Please Help Me Treat Duckling With Wing Injury

[HeatherKellyB]

I have 6 ducklings (assorted breeds purchased from TSC) that are approximately a month old. The duckling with the bleeding wing (? bleeding from pin feathers?) is a Pekin. They stay indoors but regularly go outside to swim in their tiny pool. Today, I noticed dried blood on the edge of both wings and underneath the wings of the largest duckling. My daughter thought it was feces and put her in their pool. I went to investigate and realized it's blood/dried blood. It washed off easily and didn't seem to bother her. I ignorantly thought the sharp pins(?) had lightly stabbed her & caused a small wound. The duckling has done well today & the others haven't seemed to notice. I brought them back in this evening and everything was normal until a few minutes ago. The bleeding started again. I can't find a wound anywhere. I was able to get the bleeding stopped easily without any treatment (cornstarch, styptic powder, etc). What can I do to help my duckling? Thank you in advance for your time and help.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

New feathers have a blood supply while they are growing. If the feather gets damaged they can bleed. You are supposed to pluck any that bleed, but I haven't done that personally ever.

I would assume a feather may be cracked. As long as it doesn't bleed too much I would leave it alone, or use a blood stop product if you see it bleeding. If it keeps up you may need to determine which feather and pluck it out to stop it completely. A new feather will come in after that, and hopefully it doesn't happen again.

But as I stated I haven't done it, only read about it.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

New feathers have a blood supply while they are growing. If the feather gets damaged they can bleed. You are supposed to pluck any that bleed, but I haven't done that personally ever.

I would assume a feather may be cracked. As long as it doesn't bleed too much I would leave it alone, or use a blood stop product if you see it bleeding. If it keeps up you may need to determine which feather and pluck it out to stop it completely. A new feather will come in after that, and hopefully it doesn't happen again.

But as I stated I haven't done it, only read about it.

Is it painful to pluck them? Is it painful to them if it's bumped or touched if I leave it?
Thank you so much for your time and advice. I really appreciate you!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

But .... what's causing the damage? Is a bigger duck pecking or bullying this one? Could a dog, puppy or even a rat have gotten to it? It's a mystery.... but one that needs to be solved.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Is it painful to pluck them? Is it painful to them if it's bumped or touched if I leave it?
Thank you so much for your time and advice. I really appreciate you!

I don't know. I would guess it is painful to pluck them. As long as it doesn't seem loose I would leave it. If loose you might as well get it out. If it's cracked, but still attached well I would leave it and see how it goes. The few times I have seen a bleeding blood feather I have left them be and nothing came of it. Profuse, or continued bleeding would make me pluck the feather out to stop it. I've not done it myself because I've not experienced that. So I can't say how it goes. So my advice would be to wait and watch.

Blood feathers can get broke or damaged by birds flapping their wings vigorously and hitting something.

 

[slordaz]

Stypix and cornstartch are both good at stopping bleeding, if it's been cleaned and still bleeding, if not just clean and maybe some antibiotic cream to prevent infection, that's what I would do with my chickens at least

 

[HeatherKellyB]

But .... what's causing the damage? Is a bigger duck pecking or bullying this one? Could a dog, puppy or even a rat have gotten to it? It's a mystery.... but one that needs to be solved.

I am 99.9% sure the problem is/was the top to their brooder (hardware cloth) since they're getting bigger. I change it twice daily and I tried to add extra pine shavings to help with the mess. Ignorantly, that just put the 2 large Pekin closer to the hardware cloth top and looks like was the cause. I left the top off overnight and came in to happy ducklings without bleeding feathers. I will definitely keep an eye on them. Thank you so much for everything

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I am 99.9% sure the problem is/was the top to their brooder (hardware cloth) since they're getting bigger. I change it twice daily and I tried to add extra pine shavings to help with the mess. Ignorantly, that just put the 2 large Pekin closer to the hardware cloth top and looks like was the cause. I left the top off overnight and came in to happy ducklings without bleeding feathers. I will definitely keep an eye on them. Thank you so much for everything

^^^Change their bedding twice a day. I added more than usual on this occasion and I believe that caused the feather injury.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I don't know. I would guess it is painful to pluck them. As long as it doesn't seem loose I would leave it. If loose you might as well get it out. If it's cracked, but still attached well I would leave it and see how it goes. The few times I have seen a bleeding blood feather I have left them be and nothing came of it. Profuse, or continued bleeding would make me pluck the feather out to stop it. I've not done it myself because I've not experienced that. So I can't say how it goes. So my advice would be to wait and watch.

Blood feathers can get broke or damaged by birds flapping their wings vigorously and hitting something.

Since their wings have finally started to grow (was starting to worry because their bodies grow crazy fast and then they have these little baby wings. I am used to seeing chickens with their large wings) they really do flap them around as if they're trying to familiarize themselves with having such large wings. I do remember thinking that they're going to hurt themselves by hitting their wings on something. I sincerely appreciate your help. Thank you so so much!

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are at the age where they can be moved outside to a secure pen and coop. They grow super fast and out grow their inside brooders quickly. That's great you found the problem.