Angel Wing Question

[416bigbore]

Hello All, After reading over many post's on the subject of AW in Ducks, I am still not 100% sure if this is what is going on with two of our 7 week old Rouen Mallard , Pekin mix Ducklings? After reading and looking at other members pics posted, they do not have wing tips that want to turn out, but only hang. The two ducklings are not in any noticeable stress over this and they just keep pulling them up and go on about their duck business. Out of the 10 ducklings these two I would call the runts of the litter, still very healthy just a little smaller in overall size. I am not sure if this will correct itself as they grow and the wing muscles gets stronger or if I should still tape the wings up into place for the 7-10 days recommended ?

Thank you, Mike

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds to me like it's when the flight feathers are growing in full of blood and they are heavy and need to build muscle to hold them properly that's why the adjust they sag they adjust until they get those muscles built up. Don't wrap because that won't get the muscles strong enough to hold the wings.
and if you can post some pics we can verify that is what it is even though that's what it sounds like from your description.

 

[416bigbore]

Thanks for the reply Miss Lydia, Sorry about no pics. I know how everyone likes pics! Its just nice to have a little reassurance from other more experienced members it's nothing serious at this point. To me it kind of looks like the wing tips points in a bit if anything and always go up into place when they pull them up. How long might this last you think? I will work on some pics to post. Thanks you, Mike

 

[Ratchnick]

Drooping wings is also a sign your bird might be sick, so keep an eye on them.

 

[416bigbore]

Hello Ratchick and thank you for your reply. When I first noticed this I started to panic thinking here we go, we have a sick baby? I have been keeping a very close eye on things and nothing is getting worse. Another duckling is doing the same thing and they are both eating and drinking well along with keeping themselves groomed. So at this point I am ruling out being sick at this point and maybe they are just growing to fast in their wing feathers for their wing muscles to catch up. I will keep all posted as time goes on.

 

[416bigbore]

Hope these pics help ID nothing is serious?

 

[Isaac 0]

Sounds to me like it's when the flight feathers are growing in full of blood and they are heavy and need to build muscle to hold them properly that's why the adjust they sag they adjust until they get those muscles built up. Don't wrap because that won't get the muscles strong enough to hold the wings.
and if you can post some pics we can verify that is what it is even though that's what it sounds like from your description.

Hope these pics help ID nothing is serious?

x2!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Looks like normal blood feathers to me. Very pretty.

 

[416bigbore]

Looks like normal blood feathers to me. Very pretty.

Thank you for the conformation, that sure helps takes a little worry off my plate. I am just like everyone else trying to raise healthy and happy Ducks. I will post pics when they are older and have their adult feathers in place, should be interesting because of their mix. Thanks again, Mike

 

[416bigbore]

Since my first post I have been keeping a close eye on our two little runts with the hanging wing tips. As the fight feathers have been growing in and getting heavier, the two ducklings don't seem to be pulling their wing tips up into their body as much as they did at first. Now they just stand there and let them hang, kind of looking more like a Penguin then a Duck.

The fight feathers still hung straight down on the one duck and the other duckling one of his tip feathers were long enough and pointed inward and would get stuck between his two legs as he walked. So I decided to intervene and wrap both the ducklings wing tips, I hope I done the right thing given the circumstances. IMO they were starting to exhibit signs of stress.

To my surprise wrapping the wing tips wasn't as hard to do as I thought it would be, thanks to the aid of the helpful videos posted. Huge Bonus for us Newbies! IMO it's a two person job, so much easier that way. Having the right type of wrap at hand another big plus. Knock on wood it went very smoothly and quickly, two duck wing jobs in about 10 minutes if that? Almost as smooth and fast as a NASCAR pit stop with fuel and four new tires!

After watching the first duckling with his new wing job, he seemed so much happier as he walked around and interacted with the others. His wings being taped up into place didn't bother him one bit, didn't pick at them or anything. He would stand up straight flap his little wings and drop them back down into place with ease and go on about his business.

Duckling number two, not so much the same reaction to his new tape job. He was not happy and was doing everything he could to pick at it. Little does he realize , I used a thin 3/8 wide strip of Duct Tape over the medical wrap to secure it to his wing feathers to help keep the wrap from sliding off.

It was right before dark when we done this yesterday and I wasn't able to snap any pics of my tape job to post, maybe today if it ever quits raining. LOL I kept an eye on duckling number two and he too did calm down after realizing my wrap job wasn't just going to fall off.

Any ideas as to how long I will want to leave the wings wrapped? I made sure not to make things to tight, just snug enough to hold things into place.

Lastly Duct Tape, No. 102 use found, How many people can ever say they got to use Duct Tape on a Duck!