My duck's primary feathers are sticking out - twisted wing?

[Blackberry18]

I noticed this morning that one of my Khaki Campbell duckling's feathers are sticking out on the wings. I thought immediately it may be twisted win, but am not sure. They are five weeks old, and their wing feathers are just coming in. None of the others' feathers look like that. A couple of pictures are below, they are rather flighty, so its hard to get decent photographs:





I've read that you should decrease the protein content of the food and feed greens in order to correct it, but I can't really do that because she eats the same food as all of my other ducklings and chicks, and I haven't introduced them to greens yet. I've also read that you can try taping the feathers corrected for a few days to try to align them correctly, any advice on that?

 

[LeiaLayers5]

I cannot say for sure, but it does not look twisted to me. Depending on how they hold themselves, it may just appear that way. I would give it a little time and then if you are sure it really is an issue once the feathers come in further I would attempt correction then. Currently I think its just the awkwardness of growing feathers you are seeing.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

My KC had a similar issue when she was getting her new flight feathers: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1085992/the-brooding-of-allie-casey-and-latte/310#post_16825934 (see post #315). She grew up fine, I just kept an eye on it.

 

[wolfwood2186]

I think it looks fine. They look like teenage duck feathers on that awkward middle stage.

 

[BirdGirl2004]

I am not an expert.. but this could be something I was reading about called "Angel Wing" it happens when you give your ducks to much protein and it can cause your wing to be twisted just like that. It could also just be the duck growing it's feathers in.. just a little awkward right now. Hope this helps!

here's a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_wing

 

[BirdGirl2004]

Just curious, How old is your duck.

 

[Blackberry18]

Just curious, How old is your duck.

In this picture, she is five weeks old. Now, they are 8 weeks.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

In this picture, she is five weeks old. Now, they are 8 weeks.

So she looks good now?

 

[Blackberry18]

So she looks good now?

No, unfortunately, I think she does have angel/twisted wing. Both of her wings are held away from the body. I was actually going to post some more pictures soon.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

No, unfortunately, I think she does have angel/twisted wing. Both of her wings are held away from the body. I was actually going to post some more pictures soon.

My other favorite book is "Duck Eggs Daily", by Lisa Steele. She says, that Angel Wing is found in "ducklings under 16 weeks old, caused by a too-high protein diet that causes them to grow too fast. As their bones and wings are growing and their wing feathers become heavy with blood, the wing begins to turn out from the duck’s body, hence the name angel wing. It is usually correctable if caught early on, by taping or binding the duck’s wings to its body for a week or two with a non-adhesive flexible bandaging tape such as Vetrap –at the same time adding oats to their feed, up to a 25% oat/ 75% feed ratio, to reduce the protein levels." But, it doesn't say what age. It seems to imply that you have until those feathers are fully grown. So, I am not sure if it would help.