wing feathers growing sideways?

[Mrwaffleman]

My khaki campbell duck is 1 month and 12 days old and his name is Almond. I started to notice his wing feathers to be growing sideways for more than 3 days and I just told myself it was part of the growing process. But my friend had 4 ducks but none of them had this problem. So I'm really scared and I don't know what's going on right now. i would really appreciate some helpful tips and advice. Thanks in advance!

 

[jducour]

That looks like a severe case of angel wing. He is not getting proper nutrition. This needs to corrected immediately, he is young so it should be able to be reversed. I am just running to get the kids to school, I will check back in a bit. WHat is his exact diet? Main food brand, treats, snacks, give us an idea of exactly what he is eating.

And that isn't a Khaki Campbell, it's a Blue Swedish

 

[Mrwaffleman]

I feed my duck with normal chicken feed, mealworms and crickets. But um... most of the time, I feed it a lot of mealworms and crickets when I'm playing with it. But in his cage, his food bowl, only consist of wet chicken feed. The reason why my family fed him these is because ducks aren't really a popular pet in Singapore. How can it be cured? ><

 

[jducour]

Ok, for right now, no more meal worms or crickets. They are very high in protein, and can be the cause of angel wing in your duck. He needs to be eating a variety of vegetables, fruits and vitamins. If you are only offering chicken feed, it is extremely important that you also add vitamins. You are creating a situation where this duck will have problems for the rest of his life. Not only are his wings deformed, he could have problems with his legs as he gets bigger. He needs niacin. Do you have access to brewers yeast? Not bakers yeast, brewers.

A lot of people on this board are in areas that don't offer duck food. You can make your own, adding the necessary vitamins, protein and grain.

Do you plan on keeping this duck as an adult? Do you have a yard or is it going to be a house duck?

Can you take a picture of the food it has been eating, so we can get an idea of the nutritional content?

You will probably have to bind his wings. It needs to be done today. I will get back with some links.

 

[jducour]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/736147/how-to-fix-angel-wing

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644239/angel-wing-in-ducks-how-we-wrap-to-mend-it-pictorial

 

[Mrwaffleman]

To be honest... my duck does walk differently than my friend's ducks... sometimes, it loses its balance and fall. It waddles more shakily too. Will he be fine gradually when I start feeding more greens and vitamins and no more worms or crickets? I really want my duck to be as healthy as possible as I'm keeping it as a pet and a house duck til its old. I will start binding its wings by tomorrow because I don't have the necessary items and I fed him with normal mealworms and crickets (I don't have a picture of it because it ate all of them).

 

[jducour]

I am really happy you want to do your best to correct the problem. If he is walking different too, it is very serious indeed. If you can't find the right supplements at your local stores, you can order them online. Do you have access to Amazon.com? I was more interested in the nutrition contents of your chicken feed. A lot of people are able to feed their ducks chicken feed, it just needs some vitamins added. Ducks have different needs form chickens. There are a lot of chicken feeds. Is this a meat grower feed, layer feed, flock raiser, etc?

If you are starting treatment this young, I think there is a good chance he will recover. If you were to change nothing he would most likely start having deformed legs, and the wings would be irreversible. It changes the bone structure of the wing, and once the bone hardens, it is permanent. That is why I am so happy you came for help early! Yay!

A few months ago, someone dropped a huge male pekin over my fence. He had a very bad angel wing, and was severely malnourished. After a few weeks of proper feed and care, his health was vastly improved, but I couldn't do anything about the angel wing. It broke my heart.

Start today with leafy greens - chop them up and offer them in a dish with water. Also try any veggie or fruit you have on hand, get an idea if what he likes. Mine love peas, lettuce, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and watermelon.

You can offer meal worms and crickets when he is older, also live feeder fish. But they are a treat. An adult duck should only eat 2 Tablespoons of meal worms a day. That is a small handful. A duck in the wild, or a domestic duck that is foraging in your yard will eat a wide variety of plants and bugs. They are able to supplement their diet themselves. They seem to know what they need. My ducks never eat grass, but when I offer them a treat of fruit or chopped meat or fish, they will take big mouthfuls of grass between bites. They are supplemented with duck food at night.

 

[Orca5094]

You should be able to fix the problem if you act now, yes. Fixing the duck's diet (less protein) and wrapping the wings in the correct position should repair the damage. This is a pretty severe case of angel wing though, so you may have to wrap the wings several times until they lay correctly against the duck's body. I would keep the wings wrapped as long as you can without letting it get too tight (ducks grow very fast at this age, so you'll need to check the wrap every day to make sure it's not getting too tight and cutting off blood circulation). So I'd think you could keep them wrapped maybe 5 days, then remove it and see how the wings look. Then wrap again if they stick out at all.

Oh, I missed the part about the walking. Listen to jducour as he/she has some really great information up there for you! This duck definitely does need the niacin (or brewer's yeast) added to it's food right away. That should help correct the leg issues as well. Good luck!

 

[jducour]

Looking closer at your pictures, he is already bowlegged. He needs niacin ASAP. Do you have brewers yeast where you are? @Amiga , do you know if she should be doing more than I suggested? Her duck has had too much protein and is bow legged and has angel wing. Any idea who would be better to help through this than me?

 

[Amykins]

That looks pretty bad...to be honest at this point I'm not sure if he can be helped. But you have to try. His wings need to be wrapped ASAP!! As for the walking thing, yeah, he needed niacin back when he was a wee duckling. You need to supplement his diet now, but unless he gets his legs braced I'm not sure if the bone damage can be reversed.