Although chickens can’t really fly, their wings are still important, these birds use their wings to balance, to take care of their chicks, during mating, and to keep themselves safe.
If you’re raising a chicken, and you notice that it suddenly has one droopy wing, you’d be right to be worried. This article explores why this happens.
Two droopy wings mean that your bird is likely ill, one droopy wing likely means that your bird has been injured
Table of Contents
Chicken with one droopy wing
If your bird suddenly has one droopy wing and the other wing is doing fine then you can likely rule out any illnesses.
Illnesses that cause birds to have droopy wings, like botulism, will affect both of the bird’s wings. If only one wing is droopy, then your bird likely injured it.
How the bird likely injured its wing:
Chickens can become injured if they fly into something, fly into each other, or are injured by a predator.
If your bird has injured its wing, the wing may be dislocated, may be punctured or, it may be sprained
What to do
Examine the bird:
You’d need to carefully examine the wing and check if it is actually injured.
Start off by gently feeling the wing from base to tip. As you move along the wing, check the bird for bumps or lumps in the wing. After this, check to see how the droopy wing moves compared to the other wing.
If the bird reacts as though the wing hurts, then this is another sign that your bird is suffering from an injury.
A wound is a sign that your bird was attacked by a predator or another chicken
If you realize that the bird’s wing is broken or injured, you’d need to wrap it up, this will restrain the bird’s movement. You can take the bird to a vet to do this or you can do it yourself.
Doing it yourself:
If you choose to do this yourself, you’ll need a wound cleaner, bandaging tape, and medical tape for added security.
Start off by cleaning the wound site, wipe off all the blood at the wound site and spray the area with the wound cleaner.
Cut the bandaging tape before wrapping the bird’s wing.
Start wrapping the tape at the bird’s back and then wrap the tape over the injured wing, wrap around the bird’s chest, under the uninjured wing (to allow for freedom of movement) up to its back and then back to its chest.
This technique will ensure that the tape is snug against its body. The feathers should lie flatter under the bandage, this is normal, and it means that the bandage is secure
Wrap the wing well, making sure that it is snug and making sure that the wing is set in place, this will allow it to heal correctly.
That being said, do not wrap too tight where the bird’s circulation is cut off, also make sure that the bandage isn’t too tightly wrapped that it interferes with the bird’s vent, legs, or crop.
Wrap the medical tape around the bandage tape, in the same way, to set it in place.
You can leave the bandage on the bird’s wing for about one to three weeks. Check the wing every few days, and spray then rewrap the wing with a fresh bandage after checking.
The bird’s skin may turn bright green under the bandage as it is healing, don’t be alarmed, this is normal and happens when bruising develops. Simply spray the bird again and rewrap the wing if you see green.
Taking the bird to a vet:
Taking the bird to a vet is always recommended, the vet will take an x-ray of the wing to figure out what’s going on and give the bird a full examination.
Taking your bird to a vet is also helpful as the vet can also check for any other ailments that the bird may have.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if only one of your bird’s wings is droopy then the bird most likely injured itself.
This injury could have happened when a bird collided with another bird or because a predator attacked the bird.
You’d need to examine the bird to verify this, then bandage the wing up. You can also take the bird to the vet to be examined and bandaged up.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: What To Do When One Lovebird Dies, Sugar Water For Sick Chickens, Chicken Laying On Side, How To Tell If A Mother Bird Has Abandoned Her Nest