One of my rescued Muscovy ducks has a funky wing. The last joint may be dislocated, he has no control over the left wingtip and cannot fold his wing properly.I tried to get a picture but my camera is so slow I had to take it while they were confined and I can't really see it well.
Someone had a goose, I believe, with the same sort of problem some months back. Does anyone remember what happened to it? Any suggestions for a correction? I'll try to get a clearer photo tomorrow.
it is called Angel Wing. Is believed to be from to much protein as a little one for to long. It is also suggested to be heriditary by some.
Out of 3 different sets of goose eggs from different sellers in different states I ended up with 1 with Angel Wing of 3 that hatched of the same breed(Pilgrim) from the same set of eggs. I believe it has to do with heridity and is cause by muscle. The gosling was 2 months old and one day its wing was hanging down from one day to the next. It is like they lose controll of the muscle to hold it under. I tried to tape it up but didn't work. Rose ??? from Lousiana had about 5 of hers Pilgrim geese end up the same way.
I didn't know it happened in other birds other than geese. The only thing you can do is pinion it or after cleaning for a while if like geese they will strip the feather off and close off the blood supply. When that happend you can trim the hollow quils back. Only the parts you can see through. You don't want to go to far back and make it bleed to death.
If there is no chance of recovery to normal, I guess that means these birds will never be able to fly? I have a friend who found a baby whistler duck with the same problem only in both wings. She had been hoping to be able to return it to the wild "when it recovered". The feathering on my duck's deformed wing also seems a little delayed, is the circulation impaired too? (I have no idea what diet these ducks ate before I got them, but I have been feeding a Chick Starter crumble. Is that too much protein?)
- Okay, so it's several more duck questions...
yes!!!! if they are over 2 months old they should be eating maintenance until breeding season. Then give them breeder. They may still be able to fly as the wing goes into correct position when they flap their wings if you will notice. Don't know for sure as my geese are heavy weights and don't fly anyway
Thanks, DonnaB. My ducks are not yet 2 months old, I don't think. I've had them 5 weeks and they were pretty tiny when they came. They still don't have many of their adult feathers on their wings. I will mix gradually more maintenance ration into their feed to change them over. I don't know how old Muscovys are before they fly; I'll just wait and see if he can fly when his siblings can.
start mixing the starter with maintenance about 1/2 & 1/2 for a couple of weeks. Then go to 3/4 maintenance & 1/4 starter for a couple of weeks then just maintenance. It is time. Too much calcium can kill a duck. I did extensive research on raising ducks before I invested in expensive Exotic Ducks. I give them Minnows about 1 or twice a week for a month before they start laying and I get them crickets once or twice a week the rest of the time. They are much, much cheaper than minnows. Having to buy expensive minnows all the time is why I didn't purchase any Hooded Mergansers as bad as I want them
Other treats they love are
chopped spinach leaves & chopped apples mixed in a bowl of water
sunflower seed hearts or chips & finch seed blend mixed in there feed
I feed mine Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance, Breeder, & Starter for the babies which is 100% complete. I just like to give them treats
