My goose has angel wing- what now???!!!

[NewChickenMom]

i'll sadly join in the discussion. i too have a gander with angel wing. i thought maybe his new wing feathers that were coming in were just too heavy for him to lift under like his mate had hers, but the feathers started to form and they still hung out. he is 6 weeks old, on grower/finsher 15% protein and he gets weeds and grass to eat everyday. he has it with both wings so i used vetrap and wrapped one wing and then used just a little bit more and wrapped the other wing so it wasn't too tight. he seems really upset, while wrapping i made him throw up and he was panting, now that i've wrapped him he has no balance, he can walk, but he's very slow. am i doing everything right?? i feel so bad for him and even worse that i caused it...

 

[dogzrule5]

I had this issue as well from feeding too much protein. My Gretel had angel wing but I was able to correct it very easily by using the vet tape. While it was recommended to leave her wrapped for a week, I felt so bad for her after four days that I unwrapped her.

I am happy to report that she has perfect wings!!!

 

[pookiethebear]

I had this on one of my ducks a while ago. After reading here, I took the duck and set him up on a table and my son held him securly while I tucked the wing back into position and and used athletic tape and gently taped his 'wrist' to his 'elbow' if that makes any sense. He could still lift the wing at the 'shoulder' but could not flap it. The tape stayed on for a few weeks and he fianlly got it picked off by himself and now he is just fine.

 

[ml]

Seems another person has this problem too.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g255/cutie8795/homecoming07friomkatiescamera518.jpg

is this similar?

http://www.carolinecrockeroriginals.co.uk/sheldon_pages/The_ducklings/angel_wing_condition.htm

directions to wrap on a duck

ML

 

[tarancara]

As a wildlife rehabber I get many Canada Geese with this problem- if young enough it can be cured. I 100% believe that is a dietary deficiency. These animals also will develop spraddle leg which is a death sentence if not caught right away. You need to bind the wing to the body in its natural position using non stick vet tape and get them on a diet including lots of kale, and other greens, keep the grain to a minimum and make sure you don't feed them chicken scratch but a high quality duck feed. If their legs start to become wide set they are developing spraddle leg and I have had great success binding the legs and hips - I actually have "worn" my geese bound to me to keep pressure on the hips. You can also "tether" the legs to each other like a puppy with swimmer syndrome...

 

[babs564]

If protein may be the problem with angel wing, what percentage of the grain we feed the geese from the store is best?

 

[Miss Lydia]

If protein may be the problem with angel wing, what percentage of the grain we feed the geese from the store is best?

I feed Purina Flock Raiser which is 20% protein they get it from hatch through their lives, but I also make sure they get plenty of greens to cut the protein down to where it doesn't cause any problems. another way to cut the protein is to add whole oats to their feed. Most say around 16% protein is a good number. But geese are grazers first off so as much grass they can eat with grains as a supplement is the best way to go.

 

[RURU]

We as people who love their geese want them to have the best feed. But by doing so we tend to forget that goslings eat grass from the day hatched and do not get these high protein feeds. I have learned to purchase romaine hearts and cut them up for my goslings. They do get gamebird grower feed but only for 3 weeks of their life and in small portions. I try to give them things like watermelon, cut up red or green grapes, cut up tomato, a bit of cooked corn not much just a treat portion. You can feed kale, mustard greens, dandelion greens and even the flower cut up. They can have cut up apples, blue berries, black berries, strawberries, honeydew melon, zucchini, broccoli, peas and so many more things in their diet as well as their gamebird or waterfowl feed.
You just have to make sure they get more greens than feed which helps so much with not getting angel wing.
This year I did this type feeding and NO wing problems in my Sebastopols.... Last year I fed too much protein and I had several smooth breasted that got angel wing which was my fault.

So make sure to feed more veggie and fruits than feed but enough of the feed to keep them getting the niacin they need for the legs and system.

I am adding this to for feeding. I take the maintenance waterfowl or all flock feed and mix half feed and half oats to keep the protein down. Plus it helps bring in beautiful feathering on Sebastopol's not sure if it would do the same for other geese but do not see why not...

 

[ThreeBridges]

I think the key factors in our 3 geese getting angel wing were lack of reliable information for first timers at our local feed suppliers and over feeding at night.

We have a mixed flock of bantam chickens, ducks, and geese. Early on we had a problem with a 35lb buck racoon that has since been eliminated. Its raids on our feed supply (knocked over an industrial food-grade drum full of 30lb bags of feed) prompted me to rig up a light in the poultry yard that significantly extended the feeding hours for everybody. Our geese are a very large breed, so they grow fast, and with the extra hours they took advantage--compounding the effects of the feed with too much protein.

 

[ThreeBridges]

Our 3 Toulouse geese were born in May and they all have various degrees of Angel Wing. We bound them with infant onesies, and then switched out to panty hose and were rehabbing them until a week ago. Unfortunately, we were a little too late to correct the issue and only mildly helped their wrists fall back into the correct shape.

They are penned at night and free range during the day. We set a 3 day ON, 1 day OFF, schedule with our wing binding and found that the panty hose was the best fit for the environment. They could swim in it easily and movement was restricted enough to keep the joint focused in the right position in accordance with most of the instructional info out there. It's high summer here, so heat was a consideration, but the shallow water they had access to and our awareness helped to offset any problems that arose from that. Since it's ultimately survivable, our default was always OFF when there was any health considerations.