Is 25% too high? Angel wing maybe?

[kawonu]

We used 3M VetRap self sticking bandage. People use it on horses and its at Tractor Supply in various colors. Just a few dollars for a roll and you can throw it away when done. We kept ours wrapped a week and now you can't even tell.

Here is a description of it

3M Vetrap Bandage Tape

Vetrap by 3M stretches and sticks to itself. Lightweight, cool and comfortable. This Vet Wrap bandaging tape will not absorb moisture.

http://www.horse.com/3M-4-Vetrap-Bandage-Tape-BHV50.html

 

[Duck Keeper]

Quote:
Don't know if this has been answered or not, but yes, I do occasionally throw a handful of dog/cat food into their food/water bowls. It increases egg production, but I also think it helps give them a greater diversity of food. So they don't eat nothing but pellets their whole life, along with some grass. Yay.

I don't know if it's recommended, but I started feeding it as a treat after I read about it on the internet. Someone used dog food to up their chicken egg production.
I've read that you can also feed rabbit pellets to ducks (but since they aren't formulated for ducks, do so at your own risk. same with dog/cat food), I plan on trying this as a treat during the winter months, when green things are scarce.

 

[Wifezilla]

Duck keeper, that article addresses the same questions I had. My ducks are on 24% protein game bird feed. Of course, they get several servings of greens per day and graze in the yard all day long. No angel wing and I have raised 5 from babies. I did have 2 others, but one died a few days after hatching and I lost JJ to a lung infection of some sort when she was 2 months old. Still, no angel wing issues with JJ.

So, either...
I am feeding enough supplemental greens so the high protein isn't an issue OR...
my ducks do not have a genetic susceptibility to angel wing OR...
excess protein isn't the cause of angel wing.

Based on the natural diet of a duckling in the wild of high protein worms, bugs, larvae, fish, frog eggs, along with aquatic plants (many of which are pretty high in protein themselves, i.e. duckweed)... my theory is that protein does not cause angel wing.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

That is a very good article and I have to agree (with my very limited knowledge) that it's genetic. All 5 of my ducks eat the same thing and as I stated earlier in this thread, they only had one helping of the 25% protein feed. 4 have it and 1 does not.

I never did get the tape yet and I really need to do that today before it gets worse. I'm really at a loss on how to do it though. Can someone please explain what methods work best and what products to use?

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Quote:
I must have missed this post - thank you!!! Do you wrap it totally around their body?

 

[kingmt]

I don't see any Angel Wing in your pictures. Does the flight feathers drop down or away from the body? Your birds don't look any different then mine did when they were getting there flight feathers in. The straw grows & then the feather grows from the end.

The post showing Angel Wing look at the wing behind the bird. This does look like Angel Wing.

 

[DuckLady]

Dave Holderread recommends the following (and I have never had a problem)

First 2 weeks, feed 18 to 20% starter

Weeks 3 to 8, 15 to 18%

Weeks 9 to 20, 13 to 14 %

While laying, 16 to 20 % with calcium available as needed (oyster shell).
While not laying they need 13 to 14%

In molt they need it bumped to 15-16% (I usually treat the ducks to cat kibble.)

Of course these are for pet ducks.
Meat ducks will be on high protein and will be processed by 8 weeks.

Exhibition ducks can benefit from some cat kibble to add sheen and gloss to the feathers.

Wild ducks have different needs. Wild and domestic is apples to oranges almost.
They are wild and adapt to the environment.
Domestic ducks have been bred to be domestic and dependant on humans, so a wild diet will not suit them. We have made them the way they are and made them need certain feeds because we wanted them a certain way.

 

[Wifezilla]

Wild ducks have different needs. Wild and domestic is apples to oranges almost.
They are wild and adapt to the environment.
Domestic ducks have been bred to be domestic and dependant on humans, so a wild diet will not suit them. We have made them the way they are and made them need certain feeds because we wanted them a certain way.

While there are going to be differences to a point, wild ducks and domestic ducks are not different species.

Right now in the dog community, people are solving multitudes of health issues in their dogs by retuning them to a diet close to what wolves eat. (Google the BARF diet...it stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food)

This is also something many people are doing. Curing obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc.. by returning to a close approximation of what humans ate during the paleolithic era (Neaderthin Diet, Paleo Diet, Protein Power Life Plan).​