scalped duckling :(

[shawluvsbirds]

Also... do we think boy or girl? Doesn't sound like the beginnings of girly honks to me, at least not how I remember. But I don't remember the boys' voices cracking like that... seemed like they just subtly transitioned from peeping to their raspy quiet quack, and later on, I thought - like around 7-8 weeks old. Where the girls started honking anywhere from 3-6 weeks... baby duck was 5 weeks old yesterday. It's been 4+ years since I had baby ducks around though, so my memory might be off.

P. S. This was our first try at letting baby duck spend some time outside safely. He/she was not amused at all at first, but eventually nibbled on some grass and sat down and enjoyed it. I may try it again out back with the big ducks in the next day or two.

I would say it could still go either way. I had one this year that I swear was making a quack sound but still turned out to be a male. I think they do have a sort of different transition sound for a few days before they get their man voices.

 

[cymbaline]

It has basically scabbed all the way over now, and it looks like there's fresh new skin around the outside. (this pic is from last night, it actually looks even better today)

But... look at that other wing sticking up. It's been like that for days... I think I've got my first case of angel wing. Poor baby can't catch a break. I need to read a little more about it but it sounds easy enough to treat - wrap snugly for 4-5 days?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Awesome!!

 

[shawluvsbirds]

It has basically scabbed all the way over now, and it looks like there's fresh new skin around the outside. (this pic is from last night, it actually looks even better today)
View attachment 1516384
But... look at that other wing sticking up. It's been like that for days... I think I've got my first case of angel wing. Poor baby can't catch a break. I need to read a little more about it but it sounds easy enough to treat - wrap snugly for 4-5 days?

Geesh. What bad luck this one has.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/angel-wing-treatment.1252014/
I would wait a little bit until the feathers start to emerge so you'll have something to tuck under first. Plus *sometimes* it will correct itself when the feathers get heavier. But looking at that I would say it probably won't. I've found trying to wrap it when it's just the quills like that is extremely hard to get them wrapped in the right place.

 

[getaclue]

Sometimes it's caused by diet. No more than 16% protein in it's diet, and no treats for now.

While a duck is still young, angel wing usually can be corrected by using vet wrap to secure the last two joints of the wing for 4 or 5 days. The wrap will hold the feathers in proper position and help the wing grow in the right direction until the wrist joint becomes strong enough to support feather growth. To prevent binding as the wing grows, and to allow the bird to exercise its wing muscles, remove the vet wrap each evening and reapply it in the morning. The wing joint will be fully developed and able to support the wing properly by the time the bird reaches 16 weeks of age, after which a duck is no longer in danger of developing angel wing.

 

[Jpat]

keep updating

 

[cymbaline]

It probably was diet related - the crumbles are 20%, I think, and there was no one else to fight for the food so he just ate all he wanted all the time, lol. I started cutting it with oats for the last week or so, and letting it run out for a couple hours sometimes.
I got scared that I might be waiting too long so I had a coworker help me wrap it yesterday around lunch time. He managed to wiggle out around midnight and it looked fine! I figured I'd see how it looked this morning before I declared victory, lol.
(been trying to post this with a pic but it won't upload - I'll try posting and editing later) finally got the pic -

 

[getaclue]

You can cut it with alfalfa too.

 

[cymbaline]

Healing more and more every day... still hoping the skin between his eyes will stretch back out and let the "eyelids" back down where the should be... poor baby looks permanently surprised. I thought once the scabbing was gone there it might go back but that's almost all new skin there and it's still very taut. I keep putting neosporin there too, even though it's healed, in the hopes of keeping the skin moist and pliable.

Also, that one wing is still back to being tucked like it should be... from what I had read I'm amazed that 12 hours of being wrapped fixed it! It had been sticking out for at least a week, maybe a little longer.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I don't know what to say about the taunt skin hopefully eventually the new skin will loosen some. Does it bother the duckling? Great to hear about the wing and so fast.

Has the duckling been out with the other ducks yet?