Help, our pet duck has angel wing and will not keep the bandages on!

[motherhencharm]

Our young duck is 2 months old. He is a kahaki campbell crossed with a peking. About 3 days ago I noticed he was suddenly developing angel wing on the left side. I purchased some of that strapping bandage stuff that only sticks to itself from the vets and we strapped him up just like all the pictures we have seen online.
This picture is not him its just one I found online but the end result looked exactly like how the bandaging is done here. https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=s...ing-what-to-wrap-with-update-its-gone;427;599
Anyway, the strapping works well for a few hours but it just keeps riding up and eventually he gets his wings free and then the angel wing is sticking out again.
So we try again.
We have rebandaged him at least 7 times in the last 3 days. Its fair to say that everyone is getting over it. Especially our poor duck who does not like being picked up.
We really want to fix this condition before its too late but we are just not having any luck with the current method.
Does anyone have any tips on things we could try?
We believe we are wrapping him tight enough, because if we did it any tighter it would hurt him. Infact last time we tryed I was actually tighter then what I thought was necessary but he still got the entire strapping off in less then 12 hours!
We have also tried duct taping over top of the bandaging to help keep it strong (dont worry I would never duct tape directly onto his feathers, the tape was only touching the bandages)
But nothings working.
Anyone able to give us some tips to help us out here?

Also I know that the problem is usually caused by too much protein. We have him on poulty feed which is only 14% protein which we believed was pretty low. Or is that actually high? its the only one they sell in the store near me so I was not able to compare amounts with other brands. I will drive into the city for lower protein fed if this is too high.
We were feeding him table scraps as we do with the chickens but have currently stopped doing that incase it was what had caused the problem

Any help or advice is much appreciated.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Our young duck is 2 months old. He is a kahaki campbell crossed with a peking. About 3 days ago I noticed he was suddenly developing angel wing on the left side. I purchased some of that strapping bandage stuff that only sticks to itself from the vets and we strapped him up just like all the pictures we have seen online.
This picture is not him its just one I found online but the end result looked exactly like how the bandaging is done here. https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=s...ing-what-to-wrap-with-update-its-gone;427;599
Anyway, the strapping works well for a few hours but it just keeps riding up and eventually he gets his wings free and then the angel wing is sticking out again.
So we try again.
We have rebandaged him at least 7 times in the last 3 days. Its fair to say that everyone is getting over it. Especially our poor duck who does not like being picked up.
We really want to fix this condition before its too late but we are just not having any luck with the current method.
Does anyone have any tips on things we could try?
We believe we are wrapping him tight enough, because if we did it any tighter it would hurt him. Infact last time we tryed I was actually tighter then what I thought was necessary but he still got the entire strapping off in less then 12 hours!
We have also tried duct taping over top of the bandaging to help keep it strong (dont worry I would never duct tape directly onto his feathers, the tape was only touching the bandages)
But nothings working.
Anyone able to give us some tips to help us out here?

Also I know that the problem is usually caused by too much protein. We have him on poulty feed which is only 14% protein which we believed was pretty low. Or is that actually high? its the only one they sell in the store near me so I was not able to compare amounts with other brands. I will drive into the city for lower protein fed if this is too high.
We were feeding him table scraps as we do with the chickens but have currently stopped doing that incase it was what had caused the problem

Any help or advice is much appreciated.

Our young duck is 2 months old. He is a kahaki campbell crossed with a peking. About 3 days ago I noticed he was suddenly developing angel wing on the left side. I purchased some of that strapping bandage stuff that only sticks to itself from the vets and we strapped him up just like all the pictures we have seen online.
This picture is not him its just one I found online but the end result looked exactly like how the bandaging is done here. https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=s...ing-what-to-wrap-with-update-its-gone;427;599
Anyway, the strapping works well for a few hours but it just keeps riding up and eventually he gets his wings free and then the angel wing is sticking out again.
So we try again.
We have rebandaged him at least 7 times in the last 3 days. Its fair to say that everyone is getting over it. Especially our poor duck who does not like being picked up.
We really want to fix this condition before its too late but we are just not having any luck with the current method.
Does anyone have any tips on things we could try?
We believe we are wrapping him tight enough, because if we did it any tighter it would hurt him. Infact last time we tryed I was actually tighter then what I thought was necessary but he still got the entire strapping off in less then 12 hours!
We have also tried duct taping over top of the bandaging to help keep it strong (dont worry I would never duct tape directly onto his feathers, the tape was only touching the bandages)
But nothings working.
Anyone able to give us some tips to help us out here?

Also I know that the problem is usually caused by too much protein. We have him on poulty feed which is only 14% protein which we believed was pretty low. Or is that actually high? its the only one they sell in the store near me so I was not able to compare amounts with other brands. I will drive into the city for lower protein fed if this is too high.
We were feeding him table scraps as we do with the chickens but have currently stopped doing that incase it was what had caused the problem

Any help or advice is much appreciated.

Our young duck is 2 months old. He is a kahaki campbell crossed with a peking. About 3 days ago I noticed he was suddenly developing angel wing on the left side. I purchased some of that strapping bandage stuff that only sticks to itself from the vets and we strapped him up just like all the pictures we have seen online.
This picture is not him its just one I found online but the end result looked exactly like how the bandaging is done here. https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=s...ing-what-to-wrap-with-update-its-gone;427;599
Anyway, the strapping works well for a few hours but it just keeps riding up and eventually he gets his wings free and then the angel wing is sticking out again.
So we try again.
We have rebandaged him at least 7 times in the last 3 days. Its fair to say that everyone is getting over it. Especially our poor duck who does not like being picked up.
We really want to fix this condition before its too late but we are just not having any luck with the current method.
Does anyone have any tips on things we could try?
We believe we are wrapping him tight enough, because if we did it any tighter it would hurt him. Infact last time we tryed I was actually tighter then what I thought was necessary but he still got the entire strapping off in less then 12 hours!
We have also tried duct taping over top of the bandaging to help keep it strong (dont worry I would never duct tape directly onto his feathers, the tape was only touching the bandages)
But nothings working.
Anyone able to give us some tips to help us out here?

