Ask Lafeber

Droopy wing

Hi!

I have 6 canaries living in a big cage together. One of my canary’s left wing is droopy. I do not think his wing is broken, because he can move it and even fly a little. His behaviour has not changed much, he is still active and likes to eat, but he clearly does not fly as much and high as did before. I have examined his wing, and there is no blood, maybe a little swelling, but i am not sure. I have no aviary vets in my region, that is why i am desperately trying to get some information in order to help him. If it is a minor injury should i just isolate him from the other birds and the wing will heal by itself or maybe i should try to fixate the wing with a bandage? He is 3 months young and likes to shout at his father.

Hi,

Without being treated by a Vet, the wing may or may not heal correctly. He does need to have his activity limited. He should be in a small cage where he can’t keep trying to fly. The problem with wrapping the wing is you don’t know where the injury is, so if you wrap it the wrong way, it can make things even worse.

I would guess he may have injured it in a fight with his father. Weaned offspring should not be kept with the parents. The parents’ instinct is to drive the young birds away so they can be independent and find unrelated mates when they are old enough. Related birds should never be allowed to breed. So even keeping siblings together isn’t the best idea. They should never be given nests and any eggs that are laid should be thrown away. You can keep several canaries together, but you should never give them nests or this causes fighting, and you shouldn’t have grown offspring with their parents.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda