Quail Wing Injury -what should I do?

[KGQuail24]

This morning I discovered a bunch of feathers in my quail run, and know that it shouldn't be moulting time, so upon closer inspection I discover an injured wing on one of my goldens. I've attached several photos. She's carrying the wing ok and the underside and structure seem fine, but a bunch of feathers were torn or broken off. I sprayed with poultry wound antibiotic spray and let her go. I also noticed another golden with a small bloody spot on her head, so maybe they were fighting? Their run is completely enclosed with hardware cloth on all sides, so it wasn't a predator attack. My question is how to care for it now. I read on some other threads here that I should clean all the blood off to prevent her grooming herself crazy - is that correct? With maybe a spray bottle of water? She doesn't love being held but I'll do my best. Do you think I need to trim or do anything else? I do have electrolytes I can put in the water. Any advice appreciated.

 

[FloorCandy]

That looks like both an older and newer injury, you have some longer feather growth coming in. It could be reinjuring the area so look around and see if there’s anything it could be getting hurt on, or it is likely that the others are picking on the injured area. You can try separating her, but I don’t think you need to do anything more to the area, besides clean it off gently if it still has dried blood on it.

 

[KGQuail24]

Thank you! It sounds like you know a lot more about wings and feathers than I do. These birds are 12 weeks old now and I purchased them at 4 weeks from a woman who clipped their wings. Perhaps that's what you're noticing? I hadn't noticed any injury to her feathers between now and then so maybe it's the clipped ones growing back in...? Since there's no active bleeding and I got most of the blood off using the antibiotic spray heavily, she seems happy walking around the cage and eating and being around everyone as usual. But I will keep a very close eye

 

[FloorCandy]

Hmmmm, if the person clipped the wings improperly or the bird broke the feathers somehow after that, they could be regrowing , but I clip all my keepers, and they usually have those clipped feathers for a good long time, since I light them in the winter, they don’t all molt normally.

 

[KGQuail24]

Hmmmm, if the person clipped the wings improperly or the bird broke the feathers somehow after that, they could be regrowing , but I clip all my keepers, and they usually have those clipped feathers for a good long time, since I light them in the winter, they don’t all molt normally.

All good to know. Hmm. I wish I knew more about feathers..... I'm learning as I go. Comments like yours help me learn, so thank you. I don't intend to do any clipping because I wouldn't want to do it wrong. I just keep a net ceiling so they can't hurt themselves by trying to fly. Right now she's happy and amongst all the others and hopefully whatever happened is past. I guess I'll just make sure she's clean and has electrolyte water to boost healing.

 

[Nabiki]

The injury doesn't look too bad, so you're probably okay with leaving her in there. It does look like she injured herself when flushing or hitting something, though. I would look for something that she could be injuring herself on as well. That would also explain the blood spot on the head of the other bird.

 

[KGQuail24]

The injury doesn't look too bad, so you're probably okay with leaving her in there. It does look like she injured herself when flushing or hitting something, though. I would look for something that she could be injuring herself on as well. That would also explain the blood spot on the head of the other bird.

Thank you for weighing in!
Well, shoot; something must have come around and scared them overnight I guess. The run is hardware cloth walls all around with a taut but soft bird netting inner ceiling. Must've gotten startled into a wall, I guess. Sure hope it doesn't keep happening. But in the meantime I'll hope she heals up. How long do you think till new feathers regrow?

 

[Nabiki]

Thank you for weighing in!
Well, shoot; something must have come around and scared them overnight I guess. The run is hardware cloth walls all around with a taut but soft bird netting inner ceiling. Must've gotten startled into a wall, I guess. Sure hope it doesn't keep happening. But in the meantime I'll hope she heals up. How long do you think till new feathers regrow?

The feathers will regrow with her next moult. In the meantime, having them broken isn't a bad thing since it should keep her from flushing high.

 

[KGQuail24]

The feathers will regrow with her next moult. In the meantime, having them broken isn't a bad thing since it should keep her from flushing high.

Ok, thank you!!! Very helpful. I don't know what I'd do without the advice I find here from folks like yourself.

 

[Nabiki]

Ok, thank you!!! Very helpful. I don't know what I'd do without the advice I find here from folks like yourself.

I've learned so much here. I'm glad you're here.