Also I know that the problem is usually caused by too much protein. We have him on poulty feed which is only 14% protein which we believed was pretty low. Or is that actually high? its the only one they sell in the store near me so I was not able to compare amounts with other brands. I will drive into the city for lower protein fed if this is too high.
We were feeding him table scraps as we do with the chickens but have currently stopped doing that incase it was what had caused the problem

Any help or advice is much appreciated.

Our young duck is 2 months old. He is a kahaki campbell crossed with a peking. About 3 days ago I noticed he was suddenly developing angel wing on the left side. I purchased some of that strapping bandage stuff that only sticks to itself from the vets and we strapped him up just like all the pictures we have seen online.
This picture is not him its just one I found online but the end result looked exactly like how the bandaging is done here. https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=s...ing-what-to-wrap-with-update-its-gone;427;599
Anyway, the strapping works well for a few hours but it just keeps riding up and eventually he gets his wings free and then the angel wing is sticking out again.
So we try again.
We have rebandaged him at least 7 times in the last 3 days. Its fair to say that everyone is getting over it. Especially our poor duck who does not like being picked up.
We really want to fix this condition before its too late but we are just not having any luck with the current method.
Does anyone have any tips on things we could try?
We believe we are wrapping him tight enough, because if we did it any tighter it would hurt him. Infact last time we tryed I was actually tighter then what I thought was necessary but he still got the entire strapping off in less then 12 hours!
We have also tried duct taping over top of the bandaging to help keep it strong (dont worry I would never duct tape directly onto his feathers, the tape was only touching the bandages)
But nothings working.
Anyone able to give us some tips to help us out here?

Also I know that the problem is usually caused by too much protein. We have him on poulty feed which is only 14% protein which we believed was pretty low. Or is that actually high? its the only one they sell in the store near me so I was not able to compare amounts with other brands. I will drive into the city for lower protein fed if this is too high.
We were feeding him table scraps as we do with the chickens but have currently stopped doing that incase it was what had caused the problem

Any help or advice is much appreciated.

Here is a link to one of our BYC educators tips on wrapping, hope it helps. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...how-we-wrap-to-mend-it-pictorial#post_8682154 Have no idea how that happened sorry.

 

[motherhencharm]

sorry my link did no work too well. I will try and upload my own picture. Basically we are just going by the method of wrapping both wings close to his body

 

[motherhencharm]

thankyou Miss Lydia. That post does show a different way of wrapping to what I have been currently doing and we have given that a try instead. Hopefully we will have more luck this time =)

 

[Frank Phinster]

Good luck with the wrapping! Angel wing can be pretty disabling for the duck when the grown primaries stick out and tend to entangle whenever they get the chance. Additionally, it just spoils the good looks of a duck.
Whether a duck can get angel wing is also a question of genetics. If the genetic disposition is given, the duck is more likely to develop angel wing. Food with a little amount of protein can prevent the development of angel wing, but food that is rich of protein by itself should not cause angel wing when it is not encoded in the genome of the bird, but actually scientists are still not sure whether angel wing is purely a question of genetics, nutrition, or both.
I usually stop feeding pellets when my ducklings are five weeks old to make sure they do not get too much protein.

 

[motherhencharm]

thanks for your reply Frank. So what do you feed your ducks instead of pellets? or do they just find their own food? mine fully free range so do eat a lot of bugs, grass etc. Maybe I fed him too much

 

[Miss Lydia]

thanks for your reply Frank. So what do you feed your ducks instead of pellets? or do they just find their own food? mine fully free range so do eat a lot of bugs, grass etc. Maybe I fed him too much

Pellets don't necessarily have too much protein, it's the kind of pellets, each type has different amts in it. Like I feed Purina Flock Raiser from hatch till end of life at 22% protein, I have never had a problem with angel wing in any of my ducklings, so maybe sometimes it is genetic. I also give my ducks a variety of other choices too like they free range all year round and eat numerous bugs and grasses and other tidbits. I even feed my ducks/duckling and rest of my flock dried mealworms which is adding more protein to their diet. Feed them either an age appropriate diet suitable for ducks or chickens [which ever you can find] or an all flock feed. At the age he is at he needs good quality nutrients to continue to grow to adulthood. 14% protein is not too high.

 

[Frank Phinster]

I give them normal chicken feed and greens like salad. Additionally they eat what they can find on their own. If they have enough space, overfeeding should be hard to achieve with a young duck. It may be that you fed it too long with the protein rich starter feed. Or it might just be genetics as I stated before, which means that it's not your fault at all.

 

[Marty1876]

Ducks rarely get angel wing, it's almost certainly genetic. Consider how much protein ducks consume naturally...snails, bugs, and other proteins are their favorite foods by far. Even when my ducks eat like the feeder roos for eating, they don't have issues. I'd call the breeder and inquire if they've got the problem in their own flocks. It comes from somwhere, but probobly not the dinner bowl in the case of ducks. 14% protein isn't going to do it for sure.

Now, waterfowl can be ruddy impossible to keep wrapped. I spent most of my summer wrapping angel wing on a goose last year. I finally gave up. It grew out, and now its fine. It might be transitory based on feather growth. It may disappear in another few weeks if its just how his "flight" feathers grown out.