with soap and water or betadine. Look under his feathers all the way to the skin to make sure he doesn’t have wounds you can’t see. Hopefully he will make it through the night. Rinsing his wing wounds in warm salt water can help clean and heal too.