First case of angle wing * Kathariad, you were right!*

[chickboss]

Well, I was thinking I might be lucky enough to escape this, but one of my young Australian Spotteds is developing angle wing. Do I just wrap it so that it stays close to the body for 4-5 days? This is what I thought I read.

 

[chickboss]

Well, that went great!

So I wrapped the little one's wing and put him/her back in the brooder. I expected the other ducks to be wary, make even pick on the funny looking duck, or shun it. But no, they went beserk, running all over the brooder like scared maniacs, one of them even injured its wing feathers that are coming in. I promptly removed the wrapped duck and unwrapped it to prevent further freaking. The worst part, is that I should have known better because they are 4 1/2 weeks..... They haven't started acting scared of me though so I didn't think of it.

Injured duck is fine, just supperficial....

 

[duckyfromoz]

What colour was the wrapping you used??? I know my ducks tend to freak out sometimes when I wear a very bright shirt- Maybe it was just the colour that disturbed them.

 

[chickboss]

LOL, my daughter picked the color, so it is hot pink. Maybe a bit much on the brightness scale.

I'll try a more subdued color and see how it goes. Thanks! Oh, and I think the injurie was from the one or two ducklings who have decided it is great fun to pull at the others new wing feathers that are coming in. I have been hearing some loud "PEEP"s from the pen, but every time I look, they are all standing around like everythings fine. But last night, just after I posted one of the little buggers started really going for it and I caught him/her in the act. Looks like they need some enrichment to distract them....

 

[katharinad]

Get the human version of Vetrap. It comes in a nice skin tone, and may be less obvious to the others. All the vet version come in colors, but perhaps the green would work. I also would give the ducks a little bit more time to make sure it really is angel wing. I've noticed that the new feather have the tendency to stick out first, because the body is still so small. A week or two later you usually see that they are actually not sticking out at all. Waiting a little bit longer will not make it that much harder to fix it. Perhaps you can post a picture of the duck so we all can take a quick peek at it.

 

[chickboss]

I'll try to get a pic in today, but I am pretty sure. I have seen them looking a bit awkward as the feathers come in but this is a definant twisting of the tip of the wing. Thanks for the advice, I will either try buff or green before I head off to the store to get the other color.

 

[chickboss]

Quote:
You were right, I waited and it is totally gone. Thanks!

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Chickboss, I had the exact same thing happen with one of my runners the other week. I'd gone through 8 ducks this year without any sign of angel wing, then I get my 3 runners and two of them start showing signs on angel wing - one was very minor the other was definately angel wing...Tried wrapping, but they wigged out big time and slipped it off in no time flat. So I just left them be. I would tuck the stick out angel wing feathers under the other feathers each time they came up for food - and in a few days - it fixed itself once those feathers finished growing out.

so funny how somethings can so easily fix themselves. I take a naturalistic approach to my animals as much as I can - since they are pets - not breeders or show animals that have to have all the regulations and immunizations etc etc

my brood of animals seem perfectly happy and healthy and so I am happy as well.

 

[katharinad]

I'm glad you did not have to go through the wrapping procedure and that your duck does not have it at all. I have one that has something that looks like angel wing, but is an injury. The poor little thing panicked about something, tried to jump out of the pool, and twisted the wing tip outwards. I hope wrapping will fix it, and only time will tell.

 

[L0rraine]

I too, had been glad to have not seen angel wing UNTIL now ... I've got several BEIs that the neighbor gave me, and the littlest one suddenly had two upturned little wings. Surprisingly, one seems to have settled down on it's own, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to take action to correct the other side. And I've got a really little Runner with a bad foot or leg who I've been nursing, with not very positive results. I'm making a trip down to Portland in a few days and she may be coming with me if she continues to survive. She's only five days old and is starting to sound a little raspy (pnemonia?) so I've been rubbing her back and chest area and trying to get her to peep (though they are coming out like little hoarse quacks). Off subject -- sorry.